Contest by Stanislaus County Fair, Turlock Unified entices kids to eat their veggies
Healthy fare could mean fun at the fair for children who participate in a contest being offered by the Stanislaus County Fair’s Kids Club Educational Program and the Turlock Unified School District’s child nutritional program, Real Fresh.
The 20/20 Fruit & Veggie Contest, which starts Monday, will reward students for their healthy choices. Punch cards will be distributed to elementary students. Each time a student chooses a fruit or vegetable option for lunch for 20 schooldays, his or her card will be punched. Once students’ cards are completed, they will be entered into a prize drawing. Four students from each elementary school in Turlock Unified will be chosen to win either a Stanislaus County Fair Family 4-Pack (including ride tickets), a bicycle or other prizes.
The contest is open to all grade schoolers, not just those who get lunch from the cafeteria line. Many children bring lunch from home, and those that include carrot sticks, apples, bananas, mini peppers and the like will get cards punched, too. Cafeteria workers and playground supervisors will do the punching.
“We wanted to enhance our Kids Club program in a fun yet educational way this summer,” said Adrenna Alkhas, spokeswoman for the Stanislaus County Fair, in a news release. “The goal was to partner with a program that has excelled by introducing innovative approaches in educating kids on better nutritional choices.”
She later told The Modesto Bee, “If this is successful, we’re hoping to expand the contest with other school districts if they’re willing to work with us. But we really wanted to start with Turlock Unified to see how it goes with the kids.”
TUSD’s child nutritional program, Real Fresh, is committed to providing nutritional information that promotes children’s health by supporting healthy eating and physical activity, according to the news release. TUSD provides nutritional information on all menus and has expanded its website to include resources that support healthy food choices through increased consumption of fruits and vegetables. For more information, go to www.turlockusd-ca.schoolloop.com/lunchmenus.
“Anytime that the Turlock Unified Child Nutrition Department can team up with a partner like the Stanislaus County Fair to educate children and their parents about our rich agricultural heritage and educate them on all the fresh local products that we provide in our school lunches every day, which will help guide them to a lifelong change of eating fresh healthy foods, I will do whatever is necessary to be a community partner in that endeavor,” said Scott Soiseth, director of child nutrition at TUSD, in the news release.
More on fair, Kids Club
Kids Club members can fill out a passport book used to travel around the Stanislaus County Fair and answer math, science, art, livestock and agriculture-related questions. Children who are registered in the Kids Club program will receive a tote bag that will contain two carnival ride tickets and items from fair sponsors. Parents can sign up their kids now at http://stancofairkidsclub.com/parent-signup.
When children are finished answering all their passport questions, they can turn in the passport to the information booth at the fair for a chance to win four tickets to Disneyland from KATM (103.3 FM).
The Stanislaus County Fair opens July 10 for a 10-day run. Discounted fair admission tickets, unlimited-ride wristbands and season passes go on sale May 2. Corporate ticket sales are also available at a highly discounted rate. For more information, go to www.stancofair.com.
To receive fair announcements by text message, text the word “fair” to 95577.
This story was originally published April 17, 2015 at 2:45 PM with the headline "Contest by Stanislaus County Fair, Turlock Unified entices kids to eat their veggies."