Our veggies-to-scholars program: Athens-based writer Suzann Roalman creates community with schoolchildren. (Sharing at the table: children's health).

I've never understood the phrase "to veg out" as anything but an oxymoron. As I pass the half-century mark, no longer complacent about cause and effect when it comes to nurturing my body and supporting good health, I find that veggies provide the green gustatory vitality I crave. And I've discovered that many local school children share my preferences, when given a chance.

This story begins on the first day of 2002, when an Athens family experienced devastating loss from fire, including the death of a family member. Initially, I contacted the family about serving as a mentor to one of the children attending our local elementary school. Our weekly visits occurred in the school lunchroom; as they progressed, I began supplementing my visits with an array of fresh organic veggies and dips--standard fare for many readers, but an absolute cornucopia of wonder and delight to many of the children sharing our table.

The response from virtually all the children was immediate and positive: they literally crave carrots, and are willing to try a nibble of just about anything else--broccoli or cauliflower pieces, celery sticks, lentil salad, sea vegetables, or tofu in various forms. What you or I might expect to enjoy at a neighborhood potluck, these children regard as a source of delight and discovery. I began to view my weekly visits with Bonnie and her crowd as an opportunity to enrich their growing and very receptive minds in quite literal and direct fashion. I invited my friend Kat to join us at the table, and she responded with generous enthusiasm: our lunch table was now becoming a weekly picnic, more like a festival, a gustatory event. I was aware that other children, at other tables, were regarding us with longing and interest.

I will give short shrift to the actual content of a typical school lunch menu, other than to say it seems to be short on fresh fruits and veggies, and heavy on processed, breaded and fried entrees, variously described as "chicken/shrimp/steak nuggets," depending on the ground-up animal part contained therein. Judging by the leftovers on the children's plates, it is also enormously unappetizing. Although fruits were sometimes offered as part of the menu, these were usually wax-coated, hard to peel apples and oranges. I didn't notice many children choosing the school's fruit offerings, except when it came in the form of gummy-worms, as it did on at least one occasion.

I could go on about the paltry pickings that pass for food within the school lunch program, but it is not my purpose here to launch into a polemic about corrupt systems of government, mismanaged bureaucracies, bloated and inept budgets, and the inevitable deprivation of children caught up in these systems. I'm reminded of the quote, though I know not its origin, "Never attribute to malice what may be attributed to stupidity," or, more charitably, to ignorance.

Truly, there are great pockets of ignorance within our public school system, that we, as citizens and caring individuals, can begin to address, perhaps just in weekly fashion, for an hour or so, as Kat and I have begun doing. We'd like to expand our program in this forthcoming school year to work on a rotating basis, that each table in the school lunch room is served at least once or twice per semester, rather than creating an "elite" table, as we inadvertently did this past year.

My impression is that schools are welcoming of volunteers, and very eager for support and encouragement of their students. The rewards of our program are immediate, tangible and long-lasting. These children crave authentic and simple food, they love interaction with attentive and caring adults, and it's a great opportunity to teach some very basic social skills, such as the adept use of "please" and "thank you." We worked a lot on common courtesy and manners last year, and most of the children became a lot more comfortable expressing gratitude and appreciation for our efforts.

In closing, I'd like to share a thank-you note I received from the students we've been feeding this past spring:

Thank you for giving us your time, gifts, treats, and care throughout the year. Having you as a part of our class family has introduced us to many new things. Your kindness has made a big difference in our lives. Your friends, (22 signatures follow)

Sure, a cynic could point out that their teacher directed the content of this letter, but I do believe it also expresses an authentic experience that we all shared. If you're hungry for knowledge, enjoyment and experience, please consider joining us at table this fall, or perhaps creating a new community with schoolchildren near you!

Suzann Roalman is a massage therapist, herbalist, and educator, with homes in Athens, GA and Brevard, NC. She welcomes inquiries from anyone at either location interested in following her initiative to mentor schoolchildren in the lunchroom. In Athens she can be reached at 706-546-0114, and in Brevard at 828-966-9612.