OC HIGH: STUDENT NEWS AND VIEWS : exchanges : Availability of Produce Is a Refreshing Change

Camrin Christensen, a junior from Laguna Hills High School, is spending the school year as an American Field Service student in the Czech Republic, where she is living with a family of five. She attends Secondary School of Nursing in Kolin, about 45 miles from Prague.

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When I first learned that I would be going to the Czech Republic as an exchange student, I was warned about the lack of fruits and vegetables in the everyday diet. I was told to expect meat, sausages, dumplings and potatoes. It seems the Czechs are well known for their lack of concern about a balanced diet.

What I have encountered, however, is a different situation. Although I have had my fair share of meat and potatoes, I also have plenty of fruits and vegetables.

In fact, many families here own land in the countryside, where they grow their own fruits and vegetables. Also, most families do their own canning and preserving for the cold winter.

Fruits and vegetables have not always been easily available, though.

My host mother, Frantiska, told me that just seven years ago people had to wait in line to purchase fruit, which was both expensive and difficult to find.

Now, the government has started to import greater amounts of fruits and vegetables, making them more abundant and less expensive.