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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2020 FARMERS AND CONSUMERS MARKET BULLETIN – 404-656-3722 – agr.georgia.gov PAGE 9
Mercer Medical MoMenT: The symptoms of a heart attack aren’t always easy to spot

By Calleigh Hitt tion because of the stress it puts on your arteries all of the time. comfort, or like a gas bubble. A heart attack can also cause the
Diabetes is a risk factor for similar reasons; the amount of sug- heart to beat irregularly, also known as an arrhythmia. Some
A heart attack happens when one of ar in your blood should stay relatively the same, so when the people believe they are having a panic attack or that they have
the blood vessels providing your heart body isn’t able to regulate it like normal and there is too much eaten some bad food.
with blood gets blocked either partial- glucose in the blood, it can cause damage to the blood vessels. The American Heart Association recommends calling 911
ly or completely. Usually this is due Outside factors can trigger a heart attack. Common triggers immediately if the chest pressure, pain, or other discomfort
to plaque building up in your arteries, include emotional stress as well as physical activity. Both of lasts longer than a few minutes or if it gets better and then
which is an accumulation of fatty parti- those increase activity of the sympathetic nervous system (the comes back.
cles that begins after an artery is dam- “fight or flight” system), which increases heart rate and overall Rapid treatment is very important in the case of a heart at-
aged. the work that the heart is doing. This in turn puts stress on any tack. The lack of blood supply causes some problems immedi-
The plaque itself can be damaged as well, and your body plaques in the arteries of the heart and can cause them to rup- ately, but those problems get worse the longer that the affected
tries to fix that by making a clot. That clot slows down or ture, which can cause excessive clotting and block that artery. part of the heart is separated from its blood supply. If the heart
even stops blood flow to that area of the heart. When the heart The classic signs of a heart attack are recognizable for most attack happens with atypical symptoms, people are less likely
doesn’t get enough blood flow, you can have a heart attack. people: Pain right in the center of the chest, along with pain in to seek appropriate treatment because they do not recognize
Risk factors for having a heart attack are commonly related the left arm, neck, jaw, or even back pain. The person might the problem for what it is.
to the risk factors for having plaques in your arteries. There are fall down, and if people are around they are likely to call 911. Heart disease is an important health problem, especially in
some risk factors that run in families, so if you have a family However, someone else could have the exact same problem but rural areas. Being able to recognize the symptoms of a heart
history of heart disease it is very important to talk to your look a lot different. Women and people with diabetes especial- attack, especially an atypical one, can enable you to get appro-
doctor and support system about ways to decrease your risk. ly tend to have symptoms that don’t fit that classic picture of a priate care faster. That in turn makes it more likely that you
High levels of bad cholesterol (also known as LDL) and low heart attack, so we call the other symptoms “atypical.” Some can make a good recovery.
levels of good cholesterol (HDL) are also risk factors; these are people even have no symptoms at all. -Calleigh Hitt is a second-year medical student at Mer-
influenced by diet and exercise. Smoking tobacco is also a risk Atypical symptoms of a heart attack include feeling like cer University School of Medicine. As an undergraduate, she
factor for plaque development, and it increases the risk of clot you cannot catch your breath, nausea, significant sweating, bad worked as a tutor, primarily in chemistry. She has previous-
formation on top of that. indigestion, and a fast heartbeat. The pain of a heart attack can ly volunteered in multiple healthcare contexts, and currently
High blood pressure is another risk factor for plaque forma- also feel like chest tightness, burning, squeezing, general dis- volunteers in Macon in addition to her studies.
FarM To School: Cherokee County shops, grows local

Editor’s Note: The Georgia Farm to School Program is together.
a partnership of the Georgia Department of Education, the She said her staff works to have every meal served in the
Georgia Department of Agriculture, Georgia Organics and district to offer a locally grown product. Milk is purchased
the Georgia Department of Public Health. Farm to School is locally and served for breakfast and lunch. Gold Kist Farms
an effort to bring locally grown foods to schools and educate
children about nutrition and agriculture. For more informa-
tion, go to www.gafarmtoschool.org.

