Virginia

Virginia Harvest of the Month (HOM) is a program that promotes eating seasonal foods, increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, and supporting local economies. Sponsored by the Virginia Department of Education, Office of School Nutrition Programs (VDOE-SNP), Virginia HOM provides ready-to-use materials for classrooms and cafeterias to educate children about the joys of eating seasonal, local foods. In collaboration with Virginia Agriculture in the Classroom and Virginia Cooperative Extension Agents, VDOE-SNP developed nutrition education lessons for secondary students based on the HOM featured item. Additionally, with a select group of Virginia nutrition directors, VDOE-SNP created and tested recipes for school meals highlighting the Virginia HOM featured item. The recipe development team’s culinary knowledge and student input were used to create the recipes that correspond with this lesson. Providing nutrition education with student meals creates an opportunity to engage students with how Virginia foods are grown, connect food and wellness, and promote the consumption of the HOM featured item.