One of the biggest challenges in school food service is getting students to eat their veggies.  One way to solve this problem is to tuck the nutrient-packed treats within their favorite foods.  A great resource for the home or food service chef is a cookbook called, The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine.  With recipes ranging from Mac-n-Cheese with hidden cauliflower and zucchini, pizza with sweet potatoes and carrots, and brownies made with blueberries and spinach, kids are sure to enjoy healthy meals without even knowing it!  I have used this cookbook on many different occasions at schools with especially picky eaters.  My favorite way to have the students Eat More Greens is to steam and puree spinach and broccoli and then add the mixture to marinara sauce for spaghetti, tomato sauce for pizza, or refried beans for burritos. 

If honesty is your best policy, then there are many other less-sneaky ways to get a child to Eat More Greens.  Try encouraging children to:

• Get involved in the menu planning, grocery shopping, and food preparation
• Think and talk about the importance of a healthy diet
• Experiment in the kitchen, by trying new things like adding vegetables to a favorite recipe or substituting healthier ingredients without changing the taste of a dish
• Have fun in the kitchen by participating in a blind-folded taste test, creating new recipes from scratch, or holding a cooking competition using healthy foods

Regardless of whether you are a sneaky chef or you get a child involved in the cooking process, it is important to teach students the importance of a healthy lifestyle that includes eating more fruit and vegetables of every color.  The more exposure children have to healthy food choices, the better chance that they will Eat More Greens!