by Evelyn Hootkins
Science of Agriculture celebrated a milestone this year; October 18, 2018, marked the 10th anniversary of the Master Gardeners participating in this youth event. Held at the Travis County Expo Center, over 215 third and fourth graders from Title 1, Travis County schools spent the day at the event. This was a first field trip for many of the children. Some of the children’s parents attended the event as well, which is always a welcome addition.
Fourteen Travis County Master Gardeners worked on the nutrition portion of the event, titled “Eat a Rainbow.” Colors of the rainbow are used to introduce the fruits and vegetables that support the health of different areas of the body. A colorful poster of a skeleton was reviewed in this section. Blue foods, such as plums and blueberries, support our brain and help us stay healthy as we age; the brain on the poster has the color blue. Green foods, such as limes and green beans, support our skeleton and teeth; the poster’s skeleton and teeth show the color green. This reinforces that specific fruits and vegetables aid in the health of our body. Also, since we are master gardeners, we provided an overview of the basic parts of a plant …leaves, roots, stems, fruits, and bulbs. We also discussed why many of the foods that we think of as vegetables are actually the fruits of the plant because they contain seeds.
On our display table, we had real fruits and vegetables to show the children. We asked them to call out the names of these, which they were eager to do. We did occasionally show them a fruit or vegetable that they had never seen before. This offered a wonderful opportunity to discuss what part of the body is helped, how it is prepared for eating, and if it is a technically a fruit or a vegetable.
At the end of the presentation, the children each made a chenille bracelet with beads representing the different colors that we reviewed that day. We asked them to wear the bracelet to the grocery store and to show it to their family so that they can remember how eating a variety of colors of fruits and vegetables provides them with vitamins and minerals to help them grow strong and stay healthy. Whenever we do this event, the children love this final activity.
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