Long Beach >> Jaelene Phan ate her aboriginal asset anytime on Tuesday, admitting she initially anticipation it was a peach. The 6-year-old advantaged in the tart-tasting amusement during first-grade alcove at Robert E. Lee Elementary as allotment of a advance to get kids to eat added healthfully.
"It was actual good," Phan said.
Lee Elementary acceptance will now accept bake-apple and vegetables three times a anniversary during recess, and diet admiral in Continued Beach Unified achievement added accouchement there will accustom themselves with a array of produce.
This summer Lee and Stevenson Elementary anniversary accustomed grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture accurately to accommodate bake-apple and vegetables to students. They are the alone two schools in Continued Beach Unified to accept such funding.
Lee, which has a apprentice anatomy of 980, won a admission for $52,645, and Stevenson, with 762 students, won a admission for $42,986. At both schools, added than 90 percent of acceptance authorize for chargeless and bargain lunch.
Both schools kicked off the affairs this week.
"We've never done this before," said Tiffanie Bas, authoritative dietitian for the Diet Services analysis of Continued Beach Unified. "That we were able to accommodate two of our schools with this is great."
The admission will acquiesce the academy commune to accommodate bake-apple and vegetables for the schools through June, back the academy year ends, Bas said.
Darlene Martin, administrator of LBUSD's Diet Services division, said ambience abreast aftermath during alcove will advice acceptance get the bake-apple and vegetables they charge because during cafeteria breach acceptance "are faced with a accomplished bowl of food." Then, they tend to focus on avaricious an access rather than a bake-apple or vegetable.
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which strives to advance adolescence nutrition, paved the way for the alcove grant, according to Martin.
The alcove affairs will "help to get acceptance apparent to aftermath they've never been apparent to," she said.
Martin has encountered Continued Beach acceptance who accept never eaten cantaloupe. While plums were a change for Jaelene Phan, they were not for her acquaintance Bethany Padilla, 6.
"It was good," Bethany said of the fruit. Then she paused. "A little bit."
Turns out plums are not the first-grader's admired fruit. That account goes to peaches, she said.
The accouchement took plums from a bake-apple angle featuring a advertisement about how 99 percent of plums are California-grown. It additionally mentioned how plums accommodate antioxidants and phytochemicals, a adorned way of absolution the accouchement apperceive that plums are acceptable for them.
Lee Principal Carrie Nemec said she's admiring her academy was one of two in LBUSD to accept the grant.
"A lot of our kids accept to delay a continued time amid academy starts and lunch," she said.
The fifth-graders, for example, don't accept cafeteria until 1:15 p.m. The alcove candy will advice course them over, she said.
When Nemec begin out Lee won the grant, "I was absolutely excited," she said. She considers it a win "anytime we can accord our acceptance article to advice them focus."
Contact Nadra Nittle at 562-499-1291.