Give Veggies a Chance

September is National Fruits & Veggies Month. While most people love the sweetness of fruit, many just don’t like (or eat) their vegetables.

You can change this by shining the spotlight on vegetables and fruits all month long with our posters, prizes, floor stickers, and health fair materials.

Here are three ways to get your students, clients, or employees engaged with Fruits & Veggies Month and, hopefully, convince them to give vegetables a chance:

  1. Take the pledge. The Produce for Better Health Foundation invites you to take the Have a Plant Pledge to add one more fruit or veggie to your daily routine for a month. Give extra points for those who add vegetables!
  2. Make friends. If you’re not comfortable preparing certain vegetables, our Slicing, Chopping & Cooking Guide for Vegetables poster (which comes with a free handout) will help make all types of veggies welcome in your kitchen.
  3. Cheer for the underdog. Stand up for veggies that get a bad rap, like Brussels sprouts, beets, turnips, and even potatoes. Find recipes in the MyPlate Kitchen, where you can search by food group or a specific fruit or vegetable.

Keep fruits and vegetables front and center all year long! FYI:

By Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

3 Steps to More Whole Grains

September is Whole Grains Month. The typical American diet is high in refined grains, but most people don’t eat enough whole grains.

Here’s a 3-step approach to eating more whole grains that you can share with your classes, patients, or clients:

  1. Simple Swaps:  Whole wheat bread for white bread; brown rice for white rice; bran flakes for corn flakes. Our Go for the Whole Grain color tearpad shows lots of possible substitutions for refined grains.
  2. Easy Add Ins:  Add oats to your smoothie; use buckwheat flour for a portion of the all-purpose flour in a recipe; top your spinach salad with a spoonful of cooked quinoa. You’ll find these tips and more in our Grains are for Brains PowerPoint set.
  3. Grain Adventures:  Be brave … try a whole grain you’ve never eaten before! Our All About Whole Grains color tearpad shows pictures of grains many folks have probably never seen. Experiment and see what you like.

Other ways to get into the spirit of Whole Grains Month:

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

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9.99 Poster for September

Since September is traditionally a “back to school” month, we are bringing you two dynamic educational posters for our 9.99 poster special for September. 

The Exercise Poster really shows the value of movement and exercise for maintaining a healthy weigh. It explains the differences in calories burned when you move more. For example, if you are just sitting and watching TV you burn only half as many calories as you do when you are performing light chores around the house or walking. 

The second poster, Feel Full on Fewer Calories, shows the value of choose high-fiber, nutrient-dense foods as opposed to the ones that are calorie dense and devoid of fiber and nutrients. It uses a handy stop light to show the “go” foods that are high in fiber and other nutrients while also being low in calories. Vegetables, fruits, skim milk, cooked whole grains, lean protein, and beans are on this list. 

The 9.99 poster special is popular with our budget minded customers who want to decorate their walls with colorful and educational posters. These two posters are only available for the month of September. 

Check out our new posters here:

 

Inside Look: Fabulous Fruits and Veggies

Fabulous Fruits and VeggiesYou already know that September is Fruits and Veggies More Matters Month, but have you seen our new fruit and vegetable poster?

This is one of my favorites yet, and it offers a great way to promote healthful eating patterns. Fabulous Fruits and Veggies is perfect for offices, health fair displays, cooking demonstrations, cafeterias, schools, and more!

So how did this one come to be?

Here’s a sneak peek…

After seeing all the gorgeous fruits and vegetables at the Davis farmers’ markets, I knew that I had to feature their magnificent colors and textures in a new poster. I wanted to highlight the brightness and freshness of fruits and veggies, but I wasn’t quite sure how to start.

The answer lay in a collage.

I combined images of various fruits and vegetables, arranging them into bright patterns and stripes. And that’s when it hit me — fruits and veggies can take you up, up, and away! What better way to highlight that health and energy boost than with the colorful hot air balloons that so often dot the skies by my house.

I worked with my team of artists to create a picture of people setting off on hot air balloon adventures, adjusting and tweaking the picture until I got it just right.

Fabulous Fruits and Vegetables HandoutBut what to call the poster?

That’s where my editorial team came in. We did a few rounds of brainstorming, exploring titles like “Fuel Your Adventures with Fruits and Vegetables,” “Fruit and Vegetable Explorations,” and “Get and Fruit and Vegetable Boost,” but ultimately, we decided to keep it simple with “Fabulous Fruits and Veggies.”

And here comes the best part.

The handout.

My team and I decided that we wanted the free handout that accompanies this poster to feature lots of fun ways to incorporate fruits and vegetables into a healthy eating pattern. Pretty great timing for Fruits and Veggies More Matters Month, huh? The best part is that you can get this handout, today! Simply click on the picture of the handout above and you can download your very own PDF copy, for free. Hooray!

And of course, if you like what you see, consider getting a print of this wonderful poster. It’s as engaging as it is versatile, and is sure to brighten up any space!

There are lots of great new resources in the Nutrition Education Store these days! Which one will make your life easier?

Fruit and Veggie Pens

Diabetes 101 Presentation

Exercise Poster

We’re here to help you look your very best, right now.