Are Easton Kids Getting Enough Vegetables?

If you stopped by Centennial Park in Easton's West Ward last Thursday evening, you would have gotten a free cooking lesson.

The meal? A quinoa and vegetable stir fry, topped with feta. 

The price? Very reasonable, said to Eric Ruth of the Kellyn Foundation, which has overseen the cooking program for the last three years.

"This meal is down to $1.50 a person," Ruth said.

The lesson here is two-fold.

Part of it teaches kids—who are at the park for Easton Weed & Seed's Summer Nights program—about healthy food. Before the cooking began, the foundation's Meagan Grega walked a group of children through the ingredients—quinoa, zucchini, bell peppers—and talked about what makes them nutritious.

But Ruth said he wants parents to come away with the idea that eating this way involves making an affordable meal, "not some expensive organic thing."

To help things more affordable, Weed & Seed offers familes $10 vouchers for the Easton Farmers' Market. 

Good for one week, the vouchers can be picked up Thursdays at Centennial Park, during the Kellyn Foundation's program from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and used at either the Saturday or Wednesday farmers markets.

The foundation wants to take other steps to promote healthy eating, including reviving a short-lived community garden it planted in the park last year.