RE-duce Waste, RE-use and RE-grow

Published in our April 2024 newsletter

March was an exciting month for EAT RIGHT PHILLY! Between National Nutrition Month® events and featuring celery as our Fruit and Vegetable of the Month, Nutrition Coordinators were busy encouraging students to think outside the box when it comes to healthy eating! One of the themes of the month was sustainability; Nutrition Coordinators brought celery for students to taste and cook with, but also showed them how to utilize the entire bunch of celery (even the bottom!). Encouraging students to try new things is key, but it's also important for them to learn how to use all parts of fruits and vegetables.

At Spring Garden Elementary School, Project Coordinator Danielle implemented the Fruit and Vegetable of the Month program with the kindergarten through fifth-grade classes. For the month of March, students sampled celery with a protein-packed, Greek yogurt-based ranch dip. To extend the conversation about celery, Danielle had second-grade students learn to re-grow celery by cutting the bottom of the celery off and placing it in water. After a few days, the students could see the celery leaves starting to grow from the top of the celery bottom. Everyone was surprised to learn that they could use all parts of the celery, even leftovers that would normally be thrown away! Every three days the students diligently remind their teacher to change the water while waiting for the roots to grow to an inch in length, at which point their celery will be planted outside. The students have been so excited to watch their classroom celery grow! To track the celery growth, Danielle has been keeping a photo log so students can look back and recount the progress.

Meanwhile, the EAT RIGHT PHILLY staff were just as enthusiastic about growing their own celery, despite a windowless office. Utilizing grow lights and fresh celery bottoms, the team has been eager to see how well their celery is thriving! This year let’s try to reduce our food waste by using as much of our fruits and vegetables as possible, reusing leftovers for new dishes, and re-growing our produce scraps!