Thousands of Students Take Part in Great Big Crunch!

Written by admin, March 7, 2013

 March 7, 2013 – Event Celebrates Healthy Eating and Student Nutrition Programs as Part of 2013 Nutrition Month

Today more than 5,000 local students and staff from 20 schools took part in a Canada-wide synchronized bite of locally grown crunchy fruit or vegetables to promote healthy eating during 2013 National Nutrition Month.

“The Great Big Crunch is a fun way to help kids learn about healthy foods and the role of local and global food systems,” said Chris McCarthy, Food For Kids Peterborough and County Student Nutrition Program Coordinator.  “This event is growing in popularity every year and provides a great opportunity for our youth and teachers to understand how important nutrition is to lifelong learning and highlights the availability of local vegetables and fruit all year round.”

“The Great Big Crunch is a great way to get students excited about Nutrition Month and build healthy school nutrition environments ‘bite by bite’,” said Carolyn Doris, Public Health Nutritionist with Peterborough Public Health who also helped organize the event.

Food For Kids is a regional partner of the Ontario Farm to School Challenge, and as a result, Ontario grown apples, carrots and cucumbers for this year’s Great Big Crunch were subsidized through a grant from the Ontario Greenbelt Fund and Sustain Ontario.  Local school breakfast programs have been part of an Ontario Farm to School Challenge which aims to increase use of locally grown foods in schools.

Organized locally by Food For Kids Peterborough and County, the Great Big Crunch is a national event initiated by FoodShare Toronto to raise awareness about healthy eating and local and global food systems.  Last year a total of 148,095 participants across Canada joined in the loudest simultaneous apple crunch to date.

Food For Kids Peterborough and County is a non-profit community partnership which supports student nutrition programs in 46 elementary and secondary schools throughout Peterborough County and City. Each student nutrition program is staffed by volunteers who offer healthy food choices in an inviting inclusive and welcoming environment to all students.  In the 2011-2012 school year, more than 960 community volunteers served 1.8 million breakfasts and snacks to local students.  Over 175 local community partners donated food, funding, supplies, space, and volunteer time to support Food For Kids programs.

For more information about Food For Kids, visit www.pcchu-testing.ca/ffk. Follow Great Big Crunch activities on Twitter: #greatbigcrunch.

GREAT BIG CRUNCH – Carolyn Doris, Public Health Nutritionist (Audio Clip) 

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 For further information, please contact:

 Chris McCarthy
Food For Kids Peterborough and County Student Nutrition Program Coordinator
(705) 742-2269
cmccarthy.snp@live.com

Brittany Cadence
Communications Supervisor
(705) 743-1000, ext. 391
bcadence@peterboroughpublichealth.ca


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