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Got cereal? Milk optional

03/20/2006


http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/03/17/c1.cr.cereal.0317.p1.php?section=cityregion
Comments Email this Article
    By Susan Palmer, The Register-Guard


    Kalapuya High School students Tyerone Holmes, 15, (front) and Chris Mershon, 16, eat Vanilla Crunchies cereal, a free nutritious snack distributed to local schools by FOOD for Lane County, with the help of food manufacturers Golden Temple, Glory Bee and Grain Millers - Kevin Clark, The Register-Guard

    Tyerone Holmes knocked back a mouthful of Vanilla Crunchies and pronounced them good.

    "This part tastes like cookies," said the 15-year-old Kalapuya High School student, pointing to the granola clusters in the cereal packet.

    The snack-sized portions of the breakfast cereal are cropping up in some Lane County schools, thanks to a collaboration among three Eugene manufacturers and nonprofit FOOD for Lane County.

    Cereal maker Golden Temple, oat processor Grain Millers and honey maker Glory Bee have teamed up to create the cereal for students, and FOOD for Lane County is helping distribute it at schools that don't have access to federally funded breakfast programs.

    The manufacturers and the nonprofit organizations are providing the cereal free of charge.

    Kalapuya, the Bethel School District alternative high school, has been the pilot distribution location for the cereal, which has proved popular with students, Principal Fred Crissman said.

    Some of the students come from low-income families, and the free cereal ensures that they can start their day with a nutrious meal.

    In the afternoon, it provides a boost that has more staying power than the snacks available in the vending machine, Crissman said.

    Golden Temple developed the idea of providing students with free cereal as part of its ongoing strategy of contributing to the community, CEO Kartar Singh Khalsa said.

    Golden Temple produces organic breakfast cereals and teas for sale nationwide, and often makes some of its products available to the food bank for distribution to families in Lane County.

    A chance conversation with food bank staff members about the academic challenges children face when they haven't had a nutritious breakfast led to the new product, Khalsa said.

    "We got hold of our long-term suppliers and asked if they wanted to help us," he said.

    They did. Now, the cereal manufacturer is packaging 8,000 packets of the cereal each month.

    It's being distributed in the Pleasant Hill School District and at Siuslaw High School in Florence, food bank Executive Director Pat Farr said.

    As word has gotten out, there have been inquiries from other schools - in Oakridge and Eugene - that are interested in having the cereal available.

    The program is the only one of its kind that Farr is aware of.

    "I was excited when I first heard about it, and once I saw the packaging and tasted the product, I got more excited," he said. "There's nothing like this happening anyplace else."

    While the food bank contracts with the federal government to provide lunches for school-age children during the summer, it's the agency's first venture with providing food during the school year.

    The effort is part of Golden Temple's mission of social responsibility, Khalsa said. "Our job is to expand our business and do better on the bottom line so we can serve the community."

    Golden Temple has had a prosperous four years, doubling its business and increasing its employees from 110 to 200.

    "As we do better, we want to up the philanthropic game," Khalsa said.

    The production of 8,000 packages a month is just the beginning, he said. "We hope it goes up to 10 times that here in the next couple years."

    And that would be just fine with Jennifer Replogle, an 18-year-old Kalapuya student, who enjoys having the cereal available.

    If she had her choice between a candy bar and the cereal, she'd choose the Vanilla Crunchies, Replogle said.

    "They taste good, and they're healthy for you, too," she said.

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