Wegmans Helps Fit Families Eat Well, Live Well
By: Tina Shively
Updated: March 17, 2011
For 20 years, Wegmans has been teaching students about the food they eat.
Mrs. Saxon's 4th grade class headed to Wegmans Wednesday to learn about eating healthy. It's part of the grocery chain's Eat Well Live Well program, teaching more then 208,000 students since 1991.
Kids tour through every major aisle of the grocery store: produce, dairy, meat, bakery and seafood, learning as they go and the USDA guidelines are updated and followed. For example, in the bakery, kids learn where wheat is grown in America's "bread basket" and how bread is made with yeast combining geography and science. Registered Dietitian Trish Kazacos says the program "tries to encourage kids to be adventurous and not be afraid of trying new foods. Being open to trying new foods encourages healthy habits later on."
Sam Reisinger found out eating too much bread packs on the calories which could be bad news if your favorite food is pizza. Now he realizes, balance is the way to go. "You can have a banana with your pizza... and like spaghetti and meatballs with salad and stuff like that."
New to the program this year: The Half-Plate Healthy contest. It teaches kids that if they fill half their plate with fruits and vegetables, they can fill the other half with whatever they want. Bringing home lessons from the Eat Well, Live Well program can help transform families into fit families. "Like a light bulb goes on inside their head, like they learned something they didn't know before and I love it, you know, because I'm the one that taught them that."
Mrs. Saxon's 4th grade class headed to Wegmans Wednesday to learn about eating healthy. It's part of the grocery chain's Eat Well Live Well program, teaching more then 208,000 students since 1991.
Kids tour through every major aisle of the grocery store: produce, dairy, meat, bakery and seafood, learning as they go and the USDA guidelines are updated and followed. For example, in the bakery, kids learn where wheat is grown in America's "bread basket" and how bread is made with yeast combining geography and science. Registered Dietitian Trish Kazacos says the program "tries to encourage kids to be adventurous and not be afraid of trying new foods. Being open to trying new foods encourages healthy habits later on."
Sam Reisinger found out eating too much bread packs on the calories which could be bad news if your favorite food is pizza. Now he realizes, balance is the way to go. "You can have a banana with your pizza... and like spaghetti and meatballs with salad and stuff like that."
New to the program this year: The Half-Plate Healthy contest. It teaches kids that if they fill half their plate with fruits and vegetables, they can fill the other half with whatever they want. Bringing home lessons from the Eat Well, Live Well program can help transform families into fit families. "Like a light bulb goes on inside their head, like they learned something they didn't know before and I love it, you know, because I'm the one that taught them that."
