“Florida Crunch!” gets kids to try fresh farm to table fruits and vegetables

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Photo by Iñigo De la Maza on Unsplash

Students at Mike Davis Elementary School in Collier County are taking a bite out of a vital lesson by learning about Florida agriculture and its benefits.

It’s all thanks to locally grown peppers and a sweet start to the school day.

The kids at Mike Davis Elementary all bit into mini sweet bell peppers as part of the annual “Florida Crunch!” event.

Crunch Day is part of the larger initiative called National Farm to School Month, which is designed to improve kids’ nutrition.

Student Lilyanna Yuribi said, “it tastes amazing,” after biting into one of the farm-fresh peppers.

“It’s really important to get students to understand where their food comes from and how it gets to the table and how it can help our bodies grow,” said Elizabeth Alfaro, director of nutrition services.

And what better way to learn than to enjoy local fruits and vegetables, with a chef and farmer.

“They see things in the grocery stores they see things on their plates,” said Nick Bergstrom, chief sales officer at Pero Family Farms, “…but when they actually get enlightened and educated about where the crop and where the vegetables comes from and then they get to taste them it’s just an overwhelming experience for everybody.”

More importantly, it’s about trying fruits and vegetables; most kids normally wouldn’t touch.

“Once they see and understand, they suddenly become much more open to trying fruits and vegetables,” Bergstrom added.

 

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