The municipality of Midden-Drenthe is affiliated with the Vegetable Box program, also known as ‘Vegetables.. Sink your teeth into it’ of Aldi and JOGG nationally. It is a joint effort to encourage vegetable consumption among preschoolers. Eight daycare centers are connected.
Wineke Holtrop from Gezond in Midden-Drenthe: “With this we reach 400 children. The aim is to introduce children to vegetables, increase knowledge about them, let them taste them and then promote healthier eating habits.”
In the coming weeks, childcare locations will offer vegetables at least once a day. The program focuses on 5-7 specific vegetables, including carrot, tomato, cucumber, pepper, radish, beetroot and cauliflower.
Stamps
Children earn stamps on a scorecard when they eat vegetables. With 5 stamps they receive a vegetable card with a recipe to take home. When all vegetables have been eaten 5 times, the little ones receive a vegetable crown and the title ‘Vegetable Champion of the Day’.
A partner in the ‘Vegetables.. Sink your teeth into it’ program is Aldi. At the end of the program, all children receive a lunch box (the vegetable box) containing free vouchers for snack tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots from Aldi. You can exchange vouchers at your local Aldi branch. In this way, healthy eating habits are also encouraged at home.
Healthy food
Nadie Winde, manager of Aldi Netherlands: “Stimulating a healthy lifestyle is one of the focus themes of our sustainability policy. Providing healthy food is an important part of this. Through the collaboration with JOGG, we can encourage the eating of vegetables at daycare centers throughout the Netherlands and lay the foundation for a healthy eating pattern at an early age.”
The daycare centers that are currently participating are: De Eshorst, Harm Smeenge, GA de Ridder, Olke Bolke, Sprookjesboom, &Vriendjes, de Schutkampen and Prinses Margriet.
Kickoff
In the presence of councilor Rico Schans, the kick-off of ‘Vegetables.. Sink your teeth into it’ took place on March 25 at Aldi in Beilen. “We are proud that we can also participate in the JOGG program in Central Drenthe, in this way the children at the participating daycare centers have the opportunity to taste different healthy vegetables in a playful way.” Schans said.
Tags: Kickoff project healthier daycare centers Central Drenthe vegetable box program aims introduce preschoolers vegetables
