Food & Nutrition [Volume 9, Number 6]

              / For Building Use Only 1
Depository
PROPERTY OF THE
liBRARY
JAN 3 1980
University of North Carolina
at Greensboro
This issue includes eight pages of
questions and answers on food
stamps. You'll find information on :
who is eligible; how people apply
for, get, and use stamps; work
registration; and participants' rights
and responsibilities.
Page 2
A several-part feature takes a look
at the Nutrition Education and
Training Program. The program
provides funds for teaching child­ren,
teachers, and school food ser­vice
people about food and its
importance to health. Page 10
Developing a State Plan Page 12
Teaching the People Who Teach
the Kids Page 14
Teaching the Kids Page 16
Food
Stamps:
Q&A's
1
Who is eligible?
2
How do people apply for
and get food stamps?
3
How do people use ·
food stamps?
4
What is the work reg­istration
requirement?
5
What are participant's
rights and responsi­bilities?
2
Who is eligible?
Q What is the l!'ood Stamp
Program?
A The Food Stamp Program is a
nationwide program which
helps low-income families buy the
foods they need for good health.
The program is authorized by
Congress, administered nationally
by the U.S. Department of Agricul­ture's
Food and Nutrition Service,
and run through State welfare
agencies and their local offices.
Q Who can get food stamps?
A Households with no income,
or with low incomes from
• part-time work
• low-paying jobs
• public welfare
• Social Security,
• small pensions or other low
fixed-income sources.
No one gets food stamps auto­matically.
Every household in­terested
in participating must
apply and meet nationwide re­quirements.
People who receive
Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) are not eligible for food
stamps in States which already
provide food stamp benefits in the
form of increased SSI payments.
Q How is eligibUity deter­mined?
A Local food stamp offices use
uniform nationwide criteria
to certify people for the Food
Stamp Program.
To qualify, a household's income,
after deductions, must be below a
certain level. And the household's
resources must not exceed a cer­tain
amount.
Other criteria are nonfinancial.
A person or group of people must
qualify as a food stamp "house­hold,"
as defined by law. They must
meet certain citizenship require­ments.
Unemployed adults must
register to work unless they are
exempted from this requirement.
And students must meet certain
rules.
Q What is a food stamp
"household"?
A The law requires that eligibil­ity
for food stamps be deter­mined
on a household basis, since
it is common practice for persons
living together to purchase food
and prepare meals together. How­ever,
people who live together may
not necessarily constitute a single
household for food stamp pur­poses.
If one or more of them pur­chase
and prepare their food sepa­rately,
they may qualify as a sepa­rate
household and may apply for
food stamps for themselves.
Any adult household member
can apply for food stamps, or may
authorize someone else to apply
for the household. The income, re­sources,
and deductible expenses
of all persons in each applicant
household will be counted to de­termine
that household's eligibil­ity
for the Food Stamp Program.
Q Do people have to be related
to be a food stamp house­hold?
A Most food stamp households
are families, but people do not
have to be related to each other to
be a food stamp household. A
household can be:
• a person who lives alone;
• a person who lives with others,
but usually buys food and prepares
meals separately from the others;
• a person who lives with others
and pays them for meals;
• a group of people who live to-
Food and Nutrition
gether and buy food and prepare
meals together;
• a group of people who live with
others and pay them for meals.
With only a few exceptions, a
household cannot be a person or
group of people who live in a
commercial boarding house or an
institution. The exceptions in­clude:
residents of federally sub­sidized
housing for the elderly;
and narcotic addicts or alcoholics
who live in treatment facilities.
Q Must households have
cooking facUlties?
A No.
Q Must a person be a U .8.
citizen to participate? · A U.S. citizens, permanent legal
aliens, and certain other legal
aliens may qualify. Aliens who are
in the United States on student
visas do not qualify. Legal aliens
must provide proof of their legal
status from the Immigration and
Naturalization Service.
Even if some members of a
household do not meet this re­quirement,
those members who do
may qualify for food stamps.
Q Who has to register for
work'?
A With certain exceptions, un­employed
people who are
physically and mentally fit and be­tween
the ages of 18 and 60 must
register for and accept suitable
employment. Work registration
rules are explained in more detail
on page 7. The food stamp certifi­cation
worker will tell the house­hold
representative which mem­bers
must register.
December 1979
Q Can students get food
stamps'?
A Students can qualify for food
stamps if they meet the same
eligibility rules as all other appli­cants,
plus special work require-ments
(explained on page 7), and
a tax dependency test. Students
age 18 and older who are enrolled
at least half-time in an institution
of higher education and who could
be claimed as tax dependents of
ineligible households cannot get
food stamps.
Q Bow many assets, or re­sources,
can a household
have'?
A By law, certain resources are
counted in figuring eligibility
for the Food Stamp Program, and
others are not. The law sets a limit
on the amount of "countable" re­sources
a household can have.
Most households can have up to
$1,750 in countable resources. The
only exceptions are households of
two or more people in which at
least one person is over age 60.
These households can have up to
$3,000 in countable resources.
Q What counts as resources?
A Countable resources include
cash on hand and assets
which can be easily converted to
cash, such as money in savings
accounts, U.S. Savings Bonds, and
stocks and bonds. They also in­clude
such other assets as build­ings
and land-except for the fam­ily
home and lot. Vehicles, except
those used to produce income, are
evaluated for fair market value;
the portion of the value which is
over $4,500 counts as a resource.
Q What resources are not
counted'?
A Resources not counted for
food stamp eligibility include:
• a home and lot;
• any licensed vehicles used
mainly to produce income, like
taxis and certain trucks;
• life insurance policies;
• real estate that produces income
consistent with its fair market
value;
• tools of a tradesman; and
• farm machinery.
Q Bow much income can a
household have?
A To be eligible for food stamps,
a household's "net income,"
after certain deductions, must fall
below the Federal poverty guide­lines
for that size household. If the
household's net income is more
than the Federal poverty guide­lines,
the household is not eligible.
To find a household's "net in­come,"
a food stamp worker:
1. Adds all "countable" income.
By law, some income counts in
figuring food stamp eligibility, and
some does not count. A house­hold's
total "countable" income is
its "gross income."
2. SUbtracts from gross income
allowable deductions. The re­sulting
figure-gross income
minus deductions-is a house­hold's
net income.
The Federal poverty guidelines
are set by the Office of Manage­ment
and Budget and adjusted an­nually
to reflect changes in the
cost of living. For the period July
1979-July 1980, the net income
limit for a household with four
people is $596 per month, or
$7,150 per year. The net income
limit for a one-person household
is $306 per month, or $3,670 per
year.
3
Q What is counted as income?
