Empire Head Start families get fresh, free food

Kids dug into baskets of celery and green onions. Moms picked among bright red tomatoes, brown spuds, oranges, carrots, lettuce and radishes.

“They love eating – more fruit than veggies,” said a very pregnant Norma Estrada as her youngest son picked out a loaf of bread from a bottom shelf that she couldn’t easily reach. “They eat a lot of everything,” she said. “This is really helpful.”

The fresh, free food went quickly, even with limits by family size, at Tuesday’s kickoff event for a school garden at Empire Head Start, just around the corner from Empire Elementary School.

As 5-year-old Alice Zeiger hefted a large bunch of celery, mom Charlotte Hill said Alice was the family’s best vegetable eater. “She likes carrots, broccoli and bell peppers – and raspberries, when they don’t want an arm and a leg for them,” Hill said.

“They like the fruit more, but it’s better for them to eat the other,” said Jody Oliveira as she loaded vegetables in her bag for her family of five.

Tuesday’s event built on Head Start’s Harvest of the Month, which introduces preschoolers to new fruits and vegetables, said Rosemary Sandoval, Head Start director for the Empire Union School District. The kids learn about a new food in lessons and games, then eat it at a meal.

“What they’re doing at Head Start is amazing. This is happening at all the Head Starts, that’s why we’re positioning ourselves with them. They’re talking about (fresh food). They’ve already gained this appreciation for it,” said Elizabeth Greenlee-Harrison, CEO of Inter-Faith Ministries.

The Empire food giveaway will help feed 229 people in 46 families, Greenlee-Harrison said. Empire will get monthly food deliveries, but a site has not been finalized, she said.

The youngsters got to plant a blueberry stick to take home, and helped start a school garden. Both came courtesy of Champions for Change, an anti-obesity program run by the state Department of Public Health.

Helpers said the kale, banana and pineapple smoothies were a hit, too.

This story was originally published March 24, 2015 at 7:45 PM with the headline "Empire Head Start families get fresh, free food."