CORNER BROOK When you pour up a glass of milk, do you ever wonder where it came from?
Well it could have come from Ian Richardson’s dairy farm in Cormack.
Richardson was at Pasadena Elementary on Friday to help serve breakfast to the entire student body and to chat with students about being a farmer.
The Rooting for Health event was an initiative of the Kids Eat Smart Foundation, the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture and the School Milk Foundation.
Richardson has been a dairy farmer for nine years. There are 100 dairy cows on his farm that are milked every day and the milk is sent to St. John’s and processed by Central Dairies.
“Agriculture awareness is really important,” said Richardson of his reason for getting involved.
While helping other volunteers serve a full breakfast of toast, eggs, yogurt, blueberries and milk to about 248 students, Richardson said he would also chat with the kids about the types of things grown and the foods produced in Newfoundland and Labrador.
He said the aim was just “to help kids understand a little where their food comes from.”
The eggs served were donated by farmers and the blueberries were also donated.
Sandra Burden co-ordinated the event for the Kids Eat Smart Foundation.
She said with March being Nutrition Month it was the perfect time to hold a special event in the schools and to involve some of the province’s farmers.
“It’s important for the children to start their day with a healthy breakfast and it’s important for the kids to know March is Nutrition Month and all the aspects of health eating.”
She also said events like Friday’s breakfast help raise awareness among parents and encourage them to become volunteers.
Olga Bellows has a child in Grade 1 at the school and has been co-ordinating Pasadena Elementary’s Breakfast Club for two years.
From Monday to Friday volunteers serve between 100 to 150 children a day. For some, Bellows said, it’s out of necessity, but for others it’s purely a social activity.
She got involved with the program for the kids.
“There’s no reason that any child in our community should be hungry. The program is there, take advantage of it.”
