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The Kid's Re-generation Detective
Are you suspicious? Do you suspect that fruits and vegetables are NOT landing on your plate as often as they should be? Time for some undercover work! There are lots and lots of ways to figure out how to get the freshest foods each day!!

Here are activities to help you detect more fruits and veggies in your daily life.

1. Use "The Big List"—There are many different fruits and vegetables out there! There are probably some that you love, some that you hate, and tons that you have never tried before. It’s hard to remember them all–but if you have a list to post on your refrigerator door, you can mark off which fruits and vegetables you like and also ones that you would like to try. You and your parents can take this list along on the next grocery-shopping trip. That way you can get the fruits and vegetables you like–and also you can be daring and try new tastes all the time.

2. Keep a Food Record—Buy a small notebook and keep a Food Record of all the foods you eat every day for 1 week. At the end of 7 days, look back at your notes. How many fruits and vegetables did you eat every day? If you’re not up to the minimum amount of servings a day (2-4 fruits and 3-5 veggies), challenge yourself to achieve it next week. Challenge your friends and family to do the same thing. Most likely you will find that it is not hard at all.

Not too long ago, the fruits and veggies in the lunch line of most school cafeterias were lumpy, fake-y mashed potatoes, overcooked string beans swimming in butter fat, and canned pears. Today, some schools are trying to change–by offering a better variety of fresh foods. But if you’ve never seen plain apples, fresh orange slices, snow peas, cabbage, steamed broccoli, or other fresh foods in your cafeteria, it’s time to ask: WHY?? Or rather—Why not?
In your classroom, here’s one activity that you can talk to your teacher about: The Feast.

Organize a fruits and vegetables feast for your class!
1. Every student in your class writes down what his or her favorite fruit or vegetable is.

2. With your teacher and classmates, pick a day where every student brings in a healthy dish they have prepared using this favorite fruit or vegetable.

3. On the day of the feast, each student presents the dish, and tells what fruit or vegetable their dish is based on, and where this fruit or vegetable originally comes from. (Tip: Ask the grocery store where the foods came from–the grocer can look at the box it was delivered in to find out.)

4. Bring in a copy of the recipe. Your class can make a recipe box to keep all these tasty and healthy recipes in. You will be surprised by how many different and delicious meals can be made using fruits and vegetables.

5. Your class can even give prizes for the tastiest and most creative dishes. Find out if the soil around your school is as healthy as possible for the microorganisms and small animals that live in it. Ask your teacher to start an experiment in the classroom comparing soil samples collected around your schoolyard and samples collected from the forest or the park.

Not all fruits and vegetables can be grown in your community, of course. For example, if you live in Connecticut, you won’t be able to find a grapefruit grove, because it’s too cold for grapefruit to grow there in the winter. To become a top-notch detective, it’s important to learn as much as you can about where various foods come from. Here’s a fun way to do that:

Put yourself on the map!!

1. Create a world map of where foods come from. Click here for a blank map of the world which you can print out and add to as you discover which region is famous for what kind of fruits or vegetables.

2. Research the fruits and vegetables that can be grown right where you live. (Or within 100 miles!) Then write to us. Tell other kids on the Network what foods are native to your area. Click here for some early reports. Keep checking back to see what others are reporting.