Students at the LaSalle Community Comprehensive High School are getting a healthier start to their days thanks to one enterprising teacher and her students.
Andrea Intrevado, teaches history at the school, as well as a health and cooking class. The school’s new Green Bistro was the natural extension of the lessons she was trying to teach in the latter.
“It’s a clean-cooking class, so what I encourage is the fewest number of processed foods, lowest in refined sugars,” she said. “The goal is just to get them to learn to eat healthy.”
Open only for a few weeks, the bistro already has an extensive menu – all of which have a green, non-dairy component. Banana-chocolate smoothies with handfuls of kale, Mango Mondays and Tropical Tuesdays, the fun concoctions are showing students that eating healthy doesn’t have to be tasteless.
“I like it,” said secondary four student Thomas Franco. “I’ve never really tried any vegan foods but I find that they’re actually really good.”
The bistro’s repertoire goes beyond smoothies as cookies and other treats are also for sale. With healthy sales – which include the school’s teaching staff, as well as students – there’s been talk of expanding from just breakfast smoothies and treats to a healthy lunch menu.
“Ideally, we’d like to offer vegetarian or vegan salads along with vegetable wraps and maybe a little dessert,” said Intrevado. “A healthy dessert, of course.”
