Fruit Face-off Day 1 was a yummy success!

All right Westminster! We had a fantastic Day 1 of our very first Fruit Face-Off competition!  This School Council initiative supports our Healthy Schools policy and is an innovative way to get kids to try new healthy foods.  It is all free to our students and is sponsored by the Metro Grant that our school was awarded to promote nutrition.  A huge thanks goes to our parent volunteers for buying and preparing the fruit and especially to our co-chairs Edna Benzaquen and Ellen Crackower for applying for the grant and proposing this initiative. Thanks!   

On Monday, our students were introduced to 2 fruits which competed for the honour of being our favourite fruit of the week at WPS!

On one corner....Introducing… the cantaloupe! 

Did you know that several varieties of cantaloupes grow all over the planet; however, two common varieties that are named after where they are grown have become popular in the western world:  The European cantaloupe and the North American cantaloupe.

One quarter of a cantaloupe provides a full 100% of your recommended daily intake of both vitamin C and vitamin A. They are also rich is antioxidants and like most melons, they have a high water concentration, which means it will help you stay hydrated and keep you feeling full until your next meal or snack.

When buying cantaloupes in the store, look for one that feels heavy for its size with a clean rind, that is not overly shiny. Look for a cantaloupe without any cuts or bruises on the surface, which might have occurred while transporting the fruit. When you get home, place your cantaloupes in a cool place until you are ready to open it up and eat it. Once it is open, however, it should be kept in the refrigerator.

And competing against the cantaloupe is…. the persimmon!

The Persimmon Fruit is an edible fruit that looks like a flat tomato. There are several kinds of persimmons, including the one we will be eating today, called the Sharon Fruit from Israel. Each persimmon contains 55% of our daily needs of Vitamin A, and 21% Vitamin C. Persimmon is a healthy, convenient snack for adults and children. Eating one persimmon a day is enough to help prevent heart attacks and reduce the risk of heart diseases.

You can eat the entire persimmon fruit as it has no seeds or pits. It can be eaten soft like a peach, or firm like an apple, with or without the skin. When you buy your persimmon, you can put it in the refrigerator for up to 12 days or leave it to soften on the kitchen table for up to 6 days. 

So what will it be? The good old cantaloupe,  or the new and exciting persimmon?

Students from Kindergarten to Grade 8 enjoyed the tasty treats! Thanks! Stay tuned for the results.  We look forward to our next Fruit Face-off on February 22nd!  I wonder what fruits will be competing then?