Let’s Try Something New!

Published in our February 2024 newsletter

Trying new things can sometimes be an intimidating task, but trying something new with a positive mindset, patience, and support can be a wonderful experience! To encourage K-12th grade students to try new fruits and vegetables, Eat Right Philly conducts a Fruit and Vegetable of the Month program. Each month, Nutrition Coordinators visit lunchrooms and classrooms to educate students about a featured fruit or vegetable. Coordinators provide a sample of the fruit or vegetable of the month, either in a simple form or as an ingredient in a featured recipe, and invite students to learn more about the selected food. Students discover the nutrients found in the item, how and where it grows, how to pick, and store it, and different ways to enjoy it.

Silent tastings are a great way to encourage students to use their five senses and discourages others from voicing their impressions which may influence a student’s own opinion. Students use each sense to explore how the food tasting makes them feel. Students are taught to:

Observe: Students simply look at the tasting to observe the appearance of the tasting.
Smell: Students are taught to identify the smells of the item and to see how it affects their perception.
Taste: Students are first encouraged to sample the tasting by licking it. They are asked to identify any flavors, such as sweet, salty, sour, or spicy. If brave enough, students are then encouraged to take a bite and to describe the flavors they experience.

Some tastings are more widely enjoyed than others, but students tend to appreciate the experience and the chance to learn about the food. Students also practice describing what they see, smell, and taste without using disparaging words.

During a food tasting at Laura Wheeler Waring School, a second-grade student stated that he remembers trying golden raisins last year and now he loves them! He told the Nutrition Coordinator that he can't wait to try the tastings this year! Allowing students to sample a variety of foods encourages students to incorporate the MyPlate message to eat a variety of foods as part of a healthy eating style.

If you want to implement the fruit and vegetable promotion program with your students, contact your Nutrition Coordinator.