Food Explorers at SFPM!

Hello! Nurse Lily here. :]

I have a degree in nutrition so I enjoy inspiring people with delicious, healthful foods. With a generous donation from the PTA, we are able to do monthly nutrition lessons that feature fruits and vegetables that are ripe during that month. For February, we tried seven different types of citrus, in March we tried different types of carrots and radishes with homemade hummus and tzatziki. In April, we will try different types of beans and make our own ranch dressing. We will finish off all the lessons in May with berry tasting.  

Citrus!

These monthly nutrition lessons came about from some creative collaboration between Natalia Pinto (mother of Ezra- 4th grade and Mateo- 3rd grade) and myself. Natalia has a master's degree in applied nutrition. She taught me that someone might have to try a food 15 times before they begin to enjoy it. Wow! Also, she taught the students and the SFPM staff to be "food explorers," by using every sense when sampling the foods. We first looked, then smelled, then we licked, tasted, and listened. We shared our thoughts as we went through the different senses. 

Food Explorer Voting

After each student and staff member voted, the winner of the citrus tasting was the Sumo Mandarin. The students described the Sumo as, "tangy," "juicy," "bright," "having two colors," "having long pulp," "thick peel," and more. SFPM successfully ate through 100 lbs of citrus from Rojas Family farm that has a stand at the Divisadero Farmer's Market. 

For radish and carrot tasting, the students prefered orange carrots to the white, purple, and yellow varieties. They were surprised that they enjoyed the tzatziki and hummus dips and many were excited to go home and try to make their own hummus and tzatziki. 

Lastly, don't forget to "Eat the Rainbow" by getting as many colorful fruits and vegetables into your daily diet as possible. :]