A Countable income includes the
following:
• wages;
• net earnings from self­employment;
• public assistance;
• retirement or disability benefits;
• veterans', workmen's or unem­ployment
compensation;
• old age, survivors', or strike
benefits;
• support payments, or alimony
received;
• scholarships, educational grants,
fellowships, or veterans' educa­tional
benefits not used to pay tui­tion
and mandatory fees;
• foster care payments for children
or adults;
• dividends, interest, and other
payments which benefit the
household.
Q What kinds of income are
not counted?
A The following kinds of income
are not counted for food
stamp eligibility:
• earnings of a student under 18
who is attending school at least
half-time and who is a household
member;
• amounts paid for court-ordered
support or alimony payments;
• portions of educational loans,
grants, scholarships, veterans'
educational benefits and the like
which are used for tuition and
mandatory fees;
• any income which is not in
money, such as produce from a
garden;
• loans (except deferred repay­ment
loans for other-than­mandatory
educational expenses);
• one-time lump sum benefits like
4
payments from insurance refunds,
and inheritances;
• certain cash payments made by a
third party on behalf of the house­hold,
such as rent paid by a third
party directly to the landlord;
• the cost of doing business, if
self-employed;
• certain kinds of income excluded
by law;
• certain reimbursements for ex­penses.
Q What deductions can be
subtracted from gross in­come?
A Allowable deductions from
gross income include:
A standard deduction. All
households can subtract a stand­ard
amount from their total
monthly income. This amount is
adjusted twice a year to reflect
changes in the cost of living. For
the period January-July 1980, the
standard deduction is $75.
An earned income deduction.
Working households can also sub­tract
20 percent from their total
monthly earned income, to make
up for taxes and other mandatory
deductions, like Social Security.
A deduction for actual depend­ent
care and excess shelter
costs. Households can subtract a
certain maximum for: actual de­pendent
care costs; shelter costs
which take more than 50 percent
of the household's income after all
other deductions; or a combina­tion
of both. The amount of this
deduction cannot be more than a
maximum set by law.
This maximum is adjusted an­nually
to reflect changes in the
cost of living. For the period July
1979-July 1980, the maximum is
$90. Dependent care costs are
what a household pays for some­one
to care for dependent children
or disabled adults so that a person
in the household can work, look
for a job, or take a training course
leading to a job.
Shelter costs include rent, mort­gage
payments (including interest
or other charges required for own­ership),
utility payments, prop­erty
taxes, and the cost of insur­ance
on a home. Shelter costs can
also apply to homes not currently
occupied because employment or
disaster has temporarily made liv­ing
there impossible.
Special medical and shelter de­ductions
for the elderly and
disabled. Certain households
with elderly or disabled people
qualify for special deductions.
Households qualify if they include
at least one person who:
• is 60 years old, or older, or
• receives Supplemental Security
Income (SSI), or
• receives disability payments
under the Social Security Act
and if either:
• the elderly or disabled person
has medical expenses over $35 a
month, or
• the household has high shelter
costs.
Households which qualify can
subtract all shelter costs exceed­ing
50 percent of their adjusted
income. They can also subtract
medical costs exceeding $35 in­curred
by the elderly or disabled
person. Medical expenses which
are reimbursed by insurance
or government programs are not
deductible.
Food and Nutrition
How do people apply for
and get food stamps?
Q How does a household apply
for food stamps?
A A household member-or an
. adult representative named by
the household-contacts the local
food stamp office, completes an
application form, and has an
interview with a food stamp
worker. In most communities, the
food stamp office is run by the
local welfare or social services de­partment.
For the interview, applicants
should bring papers that show:
( 1) how much income they have;
and (2) how much they pay for
such expenses as rent, utilities,
and dependent care. Households
eligible for the special medical de­duction
should also bring proof of
medical costs.
Examples of the kinds of papers
applicants should bring include:
rent receipts; mortgage payment
stubs; property tax receipts; util­ity
(electricity, water, gas, tele­phone)
bill receipts; bank books or
other papers which show savings;
and proof of expenses, such as re­ceipts
for the dependent care pay­ments
necessary for household
members to work.
The food stamp worker will ex­plain
who must register for work.
Q What if applicants can't get
to the food stamp office?
A Applicants who are age 65
and older or disabled can ask
the office to arrange a home or
telephone interview, if they cannot
go to the office or get someone to
go for them. Other people who
cannot get to the office and who
have no one to go for them may
qualify for a home or telephone
interview, too.
Q How do households find out
if they quality for food
stamps?
A After interviewing a house­hold
representative, review-
December 1979
ing the household's application,
and certifying certain informa­tion,
a food stamp worker sends an
eligible household a notice and a
food stamp identification card. The
notice explains how many stamps
the household will get and how
long it can receive food stamps be­fore
someone from the household
must reapply.
People who do not qualify re­ceive
notices explaining why they
were found ineligible.
Q How soon can households
get their food stamps?
A Under Federal regulations, the
food stamp office must either
approve or deny an application
within 30 days of receiving it. Eli­gible
applicants must be able to
get their food stamps within 30
days of the date they submitted
their applications, provided they
cooperated with the agency in
processing the application. House­holds
with little or no money
may qualify for faster service.
Q How are food stamps
issued?
A Food stamps are issued to
households by several differ­ent
methods. The food stamp
worker will explain to the house­hold
representative the method
used by the local office.
Q What can people do if they
disagree with the food
stamp office's decision?
A People should tell the food
stamp office if they think
their applications have been
wrongly denied, if they think they
have been assigned an incorrect
amount of food stamps, or if they
believe the food stamp office has
not followed other program rules.
If the office does not agree, appli­cants
or participants can ask for a
fair hearing, explained in more de­tail
on page 8.
Q How long can a household
receive food stamps before
it must reapply?
A A household is given the long­est
certification period possi­ble,
based on the likelihood of
changes in its circumstances.
Most households are certified for 3
months. Households with very
stable circumstances can be cer­tified
for up to 12 months. House­holds
whose circumstances are
likely to change soon are certified
for 1 or 2 months.
Q What is a household's food
stamp "allotment"?
A A household's allotment is the
total amount of stamps the
household gets each month. The
amount of stamps each household
receives is based on the number of
people in the household and the
amount of net monthly income the
household has after certain deduc­tions
have been subtracted. All
households of the same size and
with the same net income, after
deductions, get the same amount
of food stamps.
The maximum amount of food
stamps a household can receive is
equal to the cost of an economical
model food plan adjusted for dif­ferent
household sizes. As net
monthly income rises, the amount
of the household's allotment is re­duced.
In other words, as income
goes up, benefits go down. How­ever,
all eligible households re­ceive
at least a $10 monthly al­lotment.
