As longtime readers of Beyond Breakfast know, we love National Nutrition Month! How could we not? It kicks off with National School Breakfast Week, and everyone knows a healthy breakfast is the best way to start anything – from your school day to the entire month of March!
Between our big NSBW 2015 celebration earlier this month, to promoting SNF scholarships and celebrating our School Nutrition Hero Award recipients at the 43rd Annual Legislative Action Conference, we almost let National Nutrition Month slip by without a mention on the blog – time to remedy that!
There have been a lot of yummy social media celebrations during the month of March—you probably noticed the #NationalNutritionMonth and #NNM hashtags on both Facebook and Twitter. We took a breakfast break to make a list of all of our favorite National Nutrition Month headlines and celebrations that we enjoyed via social media over the last month.
#1: National Nutrition Month Interactive Games, Quiz, and Videos
WARNING! The interactive National Nutrition Month Sudoku and Word Search games are incredibly addictive—proceed with caution! There are versions of each game for kids and adults. You’ll also find ‘Rate Your Plate’—a quiz to help you assess your eating habits—and ‘Fad Diet Timeline’, an interactive timeline of fad diets—starting in 1820!
#2: The Recipe for Success VegOut! Challenge
Every March, the Houston-based Recipe for Success Foundation issues the VegOut! Challenge—a month-long competition in which participants pledge to eat thirty different vegetables during the month. Folks can register online to compete to win prizes and badges; check out the #VegOut2015 hashtag to see photos of mouth-watering vegetables and vegetable dishes. Houston restaurants also participate, creating dishes that feature the “Veg of the Day”—it’s a great way to try new restaurants, as well.
#3: #RealSchoolFood on the School Meals That Rock Facebook Page
We were positively drooling over the month-long series of photos—tagged #RealSchoolFood—Dayle Hayles shared with followers on her School Meals That Rock Facebook page. We love Dayle’s School Meals That Rock blog, but it’s her Facebook page we’re addicted to—she’s got some of the very best school food photos from around the country.
#4: MyPlate Resources for Families
In a blog post earlier this month, USDA shared a host of MyPlate and other resources to help families celebrate National Nutrition Month at home. Encouraging families to take part in National Nutrition Month is a great marketing opportunity for a school nutrition program. Consider creating a NNM-themed calendar with Veggies of the Day (or Week), recipes, and fun food facts.
#5: Recipes, Recipes, Recipes!
Whether you’re looking for school foodservice-friendly recipes or recipes to prepare at home with your family, one of the best things about National Nutrition Month is the endless number of new recipes you’ll find online. Looking for delicious soup recipes? No problem! How about a mix-and-match salad chart? We found one right here! Maybe you need some tips to mix up your snack routine—we found those, too.
