By Mindy Valone
On Tuesday, May 23rd, fifth graders at Julian Curtiss School were treated to a special lesson in nutrition from local entrepreneur Lauren Berger of Get REAL Foods and her son Yale Quarterback Ben Finkel. The fun and interactive curriculum called REAL Food is Fuel, engages students on the concept of food labeling and nutrition. Conceptualized with Berger’s fellow company founder Marla Felton, the program was designed to teach students the value of knowing how to read a food label to help make conscious food decisions. The ultimate goal is to help educate students before they go off to middle school and start making more of their own food choices.
“What we eat directly affects our health. These are some of the most important decisions we make each day,” says Berger. “We think it’s the single most important choice. Making the right food choices for your body can help improve inflammation, clarity, energy levels and emotional well-being. It is so important to understand where our food comes from and how it gets to us.”
The 30-minute experience included a variety of topics including how to scan your food with your eyes and senses, how to choose food that energizes your body and the difference between fresh food and fast food.
Immediately following the classroom discussion, Berger and Finkel led a field trip to Whole Foods Market where students put what they learned to the test.
“The idea here is to help them gain insight about shopping for foods that nourish and energize their bodies,” explained Finkel, who was also once a student at Julian Curtiss School. Our hope is that they can look at a label and clearly identify the junk ingredients from the clean ingredients, and then ultimately make good, or more balanced choices.”
This summer, Berger and Felton plan to introduce REAL Food is Fuel to the Greenwich YMCA with future plans to present the program to other schools in the area.
“It’s exciting to see how much this program has resonated with kids,” says Felton. Our hope is to continue to grow REAL Food is Fuel to make a greater impact on our community and inspire others.”
Since founding their cookie brand REAL in 2021, Berger and Felton have been on a mission to make healthier snacks for kids and adults through their tasty gluten and grain-free, plant-based cookie line. Continuing their journey to fulfill the lack of healthy snack options that actually taste good, the pair launched their second product Cookie Poppers in January. Now available at Mike’s Organic. To purchase online, visit RealCookiesCo.com.
For more information on launching a REAL Food is Fuel program at your area school, please contact Lauren Berger at lauren@realcookiesco.com.