Food stamp allotments are ad­justed
every January and July to
allow for changes in food costs.
Q Is there any cost for food
stamps?
A No. Food stamps are issued at
no charge to certified house­holds.
5
How do people
use food stamps?
Q How do participants use
food stamps?
A Any responsible household
member-or a representative
named by the household-can use
food stamps like money to buy food
at authorized food stores.
Participants can use stamps to
buy almost any food, or seeds and
plants to grow food for the house­hold's
own use. They cannot use
food stamps for: alcoholic bever­ages;
tobacco or cigarettes; house­hold
supplies, soaps and paper
products; vitamins and medicines;
or any other nonfood items. They
cannot use food stamps for food
that will be eaten in the store; hot
foods that are ready to eat, like
barbecued chicken; or pet foods.
9 Do participants get cash
change for food stamps
w en they make a food pur­chase?
A Food stamp shoppers get a $1
food stamp coupon back for
every $1 in change due. For
amounts of 99 cents or less, they
receive cash change.
Q Where can food stamps be
used?
A Most food stores are au­thorized
to accept food
stamps. In addition, some non­profit
meal delivery services,
communal dining facilities, and
certain restaurants are authorized
6
to accept food stamps for meals
served to Supplemental Security
Income recipients and elderly food
stamp participants and their
spouses.
What are meal delivery
services and communal
ng facUlties?
A Meal delivery services and
communal dining facilities
serve meals to low- and moderate­income
elderly, and physically and
mentally handicapped people.
Meal delivery services deliver
prepared meals to the home.
Communal dining facilities are
central eating places in some
senior citizen centers, federally
subsidized housing complexes,
apartment buildings, and certain
restaurants. These facilities pre­pare
and serve meals to elderly
people or SSI recipients and their
spouses.
The U.S. Department of Agricul­ture
authorizes some meal deliv­ery
services and communal dining
facilities to accept food stamps for
prepared meals.
Q Who may use food stamps
for meal delivery services
or communal dining?
A Supplemental Security Income
recipients and people 60 years
old and older (and their spouses)
may use food stamps to pay for
meals at communal dining
facilities. Elderly, mentally and
physically handicapped, and other
people who cannot adequately
prepare all of their meals may use
stamps to pay for meal delivery
services.
In both instances, the food
stamp participant must also meet
the requirements for participating
in these special meal programs,
and the meal delivery service or
communal dining facility must be
authorized to accept food stamps.
Q How do meal delivery serv­ices
or communal dining
programs identity food stamp
participants?
A The food stamp office gives
each household with one or
more members eligible to use food
stamps for delivered meals a reg-ular
food stamp identification card
marked with the letter "M". Iden­tification
cards for recipients eli­gible
to use stamps at a communal
dining center may be marked with
the letters "CD."
Q Must all of the food stamp
allotment be spent for de·
livered meals or communal
dining?
A No. It can also be used to buy
eligible foods in a retail food
store authorized to accept food
stamps.
Food and Nutrition
What is the work
registration requirement?
Q What is the work registra­tion
requirement?
A For a household to be eligible
for food stamps, members who
are physically and mentally fit be­tween
the ages of 18 and 60 must
register for and accept suitable
employment. There are certain ex­ceptions
to the work registration
requirement, and there are special
rules for students.
Q What are the exceptions to
the work registration re­qUirement?
A Exceptions to the work regis­tration
requirement include:
• a household member who is re­sponsible
for the care of a disabled
adult;
• a single parent or caretaker of a
dependent child under age 12; or
• a parent or caretaker of a de­pendent
child under age 18 in a
household where another parent
is working or registered for work;
• people who are working at least
30 hours per week or earning
weekly at least the Federal
minimum wage multiplied by 30;
• physically or mentally disabled
people;
• people under age 18 or over
age 60;
• participants in drug or alcoholic
rehabilitation programs;
• certain students.
At the time of initial certifica­tion,
recertification, or change in
employment status, the food stamp
worker determines which mem­bers
of the household must regis­ter
for work.
Q What are the special work
rules for students?
A Students, age 18 through 59,
enrolled at least halftime in
any recognized school, training
program or institution of higher
education are exempt from regis­tering
for full-time employment.
However, students must register
for 20 hours of work per week dur-
December 1979
ing the school year, unless they
are exempted for reasons ex­plained
below. And, during school
vacations exceeding 30 days, they
must register for full-time work.
Institutions of higher education
are any institutions providing
post-high school education, in­cluding
colleges, universities, voc­ational
and technical schools, and
others.
During the regular school year,
students enrolled at least halftime
in an institution of higher educa­tion
must register for 20 hours of
work per week unless they are:
• employed for a minimum of 20
hours per week or participating in
a federally financed work-study
program;
• employed less than 20 hours per
week but earning an amount at
least equal to the Federal min­imum
wage multiplied by 20;
• heads of households with one or
more people to whom the student
supplies more than one-half their
total support;
• otherwise exempt.
Examples of students exempt
from this provisions are high
schools students over age 18 and
college students who are disabled.
Q .Are strikers or workers af­fected
by lockouts required
to register?
A Yes. Strikers must also meet
all other eligibility require­ments
before they can receive food
stamps.
Q Where do household mem­bers
register for work?
A They register at the local food
stamp office when they apply
for food stamps and then every 6
months after that.
Q What happens after house­hold
members have regis­tered?
A They must report to the State
employment service when
they are asked to, respond to State
employment service requests for
additional information, and accept
and continue suitable employ­ment.
Q What if a household
member doesn't comply?
A If a student does not meet the
school year work require­ments,
the individual student will
be disqualified for 2 months, or
until he or she complies or be­comes
exempt.
If any other household member
doesn't comply with work regis­tration
requirements, the entire
household will be ineligible for 2
months, or until the member com­plies
or becomes exempt.
Q Who decides the suitability
of a job offer?
A The food stamp certification
staff uses U.S. Department of
Agriculture criteria to decide if the
work is suitable.
Q What jobs are not consid­ered
suitable?
A Ajob is not "suitable" unless
the wages equal the Federal
minimum wage, the State min-imum
wage, or 80 percent of the
Federal minimum wage if no wage
standard applies to the job. If the
7
job pays on a piece rate basis, the
expected hourly yield must meet
the Federal minimum hourly wage
standards.
Employment is also not consid­ered
suitable if:
• as a condition of employment,
the registrant must join, resign
from, or refrain from joining any
legitimate labor organization;
• the job site is subject to a strike
or lockout at the time of the offer,
unless the strike has been forbid­den
by law;
• there is an unreasonable degree
of risk to the registrant's health
and safety;
• the registrant is not physically
or mentally fit to do the work;
• the work is not in the regis­trant's
major field of experience,
unless after 30 days from registra­tion,
the registrant has not re­ceived
a job offer in that field.
