by Maria DiMaggio, Healthy Waltham Project Coordinator (and Waltham Public School parent)
This unassuming-looking piece of fruit has become a staple in my house and a lunchbox favorite. Golden brown in color, it looks to be half pear, half apple. We discovered it by accident during a day of apple-picking at Belkin Lookout Farm in Natick. Turns out these folks also grow a lot of Asian pears. Instead of apples, we came home with bags and bags of Asian pears.
Besides tasting pretty good (crunchy like an apple but sweet like a pear) there are several other things we like about them:
They keep for weeks in the fridge
They can be substituted for apples and pears in baked goods with excellent results
When peeled and cut, they don’t turn brown for hours
This last one, not turning brown, makes them great for sending in a lunchbox. My kids prefer apples to be cut up rather than biting into a whole apple. However, most apples turn brown quickly. After several hours, cut up apples don’t look that appealing. But Asian pears will generally keep their color for several hours at room temperature, and for 24 hours in the fridge (cut them up and store in a plastic container).
These fruits can be quite pricey in winter and summer. But in the fall, locally-grown Asian pears can be found at the grocery store at a decent price. More information on Asian pears can be found at Fruits & Veggies – More Matters
On a beautiful fall day, well over 200 people came to the Waltham Fields Community Farm to connect with Waltham’s agricultural past at the first “Waltham Farm Day.” The September 26 event was co-sponsored by the Waltham Fields Community Farm, Healthy Waltham, the Mayor’s Office, and the Waltham Public Schools. Young and old enjoyed apple cider pressing, digging for sweet potatoes, cleaning shallots and garlic, a composting demonstration, and an art project. Presentations on cooking greens and drying herbs were some of the other activities enjoyed by attendees.
Here are some highlights of the day from the Waltham Community Access Channel:
- Introduce vocabulary related to plant life cycles
- Connect themes of seasons, life cycles, and gardening to the children’s lives
- Obtain viable pumpkin seeds to plant next spring
Science vocabulary:
Life-cycle
Frost
Rot
Book vocabulary:
Fierce (intense, angry)
Jack-o’-lantern (pumpkin with a face)
Spell (magic)
Wrinkled (wrinkled clothes have many lines & folds in them)
Beneath (the snow)
Faded (lost color)
Withered (leaves)
Generous (Tim was generous. He gave away all of the pumpkins but the one he kept for himself.)
Supplies:
1 big pumpkin
sharp serrated knife
Newspaper
Plastic bowels or other containers
Paper towels
Dry-erase board, chalkboard, or smartboard
Set-Up:
Spread thick newspaper over tables. Set a plastic bowl or container on each table.
Keep pumpkin at the front of the room so that children entering can see and touch it.
Lesson:
1) Gather as a group on the floor or in chairs with the teacher at the front with a dry-erase board (or chalkboard, or Smartboard).
Introduce themes of seasons, life cycles, and kids gardening.
Go over key science vocabulary.
2) Go over key vocabulary found in the bookPumpkin Jack
Read Pumpkin Jack
3) Make connections between the story and the children’s lives at home/school.
Ask who has carved a pumpkin with their family? Seen jack-o-lanterns in their neighborhoods?
Who has seen pumpkins growing in the garden at school? At another farm or garden?
Who has ever planted a seed? During what season? Who has eaten pumpkin seeds? What season?
How many seeds are in a pumpkin? How many seeds does it take to grow a pumpkin plant? How many pumpkins can one plant grow?
4) Teacher carves the top off the pumpkin and lifts it to show all the seeds. Then everyone separates into smaller groups at their tables.
At each table, the children have a turn to reach into the pumpkin and grab a handful of seeds and “guts.”
Using their hands, they separate the seeds from the “guts” and put the clean seeds into a container to save them.
5) Clean up!
When the whole table is finished, they can go wash their hands in the bathroom.
b. The teacher collects all the clean pumpkin seeds and, outside of class time, washes them with water in a colander and spreads them out on clean paper towels to dry overnight. Then, they must be stored over the winter in a cool, dry place. To be planted by the same students in the Spring!
