Fun with produce: Successes of a fruit and vegetable taste testing program

With funding from a Carol M. White Education Grant, the El Paso Independent School District developed a fruit and vegetable taste testing program. This collaborative program among classroom teachers and school food service staff aims to teach students about fruits and vegetables, to provide opportunities to taste the food in its raw form, and to increase the number of servings of fruits and vegetables consumed in a school day. A mixed methods evaluation with a pre/post testes and qualitative data collection was implemented to evaluate the program. In year one (2010-2011), over 2,300 2nd grade students have taken part in on-line surveying to assess their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to fruits and vegetables. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with parents, teachers, food service staff, and administrators. This presentation will discuss the program implementation and evaluation findings such as: in the first year there were significant improvements in the percentage of students who correctly identified the total number of servings that should be consumed in a day and significant increase in the appeal of the fruits and vegetables to the students. The presentation will also discuss the success and challenges of implementing the program in a large school district, the impact of the program on the foods provided in the school cafeteria, as well as ways to incorporate evaluation strategies to yield valid results while aiming to minimize teacher and student burden.