Every month, Londonderry School District in New Hampshire introduces a different vegetable to elementary students to help teach them about healthy food choices.
The students are given the chance to taste test the featured vegetable and are sent home with a flier to share with their parents. The flier details the nutritional benefits of the vegetable and offers other fun tidbits, like how to grow it in a summer garden and how to best select and store the fresh produce.
The cafeteria staff gives students plenty of opportunities to try the vegetable of the month by including the featured veggie in a new delicious recipe every Thursday. For example, October’s vegetable – bell peppers – was the key ingredient in mouthwatering dishes like Chicken Cacciatore, Roasted Peppers with Zucchini and Summer Squash and Stuffed Peppers with Beef and Rice.
The vegetable of the month program has received rave reviews from teachers and students alike, with one second grade class holding a pepper-tasting contest to see which color was the most popular!
Additionally, to encourage older students to incorporate vegetables into their daily diet, a soup option is available on the high school menu each day, including delicious choices like vegetable, minestrone, mushroom barley and sweet potato.
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