Bulletin Boards for Spring

Are you ready for spring? The flowers are starting to bloom, farmer’s markets are opening back up, and people are getting outside more.

Bring the freshness of spring into your office, classroom, or cafeteria with a new bulletin board display. It’s an easy way to brighten up any space, while also teaching positive, memorable healthy eating messages.

We have a full collection of bulletin board materials. Here are some of my favorites for spring:

  1. The Art of Health bulletin board banner with handouts reminds you to slow down and really look at the visual appeal and beauty of healthy food. After all, you eat with your eyes first, right?
  2. The MyPlate bulletin board kit for adults or kids gets back to basics by showing you how to make a healthy plate for every meal.
  3. The Spring Season bulletin board banner reminds you to head to the farmer’s market to try all the spring fruits and veggies that are being harvested in your area.
  4. The Focus on Fruits bulletin board kit shows off brightly colored fruits and teaches serving sizes for fresh fruit, dried fruit, and fruit juice. The kit comes with handouts on how to make a smoothie, fruit and yogurt snack recipes, and how to make a watermelon cake.
  5. The Vary Your Veggies bulletin board kit advertises a bounty of beautiful vegetables while also teaching serving sizes. Handouts include how to steam veggies, a garden salad recipe, and a winter soup recipe.

No matter how you decide to brighten up your space, you can’t go wrong with the colors of spring!

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

The Story Behind the Rainbow Poster

We were delighted to get a product request from Sharon Baird, RD, MEd, MBA, Food Service Director for the Goleta Union School District. Sharon was troubled by the school salad bars, which looked woefully plain. We immediately set to work creating a giant salad bar tabletop sign, called eat from the rainbow, that promotes healthful eating. It took a while to pick out and arrange the perfect fruits and vegetables, but we did it! Now we couldn’t be more pleased with the result.

Salad Bar Tabletop Sign

The sign was a hit at the school district as well. In fact, it was such a hit that we crafted a matching banner and poster too. That way, the rainbow of health could be displayed above or below any serving table. The eat from the rainbow oster lends itself especially well to displays in employee break rooms and the offices of RDNs. What a bonus!

Here’s a picture of the salad bar sign as it’s being used in the school district that had asked for it in the first place. Don’t you love the pop of color and encouraging message? The photo of the rainbow salad is actually almost three feet long. It is digitally stitched from six high resolution photos of a real salad that was 3 feet long.

Salad Bar, Hard at Work

Sharon wanted a salad bar sign that could safely sit on top of the salad bar, and since the salad bar needed to be moved daily, the sign had to be easily portable as well. We managed it, and the sign has been working perfectly. After all, the finished table topper’s design is very practical. It assembles easily, and its lightweight construction makes it great to transport anywhere, anytime.

So, what’s so awesome about eating from the rainbow? Basically, eating a variety of fruits and vegetables will get you a wider range of nutrients than eating the same few fruits or veggies every week. Colorful fruits and vegetables are also wonderful sources of substances called phytochemicals.

Phytochemicals contain protective compounds that may help prevent diseases. “Phyto” comes from the Greek word for plant. These chemicals are in all plants, but most people use this word specifically in regards to plants that are food sources. By eating a variety of fruits and vegetables, you will consume plenty of phytochemicals. Here’s just a sampling of colorful foods that are packed with phytochemicals. We’ve even outlined the health benefits of these phytochemicals…

  • Lycopene (found in foods like tomatoes and watermelon).
    Lycopene may help prevent heart disease and prostate cancer
  • Lutein (found in leafy greens like spinach, kale, and romaine).
    Lutein may help prevent cancer, heart disease, and macular degeneration.
  • Quercetin (found in onions, kale, broccoli, red grapes, cherries, apples, and red wine).
    Quercetin may help prevent cancer, heart disease, and seasonal allergies.
  • Resveratrol (found in red grapes, red wine, and peanuts).
    Resveratrol may help prevent cancer and heart disease.

So what are you waiting for? Order your very own tabletop sign today!