South Hamilton honored

One school district that has had the fruit and vegetable program for several years is the South Hamilton school district in Jewell, Iowa. I took a day trip visited the school district in the spring of 2006 and got a first hand look at the success of the program. Candy Anderson, the foodservice director there, was what every person in her position should be and more.

In my column of April 2006 I wrote:

Jewell, Iowa, is what Smallville, Kan., would be like in reality television.
The South Hamilton School District , which serves Jewell, isn't white-bread predictable, however. With a name like Candy, the school's foodservice director in Jewell had better be good -- and she is. Candy Anderson has helped the district's two schools secure grant money in back-to-back years for the fruit and vegetable snack program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She is on the cutting edge of bringing mangoes, jicama and papayas to her students, not to mention the produce mainstays of apples, pears, oranges, clementines and carrot sticks.
Anderson doesn't give an inch when it comes to nutrition, and she has had some big support. In the first year of the fruit and vegetable snack program, a few kids were bowling fruit down a hallway, Anderson recalls.
In response to that incident, the school's principal, Paul Hemphill, made an announcement to the student body. "I just was dreading what he was going to say," she said. Anderson feared Hemphill would say something like "Shape up or I'll take the program away from you." What he said instead -- to Anderson's relief -- was "Shape up or I'll take the pop machines out." He stressed the fact that the district was fortunate to participate in the program and that the bad behavior of a few wouldn't be tolerated. Unrelated to that incident, the school district eventually pulled its pop machines in favor of a milk machine that also had other more nutritious snacks. If every principal supported student nutrition like Hemphill and every school foodservice director made it happen like Anderson, American children would be a lot better off today.

Anyway, today I received this news release about South Hamilton:

The South Hamilton Elementary School in Jewell (Iowa) was selected from hundreds of schools around the country to receive a $15,000 grant from the Hidden Valley “Love Your Veggies” Nationwide School Lunchroom Campaign, to help provide better access to fresh vegetables and fruits during school meals.

About the grant program: Schools nationwide faced a difficult challenge this school year -- administrators were tasked with implementing a federally mandated Local Wellness Policy for their student body. The goal of these policies is to improve school nutrition and create health-based standards for the foods sold in schools to positively impact student health. To help schools, Hidden Valley launched a grant program awarding five $15,000 grants to schools in need toward a veggie station (as well as funding for the produce, training and maintenance) to help improve nutrition in public schools.

Join us and the kids from South Hamilton Elementary School for a press conference and unveiling of their new salad bar.

Executives from the School Nutrition Association and Produce for a Better Health Foundation will be on hand to discuss this important topic and how Hidden Valley is helping schools renovate their school lunch programs; school officials will provide information on their nutrition program that will be funded by the grant.

TK: The official announcement of the award is April 3....