Students at Baltimore’s Edgewood Elementary School are eating more fresh fruits and vegetables thanks to their principal’s vision for a healthy smoothie bar.
“We have a fresh fruits and vegetable program that the school system takes part in,” said Principal Kim Sollers, who transformed a classroom into the students’ Super Duper Smooth Energy Center.
Twice a week, students create their own tasty drinks from the smoothie bar’s wide selection that includes spinach, bananas, strawberries, pineapples, coconut water, almond milk and even chia seeds.
Edgewater Elementary sits in a “food desert” and receives the fruits and vegetables through a federally-funded program for low-income schools. NutriBullet also generously donated 10 blenders, bowls, cutting boards and cups.
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“The kids are able to incorporate foods that are going to give them fiber, potassium, vitamin C and antioxidants which are really important because you don’t find antioxidants in these processed foods that kids are existing off of,” said nutritionist Sarah Lefkowitz, who assisted in launching the program.
Principal Sollers hopes that students will experiment and discover the combinations that taste the best to them. “Teachers will work together to find recipes and also set parameters,” she said. “If the vegetable of the day is spinach, there may be a listing that indicates you must have spinach in your smoothie in addition to whatever two fruits you decide to add.”
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