Q Can an applicant refuse a
job that the food stamp
staff considers suitable?
A The applicant can request a
fair hearing to decide whether
the job is suitable. The food stamp
office must grant the request if it
is made within 90 days from the
date the applicant is told of the
position.
9 What happens if a food
stamp applicant has quit
s or her most recent job?
A If the primary wage earner of
a household has quit a job
within 60 days before applying,
without good cause as defined by
Federal regulations, the entire
household will be barred from par­ticipating
in the Food Stamp Pro­gram
for 2 months.
8
What are participants'
rights and responsibilities?
Q What rights do food stamp
applicants and participants
have?
A Food stamp applicants and
participants have the right to:
• receive an application the same
day they ask for it;
• have their applications accepted
immediately;
• have an adult who knows the
households' circumstances apply
for them, if they cannot get to the
food stamp office themselves;
• have a home visit or a telephone
interview if they are 65 or older or
are disabled and cannot get to the
food stamp office or find someone
to go for them;
• get their fo6d stamps within 30
days after they apply, if they are
eligible;
• get food stamps within a few
days, if they are in immediate need
and qualify for faster service;
• receive fair treatment regardless
of age, sex, race, color, handicap,
religious creed, national origin, or
political beliefs;
• be notified in advance (usually
10 days in advance) if the food
stamp office is going to reduce or
end their benefits;
• examine their own case files and
a copy of the food stamp rules;
• have a fair hearing if they dis­agree
with any action taken in
their case.
Q What is a fair hearing?
A The law gives all households
the right to take their case to
an impartial hearing authority if
they disagree with any action
taken on the case.
Q Bow does a household get a
fair hearing?
A When a household applies for
food stamps, the food stamp
worker informs the household of
its right to a fair hearing and how
to request one. Hearing proce­dures
are published by the State
agency and are available at the
food stamp office.
The household, or a person act­ing
for it, such as a friend, relative,
or legal representative, can ask
the food stamp office staff for a
hearing either orally or in writing.
The State agency must help the
household make out its request
and prepare its case. If legal serv­ices
are available in the commu­nity,
the State agency directs the
household to them.
In some cases, households that
have been notified that their bene­fits
will be reduced can continue to
receive their food stamps without
a change until the fair hearing is
decided.
Q What rights does a house­hold
have when presenting
a case?
A A hearing is an opportunity
for a household to present ar­guments
and evidence in its own
behalf. The head of the household
or a representative has the right
to examine all documents and rec­ords
which might be used at the
hearing, bring witnesses, submit
evidence establishing pertinent
facts, and question or refute any
testimony or evidence.
Q Who makes the decision at
a fair hearing?
A The State agency designates a
hearing authority to make the
final administrative decision. The
authority may be the highest
executive officer of the State wel­fare
agency, a panel of officials
Food and Nutrition
from that agency, or a person who
has been appointed expressly for
the purpose and has not partici­pated
in the action being appealed.
The decision of the hearing au­thority
is based exclusively on a
review of the hearing record.
Q When and where is the
hearing held?
A The State food stamp agency is
responsible for setting the
time, date, and place of a hearing
so that it is accessible to the
household.
Q How long does it take to get
final action on a hearing?
A The state agency must take
final action within 60 days of
the date the household requested
the hearing. The hearing authority
notifies the household in writing
of the decision, and of any right
the household has for further re­view.
If the hearing authority finds
that the household is entitled to
benefits it had been denied, the
household will receive them
within 10 days after being notified
of the hearing decision.
Q What rules must house­holds
follow?
A Members of food stamp
households must answer all
questions completely and honestly
when they apply for food stamps.
They must also:
• provide proof that they are eli­gible;
• report promptly to the food
stamp office certain changes in
their household's circumstances;
• use food stamps only to buy eli­gible
items;
• not put their money or posses­sions
in someone else's name in
December 1979
order to qualify for food stamps;
• not make any changes in any
food stamp cards or documents;
• not sell, trade, or give away their
food stamps, or any food stamp
cards or documents.
Q Are there penalties for not
following these rules?
A Yes. People who break these
rules may be disqualified from
the program, fined, imprisoned, or
all three.
Q When, where and how
should changes in house­hold
circumstances be re­ported?
A The head of the household or
authorized representative
must report:
• all changes in income of more
than $25;
• changes in the number of house­hold
members;
• changes in residence and the re­sulting
shelter costs;
• the acquisition of a nonexcluded
licensed vehicle or of liquid re­sources
that put the household's
resources over the eligiblity limit.
Changes must be reported to the
food stamp office by mail, tele­phone
or in person within 10 days
of the date of the change.
by Devra S. Massey
9
Eat your vegetables,
they're good for
you." "No sweets
before mealtime
for growing boys and girls." We've
all heard or even spoken these ad­monishments
at one time or another.
But Audrey Maretzki, director of a
national program designed to teach
children the importance of good food,
believes this is the wrong approach
for schools to take.
"Children are tired of adults
preaching to them about what they
should and shouldn't eat," she said.
"We need to give children tools that
will enable them to determine what
foods are good for them, and we
need to give them the opportunity to
practice using these tools."
The program Maretzki heads-the
Nutrition Education and Training Pro­gram,
or NET -is designed to do just
that. Administered by USDA's Food
and Nutrition Service, NET provides
10
funds for developing nutrition educa­tion
activities and materials for chil­dren.
It also provides funds for train­ing
the people who teach and feed
children-teachers and school food
service personnel.
States
get grants
Through NET, States get funds in
the form of grants to State educa­tional
agencies. In 1978 and 1979,
the amount of each State's grant was
based on a formula of 50 cents for
each child enrolled in public or non­profit
private schools and institutions.
No State, however, received less
than $75,000. To qualify for a grant, a
State education agency hires an NET
coordinator, who assesses the need
for nutrition education and training,
and proposes a "plan of action ."
As Maretzki explained, NET is
closely tied to the school breakfast
and lunch programs. Created by the
Nutriti
November 1977 amendments to child
nutrition legislation contained in Pub­lic
Law 95-166, it has as one of its
main goals building a stronger link
between the cafeteria and the class­room
.
School food services, Maretzki
said, offer schools the opportunity to
make learning about food a total edu­cational
experience for children. To
help schools improve their food serv­ices,
NET activities include manage­ment
training for cafeteria managers
and their staffs.
