COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Three to five-year-old children are learning the importance of healthy, locally grown food.
"Food is Elementary" is a food education curriculum the Child Development Council of Franklin County is using for its Head Start program.
It teaches more than 3,000 pre-school students the importance of eating nutritious food, how to grow food in gardens and healthy eating habits all before they reach kindergarten.
The students learn about the food pyramid and have a chance to taste the foods they learn about.
Local Matters is sponsoring the program. The non-profit group's mission is to build supply and demand for local, sustainably grown food and provide equal access to that food regardless of income level.
Later in the spring, the kids will learn about gardening and there is also a veggie van.
"People who have food stamps … can use the food stamps and buy fresh vegetables, some of it organic," said Cheryl Foster, of the Child Development Council.
"It's really a great age to teach about the food because from 3 to 5 years old, they're just like sponges, they're absorbing everything. They're so excited about what they're learning. So to me, this is a great age to teach about food and nutrition," said Rachael Smith, a Local Matters food educator.
The program tries to prevent childhood obesity and Type 2 Diabetes. 14 percent of children ages 2 through 5 are considered obese, and Ohio is the 17th heaviest state in the country, according to the Columbus Health Department.
The children take home what they've learned in the classroom -- from exercising and washing their hands to questions about planting.
"I've had a lot of questions about growing food at home, in the back yard and in community gardens and Local Matters is trying to teach people and connect them with growing their own food," said Trisha Dehnbostel, of Local Matters.
The idea is that if children learn how to take care of their bodies early in life, the knowledge will last a lifetime, helping turn around the statistics on childhood obesity.
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