What’s on your Table? is Healthy Waltham’s vegetable cookbook compiled in collaboration with the Waltham Fields Community Farm. This excellent resource is arranged alphabetically by vegetable. In addition to recipes, there is nutrition information, storage tips, and more. Download it by clicking here.
Waltham Connections is Healthy Waltham’s newsletter. Read our fall/winter 2009 edition by opening this post and clicking here for English version or Spanish translation
Vegetable of the Month for October 2009 is: Sweet Potato!
This vegetable is very nutritious and easy to prepare. Featured on the Waltham Public Schools’ lunch menus throughout October, you may see sweet potatoes served as fries, baked wedges, or even in a cake or muffin! Here is an easy way to prepare sweet potatoes at home. This recipe comes from the Waltham Public Schools cafeterias:
Baked Sweet Potato Wedges
Ingredients:
4 medium sweet potatoes cut into 1/2 inch thick wedges
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and stir in sugar. Place sweet potato wedges in bowl and drizzle on melted butter mixture. Toss to coat evenly. Arrange potato wedges on a baking sheet and bake 15 minutes in the oven, turn them over, continue baking for another 15 minutes or until tender.
A Healthy Community is where people come together to make their community better for themselves, their family, their friends, their neighbors, and others. A Healthy Community creates ongoing dialogue, generates leadership opportunities for all, embraces diversity, connects people and resources, fosters a sense of community, and shapes its future.
What are the Healthy Community principles?
Healthy Communities is an approach to understanding and improving health and well-being that is built on decades of work and the thinking of individuals/organizations around the world. The following principles are key to enriching the work within communities.
A broad definition of “health.” Defining health broadly to include the full range of quality of life issues. It recognizes that most of what creates health is lifestyle and behavior related. Other major factors are genetic endowment and the socio-economic, cultural, and physical environment.
A broad definition of “community.” Using a broad definition of what makes up a community, individuals and partnerships can address their shared issues in the most fruitful way possible.
Shared vision from community values. A community’s vision is the story of its desired future. A community’s vision reflects the core values of its diverse members.
Quality of life for everyone. Striving to ensure that the basic emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of everyone in the community are attended to.
Diverse citizen participation and ownership. All people taking active and ongoing responsibility for themselves, their families, their property, and their community. A leader’s work is to find common ground among participants, so that everyone is empowered to take direct action for health and influence community directions.
Focus on “systems change.” Looking at how community services are delivered, how information is shared, how local government operates, and how business is conducted.
Build capacity using local assets and resources. Starting from existing community strengths and successes and investing in the enhancement of a community’s “civic infrastructure.”
Benchmark and measure progress and outcomes. Using performance measures and community indicators to help expand the flow of information and accountability to all citizens, as well as to reveal whether residents are heading toward or away from their stated goals. Timely, accurate information is vital to sustaining long-term community improvement.
Youth development. Recruiting and engaging youth to be full partners in community-based efforts.
Source: Darvin Ayre, Gruffie Clough, and Tyler Norris, Principals, Community Initiatives, LLC (2006).
This fall, fresh fruit and vegetable snacks will be provided free twice a week to students at the Whittemore and Stanley Elementary Schools through a Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) Grant. The Waltham Food Service Department applied for this grant in collaboration with Healthy Waltham. The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), through the Mass. Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The FFVP began as a pilot project authorized by Congress in 2002 as a part of the effort to combat childhood obesity by helping children learn to make healthier food choices. The Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008, also known as the Farm Bill, permanently authorized the program nationwide. The program is currently limited to elementary schools with 50% or more participation in free and reduced-price lunch. Schools are encouraged to support the program with classroom activities that focus on healthy eating and the importance of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Green beans, also known as snap beans, are not always green. There are yellow, deep purple, and even a purple-speckled variety called Dragon’s Tongue. Some snap beans change color after they are cooked. Dragon’s Tongue beans lose their purple speckles, and the deep purple beans turn green. Snap beans are rich in vitamins A, B1, B2, calcium, and potassium and retain more nutrients if cooked uncut.
