“One year the kids called me the Queen of Fruits and Veggies,” Christine Parshall says, laughing, while remembering the crown she once bought from a costume shop for the honor.
It’s a fitting title for Parshall, who has worked with UNH Extension’s Nutrition Connections program in Cheshire County since 1992.
In the decades that she has served Cheshire, she has empowered people to prioritize healthy lifestyle choices that are personal and achievable, whatever their circumstances.
Through Nutrition Connections programs, she brings nutrition knowledge and food skills to income-eligible families, youth and seniors through individual, small-group and school-based instruction. In addition, Parshall engages with community partners and coalitions working together to improve food access and health outcomes for all people.
Pick a Better Snack
Through the Pick a Better Snack program, Parshall visits Benjamin Franklin and Wheelock elementary schools in Keene, as well as the elementary school in Winchester, every month between October and May to present healthy fruits and veggies.
Sometimes, she might have to share a food that’s not fresh. When that happens the class talks about why, and it serves as another learning opportunity.
For example, she had to use frozen mangoes to make smoothies in winter because she had bought some mangoes that were hard and didn’t ripen in time.
“We talk about foods that come from far away and how they are different from foods that we can grow locally. When you buy things that are local, they’re usually ripe and ready to go. When they come from far away? Not necessarily.”
The experiential aspect of this education allows children to explore new foods in a safe space, using all their senses.
“We’re going to look at it. We’re going to touch it with our fingers. We’re going to touch it with our lips. We’re going to smell it, then eventually we’ll get to tasting it and occasionally hearing it if it crunches. You can make a big deal about something very small, and it’s sometimes amazing where that takes you.”
The schools Parshall visits are eligible for this SNAP-Ed program because 50% or more of students receive free or reduced lunch.
“It is a learning environment that is separate from all the pressures of mealtime at school or mealtime at home,” Parshall says.
In school, students have limited time to eat lunch. “At home, there may be pressure to eat the right foods or eat enough of them. Or there may not be a meal,” she says.
In addition to considerations for low-income families, Parshall is mindful of neurodiversity and that children come from all types of learning backgrounds.
Sometimes, she may encounter students who don’t want to try a new food. Her approach is inviting, not forceful.
Occasionally she will bring in a skillet and sauté vegetables like snap peas with ginger and garlic.
“What was the other thing we sauteed this year?” she asks herself.
“Oh, asparagus! Oh my gosh, the kids loved asparagus. Who knew? They totally can surprise you,” she says.
Community Nutrition and Walk With Ease SM
Beyond her work in school systems, Parshall also serves an active role in the community by working with adults and older adults.
At one event in the summer of 2024, she collaborated with Feeding Tiny Tummies and Healthy Starts Family Resource Center to present healthy snacks for parents who rely on foods they get from food pantries.
Through the Arthritis Foundation’s Walk With Ease SM program, Parshall connected with Karen Graveline of Keene Housing to help older adults and adults with disabilities set up and achieve walking goals. One participant she recently worked with had not been walking at the start of the program.
“She said she is now walking for about 30 minutes every day, broken into shorter walks, and attributed her new behavior to her participation in our class. Her self-confidence in managing her health and achieving her walking goals seems much greater than when we began,” Parshall says.
That’s the kind of change Parshall inspires every day — one snack or one walk at a time.
Elementary school teachers reflect on the Pick a Better Snack program
“Students comment on their own snacks from home and whether they are healthy.”
“Students talk about the fruits and vegetables they have tried, and I have answered questions for families that want to buy some for home.”
“When the school has fruits or veggies, most everyone will try them, and they will try them again even if they did not like them the first time.”
“The words ‘nutrients’ and ‘vitamins’ come up in several of the books that our second-grade curriculum provides. Students made connections from the topics in those books to the lessons Mrs. Parshall taught.”
Check Out Our New Health & Well-Being Page
Our specialists help create healthy people and healthy places in New Hampshire.
