First lady announces grant addressing hunger
By Steve Herring
Published in News on September 20, 2017 5:50 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
First Lady of North Carolina Kristin Cooper speaks during the United HealthCare and Whole Kids Foundation grant presentation at North Duplin Jr./Sr. High School Monday morning.
CALYPSO -- N.C. first lady Kristin Cooper Monday morning was at North Duplin Jr./Sr. High School to announce a statewide initiative to address hunger, to support nutrition education and to talk about the state's health challenges.
North Duplin is among 22 schools and YMCAs statewide to receive $2,000 grants through the United Heath Foundation and Whole Kids Foundation.
The grants can be used to build or expand an existing vegetable garden and to provide education resources about agriculture, caring for the environment and maintaining healthy lifestyles.
"Fellow first lady Dorothy McAuliffe (of Virginia) said it best, 'You can't be hungry to learn if you are just plain hungry,'" Cooper said. "Reducing child hunger is a bipartisan issue. It is not only our moral imperative, it's critical for economic stability, work force development and education.
"Additionally, we know from our recent experience in Milwaukee at a convening of first spouses that adverse childhood experiences in social and emotional development cannot be underestimated. We must focus on the whole child. When we think about children's academic achievements and having access to healthy meals, they are paramount to their success and overall well-being."
Cooper said she and her husband are committed to improving the well-being of children and their families in the state.
She said their mission closely aligns with the United Health Foundation and Whole Kids Foundation.
"Together we can help to reduce food deserts and create more ways for children to have access to healthy food," she said. "The governor and I would like to see an expansion of innovative school breakfast programs so that more students start the day with something healthy.
"It is simple really. None of us can concentrate when we are hungry. The office of the first lady is dedicated to improving the lives of children in North Carolina. We are working to reduce food insecurity and teach children and families about gardening and the environment."
The garden at the governor's mansion is being renovated to introduce more native plants to attracts birds and bees, she said. The mansion's vegetable garden also was revamped to include items served in the home, she said.
"We recently made fig jam and scuppernong jelly, and we hope to pickle some peppers" Cooper said. "I am excited to see schools carrying on this work to use gardens as a teaching tool. It is healthy for students to roll up their sleeves and dig in the dirt."
Gardening is cathartic and educational, not to mention fun, Cooper said.
Dr. Robert Waterhouse, medical director for North Carolina for United HealthCare, called it a unique privilege to make grants to help promote gardening.
"This is all in line with the mission of United HealthCare which is to help people live healthier lives," he said. "The gardens can help in that fashion both through teaching the art of gardening -- to produce vegetables that are nutritious and promote health as well as to cultivate an environment that can help create a healthier North Carolina."
The state has challenges related to health and nutrition, he said.
For example, 16 percent of children ages 10 to 17 have obesity issues while more than 30 percent of adults have obesity issues, Waterhouse said.
Also, 10 percent of all adults have diabetes, he said.
They are all challenges that created opportunities to do things better, he said.
United HealthCare and United Health Foundation are honored to be working with the Whole Kids Foundation in that area, he said.
Whole Kids Foundation is a nonprofit started by Whole Foods Market to improve children's nutrition, said Nona Edwards, foundation president and executive director.
Edwards said that the United Health Foundation has funded 50 grants nationwide.
"So it really is how they view our families and communities becoming more and more healthy," she said. "This would not be possible without the commitment of the leadership here at (the North Duplin) campus."
School leaders set the tone for what the children do, she said.
"I hope you all will come back and see it (garden) in a season because it will be growing beautifully," she said. "I can't wait. What we are here to celebrate today is that kids will make good food choices if we, the adults, have the courage to give it to them.
"We know from our all of our experience in almost 4,000 gardens around the country that when kids grow food they eat real food. We know from new research that when kids grow food that as young adults they eat 15 percent more fresh produce throughout their lives. It simply means those healthy habits are long lasting."
North Duplin Jr./Sr. High School Principal Brock Ahrens said most people already connect nutrition with health.
"If you go one step further connect health with educational goals," he said. "We have effectively connected nutrition to academic performance. If kids aren't in position to learn because they are hunger, and if they don't get enough nutritious food at home, the schools that don't make the nutrition-performance connection in the cafeteria end up undermining what they are trying to do in the classroom."
Studies link good nutrition to learning readiness, academic achievement, discipline and emotional problems, he said.
A hungry chid is not equipped to learn, Ahrens said.