A catalyst for adaptation, advancement and innovation within the agriculture and agri-food community.
NEWS RELEASES - 2008
Teaching kids to play the vegetable
game
(Guelph, ON – January 04, 2008) At a recent test screening, special decks of
cards featuring fruits and vegetables were given to a select handful of grade 4
students by a firm contracted by a group of Ontario fresh vegetable growers.
Within minutes of being taught how to play, the kids were teaching their elders.
Sue McLarty, manager of the Fresh Vegetable Growers of Ontario, is quick to
admit that she got trounced by a 10- year-old on her very first hand, and was
happy about it. “Kids who develop a healthy pleasure in vegetables will have a
headstart on a healthy life,” McLarty says. “I don’t mind losing at cards if
that’s the end result. Besides, those kids are quick!”
The card game uses 22 cards, each with its own vegetable character, from Astro
Nightsky, an asparagus stalk transformed into a cool kid with a telescope, to
Cody, a skateboarding cabbage. Each also comes with its own story, like Celine
D’Onion, whose vitamin C helps her show off a dazzling smile while she sings.
The goal of the Canada Food Guide-based game is to quickly collect points, but
to do that, the player also needs to watch out for the two zero-point cards that
will hurt their hands. They’re Salty the salt shaker, and Buddy the butterstick,
which come with reminders that they’re best used in moderation.
Teachers tested the game too and have given it a thumbs-up, McLarty adds. The
next step is to determine details of getting the games and support materials
into the schools, and then to the kids.
The fresh vegetable organization is interested in reaching schoolchildren across
the province because not only do children influence their parents’ buying
decisions, they also need fresh vegetables for proper growth, and a recent Heart
and Stroke Foundation survey shows that only one quarter of Canadians eat the
recommended five to 10 servings of vegetables and fruit every day. The
organization was formed two years ago by growers who believe the sector needs do
a better job of communicating with consumers. Most members have direct contact
with customers and know how effective it is when a farmer conveys their pride in
the quality and wholesomeness of a product directly to the buyer.
The fresh vegetable growers utilized $240,000 provided through the
Canada-Ontario Research and Development (CORD) Program, which is an initiative
of the federal-provincial-territorial Agricultural Policy Framework administered
by the Agricultural Adaptation Council located in Guelph, Ontario.
With CORD support, the vegetable growers hired a social marketing firm and
dietician consultant, brainstormed ideas, and then set up a test panel of kids
to see if the ideas really would succeed where they needed to.
“All the ideas we’ve seen through CORD have been exciting and innovative,” says
Betty Jean Crews, chair of the Agricultural Adaptation Council. “This one may be
the most fun.”
This project was funded in part through contributions by Canada and the Province
of Ontario under the Canada-Ontario Research and Development (CORD) Program, an
initiative of the federal-provincial- territorial Agricultural Policy Framework
designed to position Canada’s agri-food sector as a world leader. The
Agricultural Adaptation Council administers the CORD Program on behalf of the
Province.
The Agricultural Adaptation Council is a non-profit, grass roots coalition of 71
agricultural, agribusiness and rural organizations dedicated to providing
financial resources to help Ontario’s agriculture and agri-food industry remain
profitable, grow and maintain its economic strength.
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For more information:
Nadine Armstrong
Communications Manager
Agricultural Adaptation Council
Ph: 519-822-7554
E-mail: narmstrong@adaptcouncil.org
Website: www.adaptcouncil.org