Activities
underway
NET activities are well underway in
many States. For example:
Using NET funds, States are help­ing
schools and child care centers
develop imaginative projects which
explore ways to get children in­terested
and involved in learning
about food. Approaches run the
gamut from "hands on" cooking ex-
Food and Nutrition
perience for preschoolers to " peer­teaching,"
in which teenagers are
trained to instruct elementary school
students.
" Peer-teaching" is a two-way
learning experience for students in
Manchester, Connecticut, where the
approach is winning fans. Said one
student instructor: "Some of the
elementary students didn't even think
about what they were eating until we
told them something about nutrition. I
have also learned things from teach­ing
them."
Many States are holding nutrition
education workshops for school food
service personnel and teachers. Food
service personnel are learning how to
make meals more appealing and
palatable to children. And teachers
are learning how to integrate nutrition
education into other subject areas. A
key topic is how teachers, cafeteria
managers, and parents can work to­gether
and get the support of other
people as well-athletic coaches and
December 1979
school administrators, for instance.
Activities focus on reaching par­ents,
too. As Maretzki sees it, par­ents'
support is essential. "They're
the role models," she emphasizes.
Many participating schools are send­ing
nutrition materials home with chil­dren,
and inviting parents to help plan
and take part in food-related projects.
State and local NET coordinators are
also using the media-newspapers,
radio and television to build parents'
interest.
What about
results?
Maretzki feels the program has
been successful. Data from one
state, Pennsylvania, shows changes
in students' food selections since im-plementation
of NET in several com­munities.
In California, school food
service personnel are finding stu­dents
are willing to accept more nut­ritious
foods since the program
started.
"A national study is presently being
conducted to assess the NET pro­gram,"
Maretzki said. "This study will
give us an opportunity to document
what is happening and how NET
funds are being used.
"The foremost goal of NET is to
help children become healthy, well
informed citizens and knowledgeable
consumers," she continued. "At the
same time we want to train teachers
and school food service personnel to
make the cafeteria a nutrition learning
laboratory-and the ·
classrooms an
extension of that
learning laboratory.
11
Developing
a State Plan:
Three State
Coordinators
Share Their
Experiences
Patty Brookover,
Michigan
How do you get people interested
in nutrition education and training?
For Patty Brookover, Michigan's
State NET coordinator, that question
was a starting point. "You must stir
up interest," she says, "find people
who share your interest in having
more nutrition education in the
schools, and then get a commitment
from them. "
"But," she adds, "before you can
merchandise a program, you need to
know what you have to offer."
In working on her State NET plan,
Brookover decided she had two
choices. One choice was to structure
a plan and then take it to the people
who would be involved in carrying it
out-school administrators, teachers,
and food service managers. The
other choice was to go to the local
people first and ask them what the
plan should include.
In her first NET plan submitted to
USDA, Brookover opted for the sec­ond
choice. She proposed using NET
funds for the 1978-79 school year to
explore-through pilot projects and
other activities-what people were al­ready
doing, what resources and
materials were available, what
schools needed, and what ap­proaches
worked best.
Her aim was to come up with in­formation
that would help her do two
things: develop a more structured
NET plan for the following year, and
have identifiable results with which to
"market" NET to schools and State
leaders. As Brookover sees it, to get
12
people interested and involved, you
need to be able to talk about possible
results.
First step:
finding help
Brookover began by forming a nu­trition
education advisory group.
The advisory group represents 50
statewide nutrition and education
agencies and organizations, as well
as parents, students, and consumers.
In setting up the group, Brookover
looked for people who were them­selves
resource people or who had
access to resources.
As the NET coordinator explained,
the group's work formed the basis for
Michigan's initial plan. "These people
gathered data that showed a need for
NET in the State," she said, "and it
was with this information that we
wrote our first plan." The group con­tinues
to advise the Michigan De­partment
of Education on all NET­related
issues.
Since the State NET staff was lim­ited
to two people-Brookover and
her recently appointed part-time
secretary-it was obvious they
needed a mechanism to reach a
larger number of people. Using NET
funds, the State Department of Edu­cation
gave a grant to the inter­mediate
school district association to
help administer the NET program.
During 1978, the association
helped the State sponsor 16 pilot
projects to identify NET needs. Eight
of the projects were grants to local
education agencies to assess the
need for nutrition education and
training for food service managers
and teachers. Three were grants to
universities and colleges to assess
support services such as printed
training materials and audiovisuals.
And five projects were for day care
and residential institutions, focusing
on nutrition education for primary and
early elementary children and their
parents.
Brookover explained that one goal
of the projects was to get additional
information on specific needs as well
as existing materials and curricula.
Another goal was to test approaches.
"The idea," she said, "was to give
people in the field money to try
something out and ask them to report
back on how it worked."
What did
they learn?
"We learned a lot from these proj­ects,"
Brookover said. "For example,
we learned it was hard to make par­ents
aware of their need for nutrition
education, and that we could begin
educating them through the children.
"One way we did this was to send
home a letter informing parents of
their children's participation in the
NET program and telling them they
could expect the children to be asking
questions about certain nutrition facts
and nutritious foods. The letters listed
NET activities for that particular week
or month."
In a workshop in September,
Brookover and project supervisors
evaluated 1978-79 activities. The
data from this workshop helped de­termine
what worked and what is
needed for a comprehensive ongoing
NET program. In addition to activities
for children and parents, the ongoing
program includes professional de­velopment
activities for ad­ministrators,
teachers, food service
and other personnel in schools, child
care institutions, and family day care
homes.
Patty Brookover is eager to share
what she's learned and to hear of
other nutrition education and training
activities.
To contact her, write­Patty
Brookover
Michigan Department of Education
School Support Services
P.O. Box 30008
Lansing, Michigan 48909
by Eunice Wilson Bowman
Food and Nutrition
Mary Jo Tuckwell,
Wisconsin
Mary Jo Tuckwell, Wisconsin's
State NET coordinator, is employed
by the Department of Public Instruc­tion.
She chose to make use of the
State's already existing 19 coopera­tive
educational service agencies
(CESA's) in structuring a State plan.
CESA's provide cooperatively
needed services to individual school
districts through contracts with district
school boards.
Tuckwell contracted with CESA to
help her implement the NET program.
CESA divided its 19 agencies into 6
NET regions, and using NET funds,
hired a nutrition education specialist
for each region. The specialists work
with the schools to identify what the
NET needs are in each district.
Specialists
give workshops
To stimulate local acceptance of
nutrition as an integral part of educa­tion,
the specialists offer "awareness
workshops" to each school district.
As Carol Farrell, registered dietician
and supervisor of NET-CESA region
nine, explains, "We give the aware­ness
workshops to explain the serv­ices
available to schools through NET
and to help schools identify their par­ticular
needs."
