“Our goal was to show these young students that fruits are a healthy snack choice, which also happen to taste sweet and delicious,” said Michelle Marker, nutrition educator, Metz & Associates, Ltd. “The second graders also learned about the importance of sustainability and how they can become good stewards of the environment around them.”

To make this lesson in nutrition even more fun for the students, Deb Gralley, the Metz & Associates food service director at Fenwick Elementary, taught them how to remove the seeds from the oranges and plant them in small cups filled with soil. She also provided them with care instructions for the seedlings that will eventually sprout and grow into trees. Gralley also joined in on the fun as students posed for photos with big orange smiles. “For now the students will keep the plants in their classrooms at school, and eventually take them home to transplant into larger pots,” Gralley said. “They will be able to watch the steady growth of their plantings all summer long.”

Four different second grade classes took part in the “Let’s Eat and Grow Oranges” program provided by Metz. The groups learned that oranges provide our bodies with vitamin C, which helps to heal cuts and bruises, In addition to learning all about the importance of oranges, the students also had a lesson on the food pyramid and learned how each different group on the pyramid was important to the health of their body. This is all part of the Metz & Associates commitment to the importance of nutrition education and providing ongoing education to the clients it serves.

Metz & Associates, Ltd., a premier food service company for the Northeast United States, provides dining and environmental management to clients such as hospitals, assisted living & long-term care facilities, school districts and independent schools, colleges and universities and corporate offices. For more information on Metz & Associates, Ltd., visit our website at www.metzltd.com or call 570.675.8100.