Elyse, one of our AmeriCorps Members shared this story:
When I first found out my AmeriCorps service term would be dedicated to teaching kids about growing and eating healthy food, I thought there was a good chance it would be an uphill battle. With obesity rates rising and the age of fast food persisting, I feared that my students would not be receptive to harvesting brussels sprouts and making “rainbow salad”. While my term of service thus far has included both challenges and victories in the garden, there was one day in particular that most assuredly felt like a resounding success. That day became known as the day the students ate sorrel.
Sorrel is an interesting member of the school garden plant family. Many home gardeners mistake it for a weed, and quite honestly, it often has the tendency to grow like one. Our sorrel was overtaking potato plants and strawberry bushes, and as we have taught our student gardeners, plants like to have adequate space to grow healthy and strong. Keen on clearing space in the beds, we planned to have the kids tear most of the sorrel out and send it over to the compost bin with the rest of the garden waste. At the last moment, a parent volunteer suggested that we have the kids taste test it rather than toss it straight in the bin. Always up for adding a little adventure to our garden lessons, I happily agreed.
The next class that came to the garden helped to harvest the plethora of sorrel that was spread throughout several beds. At the end of our class period, I had the students gather at our meeting circle and told them that we would actually be eating those pesky greens that we had ripped up from the soil. I can’t say there was a particularly high level of excitement at the prospect. Even so, I asked them to hypothesize what they thought the sorrel leaves would taste like. As expected, many students thought it would taste like spinach due to the resemblance in appearance. A few used the words “bitter” and “watery”. Admittedly, no one used descriptors like “delicious” or “scrumptious”. With that, I passed a leaf around to each kid in the class and on the count of three, we sampled the sorrel. One by one, their faces lit up in surprise and delight. “It tastes like sour apple!”, several fourth graders exclaimed. A few seconds passed, and once again they were enveloped in flavor. A few more students mused, “Now it tastes like mustard!”. Without skipping a beat, the students crowded around the bucket of sorrel eagerly asking for more. The leaves disappeared by the handfuls as students proclaimed that the sorrel tasted even better than candy. I could hardly believe my ears -- tangy greens were better than sugary sweets!
Thus, amidst the occasional uphill battles that I face as an AmeriCorps service member, there are plenty of days like these that remind me of why I am serving. From the very beginning I anticipated that there would be challenges, but I could not have imagined that my term would nevertheless be as fulfilling as it has been. Even after a few short months, I can see gradual changes in the way my students eat. I can truly see the difference I am making, even if it is happening just one leaf at a time.
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