'' ... teachers are already
bogged down with so many
extras-environmental pro­grams,
crises in family life and
drug education-there's a
push to get back to basics.
We had to make sure NET was
not looked at as just another
educational frill. ' '
December 1979
In order for school districts to re­ceive
funds or assistance through
NET, they must participate in the
workshops. Participants may include
school administrators, curriculum di­rectors,
teachers, food service per­sonnel,
parents, and students. The
workshops are held during the day at
individual schools, and teachers are
given time off from their regular
schedules to attend.
Workshops use several group dis­cussion
techniques to identify the cur­rent
nutrition education concerns
within the school district. Workshop
leaders ask participants to assess:
(1) the nutrition education program
presently being used in the school
system; (2) the level of nutrition
knowledge of school administrators,
teachers, food service directors, par­ents,
and students; (3) the resource
material currently being used, and (5)
the five most outstanding nutrition
concerns in their district.
"These concerns are then used to
plan pilot NET activities in each
NET-CESA region," Tuckwell said.
In leading the workshops and in
planning follow-up activities, Wiscon­sin's
NET specialists draw upon a
wide range of resources already es­tablished
by community agencies and
educational institutions. "We are
taking advantage of technical re­search
services offered by nutrition
education consultants, university
professors, and teachers," Tuckwell
said.
Tuckwell and the regional spe­cialists
have received help in dis­seminating
NET information from
newsletter editors, local health and
education groups, audiovisual dis­tribution
centers, and a variety of
community services.
Mary Jo Tuckwell 's address is :
State NET Coordinator
Department of Public Instruction
126 Langdon Street
Madison, Wisconsin 53702
by Eunice Wilson Bowman
Amanda Dew Mellinger,
Cali1ornia
The idea of sponsoring nutrition
education projects is not a new one
for California. For 3 years, the State
Department of Education has given
funds to local schools and com­munities
for a variety of nutrition edu­cation
activities. Before that, in 1973
and 1975, the State had received
USDA grants for pilot nutrition educa­tion
projects.
What is new is the chance to be
part of a nationwide nutrition
education effort and-using both
State and Federal monies-to reach
more children than ever before.
"There's a tremendous amount of
attention focused on nutrition today,"
says State NET coordinator Amanda
Dew Mellinger. "People are looking
for ways to improve their nutritional
status, and education certainly
helps."
California channels NET funds to
153 local nutrition projects in schools
and child care centers. Twenty-eight
of the projects began with State funds
and have just completed their third
year. These will become "model proj­ects"
after which other schools and
centers will pattern nutrition educa­tion
plans of their own.
California's
goals and plans
Like the national goals, California's
goals are to provide children and
teachers, school administrators, food
service personnel, and parents with
information about nutrition and its im­portance.
Federal regulations give States a
good deal of flexibility to determine
how they will accomplish their goals.
Mellinger and her staff are focusing
their efforts on four main areas:
The first is a media campaign of
13
public announcements to underscore
the importance of nutrition education
and to introduce what's already hap­pening
in the State.
The second area of emphasis is the
development of a nutrition education
curriculum. The curriculum will in­clude
nutrition education lessons for
all classes, kindergarten through
grade 12, and will involve both class­room
instruction and food service ac­tivities.
A third component, staff develop­ment
and community education, fo­cuses
on training school food service
personnel, teachers, child care
operators, school administrators,
parents, and other adults. The goal is
to explain how each group can help
children learn about better nutrition.
The fourth component is funding for
nutrition projects in local schools and
child care centers. Efforts focus on
student instruction, staff training, de­velopment
of materials, and parent
and community education.
A teamwork
approach
The California NET staff places
high priority on community involve­ment.
They wrote their first State plan
with the help of a task force of 80
people, including nutritionists, dieti­cians,
representatives of professional
organizations, community advocates,
and other people with an under­standing
of California's nutrition edu­cation
needs. California developed
amendments to the 1978 plan and
has since written a 1980 plan, again
using task forces to advise them.
The staff also emphasizes con­tinuing
evaluation. Since California
first began funding nutrition education
activities, the State has closely mon­itored
local projects and has been
able to adjust them in mid-stride as
necessary. "It's also valuable to have
the hard data on hand to show that
nutrition education is important, and
14
that it's working," Mellinger says.
From a "how-to" standpoint, Mel­linger
feels it's important for NET
coordinators to work together and
"think like managers." She explains,
"Nutritionists, dieticians, and
educators who are just now beginning
to take on the role of program ad­ministrators
must operate the NET
program from a good, sound man­agement
base."
Program coordinators, she says,
need to use management principles
in planning and organizing, in select­ing
and training staff, in budgeting
and accounting for funds, and in
seeking out and encouraging the
cooperation of all those people who
can make a positive contribution to
the program.
A lesson learned in California's first
year with NET is to set realistic, at­tainable
goals. For States just start­ing
out, Mellinger has this advice:
"Don't be tempted to try to do every­thing
at once. You run the risk of not
doing anything well."
Next year
some changes
In the last 2 fiscal years, the
California staff has provided $3.5 mil­lion
in State and Federal funds to
schools and community agencies,
believing that's where the program
has to start. Next year they'll expand
the training of food service workers,
work on more training for teachers,
and spend more money on media.
By the end of the next year, they
plan to develop a curriculum package
of nutrition lessons for all grades and
distribute it to all California schools.
Although use of that package is not
mandatory, Mellinger intends "to
make it so good that schools will want
to adopt it."
by Tino Serrano
Teaching
the People
Who Teach
the Kids:
A Look at
One State's
Approach
Nutrition education is very much
in evidence this year in schools
throughout Mississippi, thanks to the
State's Nutrition Education and
Training Program. Through the pro­gram,
600 teachers and school food
service personnel took part in work­shops
this summer, and learned how
to incorporate nutrition education into
the regular school curriculum.
"The reason we're approaching
nutrition education in this manner,"
said State NET coordinator Pat
Keyes, "is that most principals feel
that their programs are already full. If
we wanted a new subject added, they
would probably refuse. But when we
tell them that this will enrich the
existing curriculum, well, then they're
more receptive."
Set priorities
for training
The Mississippi Department of
Education contracted with the Uni­versity
of Mississippi at Oxford to
conduct the actual training work­shops.
The university staff developed
training modules for two groups of
teachers: teachers of kindergarten
through grade 3, and of grades 7
through grade 12. They also de­veloped
a training packet for school
food service personnel. Teachers
from grades 4 through 6 will be
trained next summer.
In deciding which teachers to
train first, Keyes said, the training
coodinators did a "needs assess­ment,"
surveying principals, teachers,
school food service personnel and
others. Most people said priority
should be given to reaching the
Food and Nutrition
youngest and the oldest students
first.
