TAZEWELL, Va. (WVVA) – A program being called the ‘Roots to Real Initiative’ is being introduced to seniors at Tazewell High School. The program’s goal is to introduce healthy living habits to the students as they graduate and begin adulthood.
“The roots is real food, real health, real community and real solutions. We feel like the opportunity to bring our agricultural roots back to the forefront of this county is now,” said Debra Wilson, an organizer of the event who is part of the Tazewell Class of ’73 Peak Foundation.
Wilson says Tazewell County has a higher obesity and diabetes rate than the state average. Some blame can be traced to processed foods.
To help curb the issue, students got introduced to a self sufficient hydroponics garden which can be used to grow a variety of unprocessed fruits and vegetables.
“You don’t have to dig the garden, you don’t have to have the square foot. You can use an alternative method of growing your own vegetables. We put it altogether an said we’ll grow it, throw it in the crock pot and then stay active and hopefully make a difference for these kids,” said Wilson.
Each senior was gifted a crock pot, a cook book as well as cooking utensils among other items as a way to start living healthier now.
“From what I could tell from the students they were really excited about it. A lot of them came in this morning excited to get a free crock pot. When I was in here for the presentation they seemed to really enjoy what was done in the presentation so I think they had a good time,” said Dr. Paige Davis, assistant principal.
Feedback from the students will be gathered and the plan is to develop the program for younger students in Tazewell County.
The items and resources given to the seniors were donated by Walmart, Wayfarer Appalachia, the Virginia Cooperative Extension and Communities In Schools.
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