Raising Healthy Children from the Ground Up

There is no quick fix for the rising rate of obesity in our state, but Communities in Schools (CIS) of Moore County has found an approach that shows sometimes you can reap much more than you sow.

The First School Garden at Aberdeen Elementary School gives kids a chance to really get their hands dirty. They are learning about healthy eating by growing their own food.  Thanks to the sense of ownership that comes with tilling their own soil, they’re willing to try new foods and independently make better food choices.  And, according to CIS Executive Director Andi Korte,  the learning has grown far beyond the garden.

“The garden started out as one thing – a place to provide healthy eating opportunities to children.  It has turned out to be so much more.  It’s a science lab, a math classroom, a reading nook, a lunch room, a writing spot, a place to try new foods, to work hard, to share your grandmother’s recipe.” 

“And it’s a mentoring spot,” said Korte.  “It’s a wonderful place to be and everyone looks for reasons to take their classes outside.”

Korte says the garden provides food for the body and the mind.  The goal is to encourage healthy eating habits among families by starting with some of their most open and influential members – children. 

And the garden is just the start – a fitness trail on school grounds begins construction in early 2008.

See what’s cookin’. Enjoy a recipe from the student gardeners at Aberdeen Elementary School. 

Communities in Schools of Moore County was the recipient of a $56,800 Healthy Active Communities grant in 2007 to support a fitness trail and community garden at Aberdeen Elementary.