TABLE fuels healthy eating

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article attributed Chesley Kalnen as saying one in five children in North Carolina is at risk for hunger and food insecurity. She said one in four children in Orange County is at risk for hunger and food insecurity. The article has been amended to reflect this change.

In a recent role reversal, Chapel Hill and Carrboro children are teaching their parents to eat their vegetables.

TABLE, a nonprofit organization based in Carrboro, launched its newest program, TABLE for Two, this month — which is National Farm to School month.

TABLE for Two aims to introduce children to healthy eating habits by bringing together UNC students and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools elementary students from low-income families.

The organization works with three after school programs once a month, serving approximately 60 children in the school system.

Chesley Kalnen, a UNC senior and director of public relations for TABLE, said one in four children in Orange County is at risk for hunger and food insecurity.

TABLE volunteers bring ingredients and fresh produce from local farms to different after school programs in the community.

“Teaching these children in their own environments allows us to address the issue of hunger and health in a sensitive manner while also alleviating hunger and teaching them habits for the future,” Kalnen said.

Community members, including UNC students, serve as shift leaders for the program. They demonstrate a recipe for a snack and help the children learn to prepare it on their own.

On Monday, shift leaders visited the Dobbins Hill Family Resource Center to help students make “striped rollups,” a snack made of a whole grain tortilla, string cheese, bell peppers and arugula.

Each month TABLE develops a new recipe to teach the participants.

“The school children are sent home with the recipe and enough ingredients to make two snacks at home with a family member,” TABLE program director Ashton Chatham said.

“The goal is that by exposing the students to healthy food that they might not have encountered before while teaching them how to feed themselves, these children will develop healthy lifestyle habits,” she said.

Kalnen said Chapel Hill and Carrboro students from low-income households are often at risk for hunger when school is not in session.

At-risk students can receive free and reduced lunches when in school, but they often go hungry on weekends and school vacations, Kalnen said.

Chatham, a UNC alumna, began volunteering with TABLE as a shift leader when she was a sophomore at UNC.

“If we don’t do our part, there will be weekends and times when these children don’t have food and they’re hungry,” she said.

TABLE, which was formed in 2008 to help emphasize healthy foods and lifestyles, aims to combat child hunger and childhood obesity.

“It might seem counterintuitive that obesity would be a sign of hunger, but what we do know is that healthier foods cost more and unhealthy foods cost less and are more accessible,” said Stacy Shelp, spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Department.

TABLE is funded by individual donors and businesses.

Medi-Weightloss Clinics in Durham is one of the organization’s partners.

With the help of Farmer Foodshare, local growers donate their gleaned produce, which is used in TABLE’s Weekend Meal Backpack program.

Some children also have their backpacks filled with nonperishables and fresh produce when they leave school on Friday.

“The important takeaway is teaching kids to make healthy decisions — and making those decisions with their families,” Chatham said.

Contact the desk editor at city@dailytarheel.com.