Fruit and Vegetable Fun

Food and Nutrition Services will promote healthy eating by highlighting a fruit or vegetable each month at the elementary schools.  The goal of this promotion is to increase student’s appreciation for and consumption of fruits and vegetables.  A 1998 USDA study revealed that fewer than 15% of elementary students eat the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables. 

The promotion will include serving the featured item.  During the month the food service staff will share jokes and nutrition facts about the food on the school announcements and in the serving line.  The cafeteria will be decorated with pictures and food art featuring the food.  A book about the food will be given away each month.

Food and Nutrition Services will host a tasting party for the class winning a monthly contest.  The contest will be designed by each school.  Theme suggestions for contest are cafeteria behavior, eating fruits and vegetables, or reading.  The winning classroom will be served several foods featuring the monthly fruit or vegetable.  The Food and Nutrition Services website will feature kid friendly recipes with the month’s fruit and vegetable for students to enjoy at home with their families. 

The promotion will demonstrate the importance of fruits and vegetables as part of a healthy diet and that healthy eating is both delicious and fun.

The featured foods and books will be:

September   Watermelons   -      Watermelon Wishes  By Lisa Moser

October    -     Pumpkins         -     The Pumpkin Runner By Marsha Diane Arnold

November   - Green Peas      -     Gregor Mendel - The Friar Who Grew Peas By Cheryl Bardoe

December  -  Oranges         -       The Sun Egg By Elsa Beskow          
            
January    -     Pears            -        Mr. Putter & Tabby Pick the Pears By Cynthia Rylant

February   -    Apples           -       Golden Delicious-A Cinderella Apple Story  By Anna Egan Smucker

March       -     Blueberries        -    Blueberries for the Queen   By John & Katherine Paterson

April          -     Strawberries    -      The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, & The Big Hungry Bear 
                                                            By Don & Audrey Wood         
         
May            -   Asparagus       -     The Mighty Asparagus    By V. Radunsky

Recipes