Snipes Farm Makes Lessons in Healthy Eating Fun for Lower Bucks Students
The Snipes Farm & Education Center program teaches students how to become curious food detectives while trying locally grown, organic vegetables
Morrisville, PA
April 2023
Who said kids don’t like vegetables?!
“I discovered I like broccoli!” a pigtailed girl exclaimed brightly in Laura Dyer’s 3rd grade class in the Morrisville Intermediate School. The
8-year-old confessed she did not like the tree-shaped vegetable when she was younger.
The third grader’s revelation came during a lesson in nutrition education provided by the Snipes Farm & Education Center, an organic farm near the town’s intermediate school where the lessons were held.
The 7th generation Snipes Farm has been working with the Morrisville district for about 20 years, showing students how to grow vegetables at their schools and to understand the value of healthy food.
On this particular day, Snipes Farm educators Melanie Douty-Snipes and Odalis Macario were presenting the last of seven lessons in nutrition to teacher Laura Dyer’s third-grade class. The students were among 470 Morrisville K-5 students to have enjoyed these lessons this past spring (2023).
ENJOYED these lessons?
Yes, indeed, and who would have thought?
“Here comes Farmer Mel and Farmer O!” students had been heard exclaiming excitedly when they learned Melanie and Odalis had arrived to give another nutrition lesson.
The lesson on this particular day focused on taste buds and how they work. If you put your tongue under a microscope (don’t try this at home), you will find not just hundreds but thousands of tiny bumps, each one a taste bud, Odalis explained.
How many thousands?
“Ten thousand,” guessed a girl with long black hair and a yellow butterfly T-shirt.
Correct! The girl flashed a big smile, surprised she got it right.
And each taste bud has a particular job, depending on where it sits on the tongue, Odalis continued. The important thing to remember, she said, is that our taste buds are constantly changing—something we may not have liked before, we love to eat now. Something we may not like today, we may love next time we try it, or in a year or two. It’s fun to try new things!
Third graders in the Morrisville public schools raise their hands to answer nutrition questions posed by Odalis Macario, a nutrition educator with the Snipes Farm & Education Center.
“We are going to see what our tongue is telling us,” Odalis said as Melanie prepared a paper plate for each child containing small samples of apple, pickle, popcorn, and chocolate. “Is it sweet, salty, bitter or sour? Our tongue can tell us multiple things!”
Melanie and Odalis added sweet, salty, bitter and sour condiments like mango chipotle, umami (miso butter) and coconut cinnamon sugar to the plates. The children cha ed and murmured as they dipped and munched their food samples.
“Mmmm, why is this so good!” exclaimed a boy with a freckled face.
The lessons teach children that fresh vegetables are not only healthy, but also taste good when properly prepared. They also learn to be curious about the foods they eat: what state or country do they come from, what are their ingredients, and what are the nutritional values?
“As food detectives we can ask questions: what am I eating, where did it come from and how does it help me or not? As food explorers we can have food adventures! There are so many delicious things to eat,” Odalis said, repeating an important theme of the lessons.
The "Healthy Food Healthy Us" nutrition education program was made possible with the support of Foundations Community Partnership and EITC funds through Waste Management, Republic Bank and Mid Penn Bancorp. Other support in the past has come from a PA Farm-to-School grant, funds from Bucks County and the Morrisville/Yardley Area Rotary Club.
The most recent nutrition classes concluded a few weeks later with a tour of Snipes Farm, where children saw the growing fields; met the goats, bunnies and other farm animals; walked through the shade of tall trees along the Nature Trail; harvested lettuce and herbs for salad plates, and cautiously approached 30 buzzing beehives where local honey is made.
A team of educators and farmers under the direction of Jonathan Snipes and with the support of the Snipes family are the driving forces behind the work. The Snipes Farm & Education Center provides education to local schools about nutrition, gardening, sustainable organic farming, and the environment.
Seventy percent of the organic produce grown at the farm is dedicated to hunger relief. Fundraising throughout the year helps low income children attend Snipes Farm Day Camp, now in its 15th year.
In her farmhouse kitchen, Melanie explained how the nutrition education program fits into the farm’s larger mission.
“The wisdom and the spirit of the farm ripples out to schools and the wider community,” she said. Eating is one of our main connections to nature and being able to make healthy food choices is one of the most important skills to grow. Good health is everything”
Melanie said programs like this are vital in America “where we are really struggling with an obesity and diabetes epidemic among children. Type 2 diabetes occurs when they eat highly processed, empty-calorie foods.”
The lessons have a broader purpose, too.
“They connect children, teachers and parents to the Earth and source of energy for our lives,” Melanie said. “Trace all that you eat to the Earth, the seas, the rivers, the tropics and the people who work hard to grow it for us. It gives us a lot to think about: botany, economics, justice and stewardship.
“Cooking is an art and healthy cooking can be done creatively on a budget. Eating together is a beautiful, joyful way to build community. Feeding each other is one of the greatest gifts we can offer one another.”