Younger children, they felt, should
receive the training because nutri­tional
habits are formed early in life.
They chose the senior high students
because of the particular problems of
this age group-teenage pregnancy,
for example-and because of a gen­eral
agreement that "if you don't
reach them in senior high school, you
may never reach them."
Jeanette Phillips, associate profes­sor
of home economics at the Univer­sity
of Mississippi, is the nutrition
education project director. She ex­plained
that the curriculum guides
were based on four basic concepts of
nutrition education that were de­veloped
by the Interagency Commit­tee
on Nutrition Education.
In general, the concepts define nu­trition
and nutrients, stress the im­portance
of proper food handling, and
explain that nutritional needs vary,
depending on an individual's age,
sex, health, and activities. ·
For grades 7 through 12, there are
two modules-one on basic food
patterns and one on weight control.
Phillips said they decided to include a
separate module on weight control
because "this is the number one
problem."
"We have a lot of teenage girls
going on diets that are harmful to
their health," she said. "Many times
we see teenage girls who are
anemic."
The training packet for school food
service personnel deals with nutrition
and food preparation, and suggests
ways managers can work with
teachers to teach nutrition in the
classroom and cafeteria. It suggests
bolding tasting parties to introduce
new foods and dishes; decorating
bulletin boards with nutrition informa­tion;
and organizing Youth Advisory
Councils to involve students in food
service activities.
15
Twenty
workshops
From June through August, two
teams conducted a total of 20, 3-day
workshops around the State. Each
team included four teachers and an
evaluator, who administered tests
and kept records. The effectiveness
of the teaching was measured by pre­and
post-testing.
The teams used a variety of
teaching techniques-lectures, skits,
puppet shows, films, slides, and
tasting parties. Each workshop par­ticipant
received a $100 stipend
which could be used to cover the cost
of 3 hours of credit from the Univer­sity
of Mississippi.
During the school year, participants
are expected to provide at least 5
hours of nutrition education in their
classrooms or cafeterias. Next spring,
the university will hold follow-up
workshops, where revised curriculum
guides will be distributed and
teachers and managers can share
their experiences.
by Linda Klein
16
Teaching
the Kids:
From
Preschoolers
to High
Schoolers
NET in a
High
School
The smell of burning food drifts
down the hallways of Nova High
School in Redding, California. A
casual observer might envision a
cooking project gone aflame in the
home economics class. But ninth
grade students at Nova know better.
It's the science class, burning lunch
again as students do experiments to
find the calorie content of foods.
At Nova, it's a regular occurrence
for the science class to be burning
lunch, just as it's normal for all the
classes to be experimenting with,
reading up on, or writing about food
and nutrition. Largely because of the
efforts of school home economist Pat
Binkeley over the past 3 years, the
courses of each department now in­clude
some aspect of nutrition edu­cation.
The math class, for example,
studies the Recommended Daily Al­lowances
of specific nutrients. Geog­raphy
students read about world
health, cultural eating patterns, and
world food problems. English classes
discuss restaurant menus, and stu­dents
write papers about their food
choices. Science classes study the
chemistry of foods and do experi­ments,
like dehydrating milk. A new
class, Western Literature, is studying
foods of the early West, grinding corn
into flour and making stew.
In their personal growth classes,
students keep food diaries, put to­gether
individual calorie and exercise
guides, and collect food literature.
Children with learning disabilities re­ceive
individualized nutrition training,
and physical education classes in­clude
daily nutrition lessons.
That the nutrition lessons are hav­ing
a positive influence on these
young people and their eating habits
may come as a surprise to some. The
students are all ninth graders, 14- to
15-year olds, with a history of eating
that they like. What's more, readily
available just across the street is the
"competition"-a variety of snack
foods with little or no nutritional value.
But there are positive forces at
work, says Pat Binkeley, especially
the country's current high interest in
physical fitness and nutrition. By first
winning the support of teachers, she
has parlayed that interest into an en­thusiastically
supported, schoolwide
nutrition education program.
Began with
State funds
The nutrition education program's
birth certificate is a 1976 letter from
the State Department of Education
announcing the availability of State
funds. Binkeley joined the staff as the
result of that offer and a Nova
teacher's idea for a weight-loss class
for overweight students.
In the nutrition program's first year,
school year 1976-1977, Binkeley fo­cused
her efforts on setting up the
weight-loss class. The class concen­trated
on nutrition plans for students
and was reinforced with general nu­trition
workshops for students and
their parents.
During her second year, Binkeley
continued the weight-loss class and
began after-school nutrition work­shops
for teachers. Participating
teachers were given a unit of credit
for attending and were encouraged to
include nutrition information materials
Nova students learn
to read labels for
product ingredients.
Reference to commer­cial
products does not
imply endorsement or
discrimination by USDA.
Food and Nutrition
in their classes.
Last year, when the Nutrition Edu­cation
and Training Program came
into being, Nova became eligible for
the additional Federal funding for nu­trition
projects, and Pat Binkeley sold
the Nova faculty on the concept of in­cluding
some nutrition education in
every core class.
Weight loss
class continues
Today, the weight-loss class is still
offered as a daily, elective class open
to all students. It involves elements of
psychology and exercise as well as
nutrition and food preparation. Class
members weigh in daily and keep
food diaries of what they have eaten
and why. Students discuss with each
other their feelings about themselves
and their eating habits.
They also learn how to prepare
low-calorie recipes and, through a va­riety
of activities, study the basics of
nutrition. Students have: compiled a
book of low-calorie snack ideas; as­sembled
a library of books, film strips,
and games which focus on nutrition;
held nutrition spelling bees; made up
packages of fictitious foods to better
understand what to look for on labels;
and developed their own food com­mercials
about school videotape
December 1979
equipment. Workshops for parents
also continue. Topics include label­ing,
food advertising, nutritious
snacking, as well as food and nutri­tion
basics.
Results are
encouraging
Since she first began the nutrition
program back in 1976, Pat Binkely
has been watching for results. The
first encouraging signs were changes
in attitudes and eating habits of stu­dents
enrolled in the weight-loss
class. There are now indications of
obvious, if slow, changes in the at­titudes
and habits of other students,
as well.
In the cafeteria, more students are
eating complete Type A lunches, in­stead
of choosing a Ia carte items
from the snack bar. Salad bar and
diet plate lunches are extremely pop­ular.
And for snacks, students have
asked the school to sell more
"healthful" foods, like granola bars,
nuts, and raisins, as opposed to can­dies
and other foods with less nutri­tional
value.
Several teachers report they have
enthusiastic student audiences for
the nutrition lessons in their classes.