By Jay Jones
jay.jones@agr.georgia.gov

School System: Cherokee County School
District, Canton
Meals served: 4.7 million (2018-2019 school
year)
Number of Students: 422,000
Most popular menu items: Tex-Mex chicken
bowl (middle and high schools menus), kale
salad with diced apples, dried cranberries and
homemade vinaigrette.

The nutrition staff at Cherokee County School District
found an innovative way to publicize its Farm to School pro-
gram with students dancing with kale and a social media
hashtag #kickinitwithkale.
The hashtag points to a video on the school district’s
YouTube channel (https://youtu.be/3Yf7T9gNom0) and was
used to promote October as National Farm to School Month.
CCSD Chief Communications Officer Barbara Jacoby said
the district’s nutrition program makes a concerted effort to
tell their story of getting students to learn about healthy eat-
ing and locally grown foods.
“It’s clear from the feedback we receive that our efforts Woodstock Elementary School students celebrate a bountiful harvest
to promote CCSD’s School Nutrition programs are making of yellow squash from the school garden at the start of the school
a difference,” Jacoby said. “Our community is more aware year. Kindergarten students at Cherokee County learned about
of our excellent staff, ingredients, recipes, facilities and col- locally grown produce by planting vegetables in the spring and then
laborations, such as our award-winning Farm to School ini- followed up by harvesting them in the fall in their first-grade class.
tiative.” (Cherokee County School District)
Another video highlighted harvesting vegetables by stu-
dents from their gardens at Holly Springs Elementary School grown ingredients.
in Canton. The unique lesson had first-grade students pick Farmer said the Tex-Mex bowl is now a regular on all mid-
vegetables in the fall that they seeded in the spring as kinder- FFA students at Creekview High School became certified in egg dle and high school menus in the district.
gartners. The students then planted butternut squash, brussels candling as they harvested fresh eggs from a local farm that was Farm to School also has opened partnerships in the com-
sprouts and radishes for their fall crop. used for dishes served at the school’s cafeteria. The activity was part munity with schools. At Creekview High School, FFA stu-
“This helps get some farm to school products to the stu- of the school’s Farm to School program. (Cherokee County School dents harvested fresh eggs from a local farm that were used
dents that we may not get elsewhere,” said Melinda Wehunt, District) by the school’s nutrition staff. As part of the lessons, the stu-
school nutrition manager, in the video. provides chicken produced in Georgia that is served three dents became certified in egg candling to allow the use of the
The nutrition staff uses the produce in the school’s cafe- times a week. The district works with its produce vendor, eggs in the school’s cafeteria.
teria to make kale salad, which is a favorite at Holly Springs Royal Food Service, to give preference to locally grown Farmer said the Farm to School program brings togeth-
Elementary. Kale from the school garden supplements kale items for fruits, vegetables and eggs. er many components for the teaching experience, much like
from other Georgia growers to make the simple but delicious The district also sources produce and value-added prod- bringing ingredients together for a great recipe.
salad with diced apples, dried cranberries and homemade ucts from Georgia producers throughout the year, including “Farm to School allows the school nutrition program to
vinaigrette. citrus, watermelon, peaches and coleslaw. provide an interdisciplinary approach to nutrition education
Tina Farmer, CCSD director of nutrition, said Holly High school students are offered opportunities to learn by partnering with students, teachers, farmers, chefs and our
Springs served as a test school for the kale salad. The school about nutrition through the family and consumer sciences local Farm Bureau,” Farmer said.
district now provides the dish at other schools. She explained classes. At Etowah High School, a team placed in the state- More posts and videos can be found on the CCSD Nutri-
that other elementary schools in the district also have their wide Farm to School Student Chef competition. The students tion Program’s Facebook page, @CCSDGaSchoolNutrition,
gardens with students, teachers and nutrition staff working prepared a Tex-Mex chicken bowl made with all locally and on the district’s YouTube channel.