‘Party’ serves up nutrition

Aiming to boost interest in the student food pantry and encourage healthier eating, members of Clinton City Schools and the Sampson County Cooperative Extension were at Clinton High on Friday afternoon for the third “Tasting Party” event.

The event allows students to taste food and dishes that are prepared from items that come directly from the food pantry at the high school. The idea came about when Clinton City Board of Education Chair Dr. Linda Brunson noticed that students were partaking in the same items while others stacked the shelves. As a result, a multi-step plan with the end goal of increasing food pantry awareness and activity resulted in tasting party events.

The idea has steadily grown in success as participation and feedback elevates with each one. This event was held during the students’ lunch periods and Brunson said pupils were flocking to their table.

“The tasting party has gone very well for us — in just two lunches, we served over 180 kids this go around and we still have two lunches to go,” Brunson said. “Some teachers have even partaken in it and everyone says it was delicious.”

To aid in food pantry growth, the Sampson Cooperative Extension has been active in assisting, especially Family and Consumer Sciences nutrients expert Sydney Knowles. She was at the high school for this event serving students another of her homemade recipes, ham and bean soup, made with items from the pantry.

Students were also served freshly made mac & cheese and fruit salad, which came from the pantry as well. After the students received their choice dish, the same items used and more were bagged up for the students to take home with them.

“We are giving away items for children to take home to try for themselves and of course we are trying to promote the items that are in the pantry,” Brunson said. “We were real fortunate to have the NC Cooperative Extension Services here to help us in doing that.”

“They helped us with the preparations and delivery and (Knowles) brought recipes that went along with we were serving,” Brunson said. “I can’t say enough just how well it’s gone, so much so, that we are planning to do another event in about six weeks. We just want to share more items with the students in the hopes that this grows more and more.”

Another Cooperative Extension member, Theresa Bowles, was in attendance as a Extension Master Food Volunteer. Bowles shared her thoughts on the event and being involved.

“I think this is a good idea, trying to get these kids healthier because they are so used to fast food and food not being fixed at home,” Bowles said. “If you give them a sample from something they can cook at home themselves without the parents, since some are old enough, they may try new things.”

“It’s about introducing them to the taste of new food and letting them know that what they try might not be so bad,” she added. “Then if they like something we have items on hands that they can take home with them, I think this is all a great idea. I’m glad to be apart of it.”

Knowles also shared remarks as a recurring presence that’s aided in growing the food pantry’s success. She noted her surprise with how well the event went.

“I feel like it’s going really great; we’ve had a lot kids come by and I’m hoping that’ll it bring more foot traffic to the food pantry. That’s our goal and I’ve enjoyed being involved,” Knowles said. “It’s been a great way for me to take things that are simple in the food pantry and break them down into things that are easy for the kids to make.”

“The recipe I did today, just like in the previous tasting party, is made from items that came from the food pantry,” she added. “The kids seemed to love it, which was kind of surprising. I didn’t expect so many of them to want to eat things we had on hand, but they have which means what we’re doing is working more and more.”

The pantry is located directly inside the school on the second floor and is open to all students from 1:45 to 3 p.m. every Friday. Any and all members of the community can volunteer to donate and help restock the pantry.

The high school can be reached at 910-592-2067 for more information.

Extension Master Food Volunteers provide citizens with an opportunity to extend the work of Cooperative Extension by providing unbiased, research-based information on food systems, cooking and food safety to communities. Contact Knowles at the Cooperative Extension office at 910-296-2143 or by email at sydney_knowles@ncsu.edu to learn more.