Activity

Westbury Community Garden held its first National Nutrition Month event on Saturday, March 4. Light rain may have kept some people inside but an intrepid group of second graders and other visitors came out to enjoy the festivities. Science teacher, Roberto Dominguez, gave the “Taste This!” lesson all about our tongue and taste buds. The John P. McGovern Museum of Health and Medical Science brought out a mobile museum display about our digestive system. Did you know our digestive tract is 18 feet long? Fascinating stuff! A display called, “Eat The Rainbow” told us all about the nutrients in different colored fruits and vegetables. Another display showed common foods and the amount of sugar in each item. The kids used magnifying glasses to “read the fine print” on nutrition labels.

Last but not least, we sampled three veggie dishes. 1) Rainbow carrots 2) Apple Jicama Coleslaw 3) Super Food Salad. We got to add
carrots, braised (rainbow)
carrots, raw
kale (lacinato)
cabbage (red, green and savoy)
jicama *
onion (red)
tomato (grape)

As a bonus, we had some fruits – apple, blueberries, cranberries, pineapple juice — and some nuts/seeds – sunflower seeds. cashews, too.

* earns the unusual vegetable badge