Tue, 06 Apr 2010 10:40a.m.
Should cookies, chips, sweet slices and pies be sold in school Tuck Shops? The new Tuck Shop manager at Auckland’s Marcellin College in Royal Oak, Celia Masinipeni thinks they definitely should be. Her view is:
”The occasional treat is fine. Everything in moderation is my motto, and a little of what they fancy will do our students no harm.”
Sweet treats, however, are only a fraction of what is on sale in the Marcellin College Tuck Shop. Since taking it over this year she has worked with the school’s PFTA to develop a new menu that includes a wide range of healthy foods for students to choose from.
They include trendy meat and salad filled wraps, small quiches, sandwiches, freshly cooked pasta, jars of yoghurt, tubs of fresh fruit salad and apples, bananas and oranges. And although there are pies and moosies they are the healthy kind with the Heart Foundation tick
Coke is not stocked, instead healthy fruit juices, milk shakes and bottled water are proving popular.
At interval and lunch times there are always hordes of students lining up to buy food and drinks. Most of them are spending wisely. Some of the credit for this must go to the Food Technology Department in which students are taught the value of a good diet and how to prepare healthy meals.
The PE Department also strongly encourages students to look after their health as well as keeping them fit. Marcellin is a predominantly Pacifica school and there is a high incidence of diabetes in this community so the PE Department is working with the South Auckland based Diabetes Projects Trust.
This Trust provides its GetWize2Health programme to schools free of charge. The resources include lesson plans, CDs , posters and games. It’s a great programme that has given the students a clear understanding of which foods are high in sugar and fat and are best avoided.
So what do the students think of the new approach at the tuck shop? I asked Year 13 Student Bronson Pio-Talato for his views.
“It’s definitely changed for the better,” he said. “Even the pies have the heart tick and they’re tasty. The mince and cheese pies would have to be my favourite. I’m a Pacific Islander and our community has a high obesity rate so making a change to healthy eating is important. “
The teachers are doing their bit but a school can only do so much. In the end Celia Masinipeni feels that it’s the parents who need to make sure that their kids eat healthy food .
“What they buy from the Tuck Shop is only part of their daily diet, every other meal and what they eat in between are what also count.”
Making lunches at home is cheaper than buying. Teenagers can easily make their own and the holidays are a great time to let them start. For instance a selection of salad ingredients such as grated carrots and cheese, chopped celery and shredded lettuce will keep in the fridge for several days, each in a lidded plastic bowl. With some tuna or ham these make a quick and tasty filling for wraps. Add a piece of fruit and there’s a healthy lunch.
And if they do feel the need for a small but not too unhealthy indulgence here’s a recipe which came from a family friend who named them cannon balls. Although round in appearance, they are guaranteed not to be lethal and they’re easy and quick to make. They can also be frozen and taken out as needed to tuck into a lunch box.
If you would like to find out more about the South Auckland based Diabetes Projects Trust. Lifestyle Programme and the range of services they provide aimed at preventing type 2 diabetes and its complications go to:
http://www.dpt.org.nz/community.html
Fairley’s Cannon Balls
Ingredients:
¼ cup of butter
¾ cup of sugar
½ cup of grated raw apple or pear
1½ tablespoons of cocoa
pinch of salt
1½ cups of rolled oats
½ cup of chopped nuts
½ teaspoon of vanilla
Method:
Melt butter in a saucepan.
Add the sugar, apple, cocoa and salt
Boil together for 1 minute
Remove from the heat
Add the rolled oats, nuts and vanilla
Mix thoroughly and drop by teaspoon onto a greased oven tray
When cold form into balls and roll in coconut.