vegetables

Today, June 17, is National Eat Your Vegetables Day, presented by Agrilicious, (https://www.agrilicious.org). Agrilicious is at the heart of the food movement providing an exciting way to participate in the local food experience while expanding the family-and-farmer connection, as the go-to source for all things local food.  Agrilicious features over 100,000 local farms, food hubs, farmers markets and restaurants across the USA.

We are big farmer’s market shoppers.  Every Saturday, we had to the farmer’s market and leave with bags full of local produce for the week.

 “National Eat Your Vegetables Day 2014 is a perfect opportunity for all of us to reconnect with all that is good about dirt candy, AKA veggies!” said Duane Dahl, Co-Founder of Agrilicious. “The one day out of the year we celebrate the fact that Mother did know best. The one day where we must eat our vegetables!”

Make the Most Out of Every Bite
A recent study released by The Center for Disease Control, (CDC), defines “Powerhouse Fruits and Vegetables”. PFVs are attributed with preventing diseases and broadly defined as “green leafy, yellow/orange, citrus and cruciferous items.” The study, conducted by Jennifer Di Noia of William Paterson University, looked at 17 important nutrients naturally occurring in food (fiber, protein, potassium, Vitamin A, B12, D) and calculated how much of those nutrients were found in a 100-calorie serving. Here’s the top and bottom 5 results from the study:

Top 5 (Nutrient Density Score)
Watercress, (100)
Chinese Cabbage, 91.99
Chard, 89.27
Beet Green, 87.08
Spinach, 86.43

Bottom 5 (But still better than Fruit Gushers!)
Sweet Potato, 10.51
Leek, 10.69
Turnip, 11.43
Rutabaga, 11.58
Winter Squash, 13.89

So push away the Cheetos flavored…set aside the Fruit Gushers for the day – today is National Eat Your Vegetables Day! Presented by Agrilicious! To find your favorite local or organic veggie go to https://www.agrilicious.org and then share your vegetable du jour on Twitter at #EatYourVeggies. To review the report in its entirety please visit the Press Center onhttps://www.agrilicious.org

Detroit Mommies Expert Contributor
Courtney is the traveling mom! She has 3 girls and is the founder of Detroit Mommies and currently lives in Florida. You can follow her on Twitter @courtneyRVL.