September
is National 5-A-Day Month
There are several websites that
have great information, ideas, fun facts and recipes that would be great to
use in your cafeterias, on bulletin boards, in classrooms, etc.
The Center for Disease Control
(CDC) has a great 5-A Day website that has a calendar that shows fruits and
vegetables of the month. Below is an excerpt about cactus which is their
fruit of the month for August.
Edible Cactus
"Edible cactus is
also known as
nopales (noPAH-les), nopalitos or cactus pads. This vegetable is
popular in Mexico and other Central American countries, parts of Europe, the
Middle East, India, North Africa and Australia. Its popularity is increasing
in the United States where it can be found at Mexican grocery stores,
specialty produce markets and farmer’s markets.
Edible cactus is
characterized by its fleshy oval leaves (typically called pads or
paddles) of the nopal (prickly pear) cactus.
With a soft but
crunchy texture that also becomes a bit sticky (not unlike okra) when cooked,
edible cactus tastes similar to a slightly tart green bean, asparagus or green
pepper.
Cactus pads contain
beta carotene, iron and some B vitamins and are good sources of both vitamin C
and calcium.”
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/5ADay/month/cactus.htm
Another great website is the
Produce for Better
Health website. At this site you
will find tools to help your school celebrate National 5-A-Day-Month including
use of the “Lead the Way” logo.
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