The Great Big Crunch 2009 Media:

Great big crunch for dietary change

Posted By By Jon Thomson
Kenora Daily Miner and News
By Jon Thompson

March 5, 2009

St. Louis School students take a bite into their apples as part
of The Great Big Crunch.Photo by Jon Thompson

Local students joined nearly 28,000 children across the country at 2:30 p.m. Thursday to simultaneously take the first bite into an apple.

Dieticians across the country are hoping the echo reverberates into dietary change.

The Great Big Crunch was first launched last year to encourage children to choose healthy food and think about local food production.

Dylan Mackey is a Grade 5 student at St. Louis School. Using his teeth, he whittled the last bits of his apple to the core as he talked about his relationship with food.

“I can only cook in the microwave and the toaster,” he explained, proceeding to list pizza pops and chocolate banana boats as his full recipe repertoire. “I love apples too.”

His classmate Mackenzie Theriault was in a similar boat adding Kraft Dinner and grilled cheese sandwiches to the mix and expressing a flair for baking desserts. She stays active playing hockey with her family and soccer year around but her body knows when she’s not eating right.

“Sometimes I feel miserable and weak when I’m not eating healthy,” she said.

The Dieticians of Canada promote March as Nutrition Month, campaigning for active living and healthy dietary choices.

Article ID# 1466593