DAVIS—
If you’re a parent, you know the deal.
Getting your kids to eat vegetables can be a game of begging, pleading and even force-feeding.
But for 8,500 kids in Davis, the veggies are flying – off the ground and in to their mouths.
Locally grown, and some even growing on school property.
“Their test scores seem to improve because they have a better experience in the cafeteria,” said Dominic Machi, Director of Student Nutritional Services.
You heard that right – the Davis Join Unified School District says vegetables have made their kids test better.
And, Machi says the district has 10 years of data to prove it.
Every day, the district packages at least 1,000 mini-boxes of fresh vegetables. This makes it one of the most extensive farm-to-school programs in the country, voted in a decade ago and funded by Davis taxpayers.
“They are full of energy when they come back to class. They are very talkative,” said Cecilia Vargas.
Vargas teaches 1st grade at Montgomery Elementary School. She says gone are the days of corn dogs in the cafeteria.
“They do talk about what’s healthy, what’s not, how much they like apples,” said Vargas.
Kids that talk about apples? Davis must be something very, very right.
