Fruits and Veggies Help Kids 3 Ways

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Written By Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII
Sheryl Arpin teaches the 5 a day program in the 3rd grade classes for public schools in Phoenix, AZ. She teaches that fruits and vegetables have 3 things in them that make them good for us.
They are vitamin A, C, and fiber. “We have posters showing that vitamin C helps our bodies heal when we get a wound. Our poster is a hand with a bandaid on it. Vitamin A helps us see in the dark, so our poster shows eyeballs in the dark (black background). Fiber acts like a scrub brush to help clean our food tube (digestive system). The concept of fiber is hard to show. One idea we tried was to use a juicer to juice a carrot. The fiber is like sawdust when we do this, so we put the carrot fiber in a zip lock sandwich bag. In class we pass the zip lock bag of carrot fiber around so the kids can feel the fiber. We also show the carrot juice along with a whole carrot. The fiber concept seems to be easier to explain this way.”“We also have the kids make a healthy snack in one of our classes. We talk about ways they can get 5 a day by incorporating fruits and vegetables at snack time. We have the kids make a fruit parfait with vanilla yogurt and fruits that are in season. They layer the fruits over the yogurt and top the parfait with a low-fat granola with raisins. They love making this snack, and it’s good for them.”
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Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII

Judy’s passion for cooking began with helping her grandmother make raisin oatmeal for breakfast. From there, she earned her first food service job at 15, was accepted to the world-famous Culinary Institute of America at 18 (where she graduated second in her class), and went on to the Fachschule Richemont in Switzerland, where she focused on pastry arts and baking. After a decade in food service for Hyatt Hotels, Judy launched Food and Health Communications to focus on flavor and health. She graduated with Summa Cum Laude distinction from Johnson and Wales University with a BS in Culinary Arts, holds a master’s degree in Food Business from the Culinary Institute of America, two art certificates from UC Berkeley Extension, and runs a food photography & motion studio where her love is creating fun recipes and content.

Judy received The Culinary Institute of America’s Pro Chef II certification, the American Culinary Federation Bronze Medal, Gold Medal, and ACF Chef of the Year. Her enthusiasm for eating nutritiously and deliciously leads her to constantly innovate and use the latest nutritional science and Dietary Guidelines to guide her creativity, from putting new twists on fajitas to adapting Italian brownies to include ingredients like toasted nuts and cooked honey. Judy’s publishing company, Food and Health Communications, is dedicated to her vision that everyone can make food that tastes as good as it is for you.

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