The Quebec Produce Marketing Association (QPMA) has announced that it is distributing its new 'Mandoline invites you to discover fruits and vegetables using the 5 colour groups!' toolkit free to more than 2,600 early childcare providers in Quebec.
Intended for teachers, the educational toolkit is designed to encourage children to discover and savour the taste of fresh fruits and vegetables.
According to the Enquête de nutrition auprès des enfants québécois de 4 ans (Nutritional Survey of Quebec 4-Year-Olds) carried out by the Institut de la statistique du Québec (Quebec Statistics Institute), 80 per cent of four-year-olds do not eat the daily minimum of five servings of produce as recommended by Canada’s Food Guide (CFG). Given that children five years of age and under eat over 50 per cent of their meals and snacks in daycare and that most of the food preferences set at age two last until age 20, it is important to introduce kids to a wide range of flavours from the age of six months and up.
This significant fact is what motivated the QPMA, after launching the “I love 5 to 10 servings a day” campaign ten years ago in an effort to raise consumer awareness on the importance of eating fresh fruits and vegetables as part of a healthy lifestyle, to get involved and create the eye-catching educational toolkit for kids.
Fruits and vegetables are divided into five colour groups: red, yellow-orange, blue-purple, white and green. The bright colours that give produce its visual appeal come from pigments chock-full of nutrients that do the body good, which is why you should always be sure to vary the colours on your plate. It’s the fun and healthy way to eat fruits and veggies every day!
The “Mandoline invites you to discover fruits and vegetables using the 5 colour groups” kit includes a large poster and an educational brochure filled with a variety of fun activities designed to help children learn about produce, such as games and riddles to introduce each colour group, an experimentation workshop (The Blueberry Magician), an artistic activity (Painting with…Red Cabbage!) and a story (The Stylish Banana).
