ALL ABOARD! BY DEB GLASSER, MS, RD

The Alphabet Produce Train has officially pulled out of the station and the SNP train crew is elated! We have worked tirelessly to produce this year’s event, designing and engineering an old fashion steam engine replica complete with fruit and vegetable details AND creating a menu that highlights 26 amazing fruits and vegetables. The Alphabet Produce Train (APT), SNP’s premiere nutrition special event, is a train-themed salad bar. Students are served salads that include items from every letter of the alphabet, serving as a nutrition platform by encouraging fruit and vegetable consumption. Our students get to “board the train” and sample fresh fruit and veggies, some familiar (watermelon, asparagus), and some that they might not otherwise have had a chance to try (star fruit, urad bean).  The response to the event (from students and staff!) is overwhelmingly positive and students’ reactions when they see a six-foot replica of a train engine parked outside their cafeteria is priceless. The enthusiasm for the fruits and vegetables when they actually proceed through the Alphabet Produce Train makes all the hard work worth it for the train crew and motivates us to do even more for our students.

The APT will stop at 18 schools over the next five months, providing the opportunity to serve over fifteen thousand (15,000!) students.

Some favorites so far…

The BCD salad, featuring roasted beets and cauliflower with daikon radish sprouts and a citrus vinaigrette.

The PQRT salad, a bright mix of pomegranate seeds, quinoa, golden raisins and fresh tarragon. Are you hungry yet?

I’ll be driving the train to each of the stations. You’ll find me in my conductor hat and overalls encouraging every student to hop aboard and have some fun eating an extraordinary school lunch.

CHOO CHEW.