California Agriculture

To encourage first-graders to increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables, a garden-enhanced nutrition education program was developed and taught to them. The study was a pilot to assess the feasibility of garden-based education programs for elementary-school students. The first-grade children learned about nutrition in the classroom while growing vegetables outdoors in their own gardens. This experience resulted in the children's increased willingness to taste those vegetables grown in the gardens. Improving children's desire to taste vegetables is thought to be the first step in developing healthier consumption patterns.