And parents, too, have commented
on what's happening. "I've had par-ents
tell me they've noticed their chil­dren
preparing low-calorie, nutritious
snacks and meals at home," Binkeley
said.
Has fostered
strong support
With the nutrition education cur­riculum
now established, Binkeley is
working to keep interest high. She
meets with teachers at least twice a
year-once to develop their nutrition
education plans, and a second time
to check the progress they've made.
She's invited newspaper reporters
and other people from the media to
her parent and teacher workshops,
and she's asked the PTA to display
general nutrition material in the halls.
Periodically she sends a nutrition
newsletter home to parents to keep
the whole family up to date.
This year, hundreds of California
schools and child care centers will
begin participating in the Nutrition
Education and Training Program for
the first time. Because staff at Nova
have proven their approach has
worked, the school will be among
those model projects other California
schools will use as examples in de­veloping
nutrition lessons of their
own.
by Tino Serrano
NET ina
Child Care
Center
While Lily and Kim sprinkle the
sesame seeds over their still-warm
sesame surprise rolls, Audrey and
her friends are across the room ex­plaining
to Mr. Owl what they had for
breakfast. Near the window Pam and
Carla have their hands in the "Magic
Box" and suspect that the item
hidden inside is a carrot.
The children are all preschoolers
attending the Chinatown Community
Children's Center, a bilingual and
bicultural child care center serving,
predominately, the Chinese popula­tion
of San Francisco's Richmond
District. Learning activities at the
18
center involve the children directly in
lessons which help them grow emo­tionally,
psychologically, and socially.
What makes the Chinatown Cen­ter's
nutrition training program in­teresting
is the age and background
of the children who attend and the
special tools needed to teach them
better, and often new, eating habits.
They are preschoolers, age 3 to 5
years old; almost all are from low­income
families who have recently
immigrated to the U.S.; and fewer
than 5 percent speak English. They
recognize few domestic foods and
know very little about their own native
foods.
The heart of nutrition education at
the Chinatown Center is a diverse
collection of activities intended to
teach some of the basics of good nu­trition.
The activities give these
youngsters enough of a grasp of the
fundamentals to prepare them for the
more complex nutrition training they
will receive when they begin school.
Teach
the basics
"All of the activities capitalize on
the children's natural tendencies,"
explained Theresa Wong, nutrition
project director. "These children can­not
sit still, so we direct their energy
into songs, fingerplays, and games."
In one game, the children choose an
exercise, like running, walking, or
Food and Nutrition
jumping. Afterwards they receive
peanuts in proportionate amounts to
illustrate that the most strenous ac­tivities
require the most "fuel."
The puppet theater and storytime
activities package nutrition informa­tion
in a form that will both entertain
and instruct preschoolers. In their
daily discussions with the handpup­pet,
Mr. Owl, and his puppet friends,
the children discuss what they had for
breakfast; why it was a balanced
meal or why it wasn't; and other gen­eral
food topics.
Use simple
visuals
Since the children cannot read, and
many, in fact, can hardly speak, the
center uses a lot of simple visuals.
On the "storyboard," cut-outs of
Farmer Brown and his family depict
lessons on foods and how they grow.
To illustrate food and growth, the
class raised a rabbit and learned by
direct observation that food was
necessary for his health and growth.
The center's staff lets the children
"make a mess." Sure-fire mess­making
activities are the cooking
exercises. Some exercises are for
groups of five to eight, and others are
for groups of two or three.
Whenever they cook, children
share with classmates what they
have prepared. They often get to take
samples home to their parents, too.
The center staff has compiled their
cooking experiences into a cookbook
of recipes.
In Theresa Wong's words, "The
pieces are coming together." She
feels a lot of the children, and their
parents, are learning about better
nutrition. There is statistical evidence
of their new nutrition awareness, as
well as more subtle, though equally
important, informal observations to
support that conclusion.
In the 7 months between plate
waste surveys conducted this year,
children at the Chinatown Center re-
December 1979
duced by 39 percent the amount of
meat they were wasting. By compari­son,
during the same time period,
there was a 59-percent increase in
meat waste among children in a
neighboring control group, supplied
similar meals by the same central
kitchen. Cooked vegetable waste at
the Chinatown Center decreased 42
percent, salad waste decreased 20
percent, and milk waste decreased
53 percent.
Accepting
new foods
"These kids are gobbling up fresh
fruits, most of them for the first time in
their lives," said Wong, "and I think
their acceptance of the new foods is
the result of their greater appreciation
for them.
"The children are realizing that
food doesn't just appear magically in
stores," she continued, "someone put
a lot of work into raising it-making
sure it received the water, sunlight
and time it needed to grow. That les­son
is reinforced by growing foods in
class.
"The children realize, now, that
food is something precious," she
added, "and something they
shouldn't waste."
The new nutrition awareness is
spreading into the homes as well.
Wong attributes this to the frequent
nutrition workshops the staff has with
parents, and to students discussing
with parents what they've learned.
"Parents who used to bring sweets in
on holidays are now coming in with
nuts, fresh fruits, raisins, and fruit
juice," the nutrition project director
said.
"By teaching these children the ab­solute
basics of nutrition," she added,
"we're planting a seed. We do not
expect to see it sprout tomorrow, but
it's there, and will become more ob­vious
in the next couple of years.
Only after the seed has been allowed
to develop can there be a blossom."
by Tino Serrano
19
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
Oovosoon of Public Documents. Washongtcn. 0 C 20402
Official Business
Penalty for Pnvate Use. $300
Published six times a year by the
Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. De­partment
of Agriculture, Washington,
D.C. 20250.
Bob Bergland
Secretary of Agriculture
Carol Tucker Foreman
Assistant Secretary of Agriculture
Bob Greenstein
Administrator
Food and Nutrition Service
Jan Kern, Editor
Jan Proctor, Art Director
Yearly subscription: $5.00 domestic,
$6.25 foreign. Single copies: 85 cents
domestic, $1.10 foreign. Send sub­scription
orders to: Superintendent of
Documents, Government Printing Of­fice,
Washington, D.C. 20402.
The Secretary of Agriculture has de­termined
that the publication of this
periodical is necessary. in the trans­action
of the public business required
by law of this Department. The use of
funds for printing this publication was
approved by the Director of the Office
of Management and Budget through
September 30, 1980.
Prints of photos may be obtained
from Photo Library, U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
20250.
All programs of the U.S. Department
of Agriculture are available to
everyone without regard to race,
creed, color, sex or national origin.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
POSTAGE
& FEES PAID
U.S. DEPT.
OF
AGRICULTURE
AGR101
THIRD CLASS BLK. AT.
PERMIT NUMBER .005-5