Did you know that in the USDA's Agriculture Fact book, their research showed 47% of American's meals and snacks come from food outside of the home?  

Here are some fun facts about bananas from the website http://www.thebananapolice.com

• The scientific name for banana is musa sapientum, which means “fruit of the wise men.”
• Bananas float in water, as do apples and watermelons.
• Hawaii is the only place in the U.S. where bananas are grown commercially, although at one time they were also grown in southern California and Florida. The overwhelming majority of the bananas Americans eat come from countries in Latin America and South America, including Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia, Honduras, Panama, and Guatemala.
• The type of banana you see in the supermarket is called a Cavendish banana. The preferred variety was originally the Gros Michel, which essentially became extinct by 1960, thanks to a fungus called Panama disease.
• Some cultures (most notably Japan) use the fiber in the banana plant to make fabric and sometimes even paper.
• The fastest marathon ever run by a competitor dressed as a fruit was 2 hours, 58 minutes, and 20 seconds—recorded at the Barcelona Marathon on March 6, 2011. The runner was Patrick Wightman from the United Kingdom, who dressed as a banana.
  
• The Banana Club Museum, located on Highway 111 in Mecca, Calif. (just south of Palm Springs), houses the world’s largest collection devoted to any one fruit. It contains more than 17,000 banana items, most of which have been donated by members. (To join the club, visit www.bananaclub.com.)

An article from livestrong.com called 'Fun Nutrition Facts for Kids' states "Kids who eat breakfast do better in school because they are better behaved and perform better, the American Dietetic Association explains." (livestrong.com). So make sure to grab a bite to eat before you head off to school in the morning! 


See the entire article for more nutrition facts! 


http://www.livestrong.com/article/149288-fun-nutrition-facts-for-kids/

As a part of celebrating nutrition month, and as a parent in general, educating children about healthy foods and instilling healthy eating habits is a very important task. However, we need to remember this tip from the aboutourkids.org website: 

"Be a role model
Children learn by experience - look at your own food habits and ideas about weight. The goal is to...have a positive self-image, based on more than a number on a scale." -aboutourkids.org

Kids do learn from parents more than any other educator and the best way to make sure kids are learning about health and nutrition is by showing them how we ourselves view health and nutrition. So, lets pick up an apple, look in the mirror and be satisfied, and be the example we want our kids to follow!

We are so thrilled with the success of our Kiddos Logo Contest.  We had an overwhelming amount of submissions and it was very difficult to choose finalists and the winner.  We love posting all of the kids designs and hope you will enjoy seeing and sharing them all with family and friends on our website as well as our Facebook page.  Next week we will begin posting many of the designs that we received which were not selected as finalists or winners so the students that did submit an entry can check our Facebook page and our website to see if their design has been posted for all to see.  Thank you again for all of the creative and lovely accolades expressed by the students about Kiddos and the lunches we feel honored to serve.  MK

This month we are celebrating nutrition and we found a great article to kick the month off right. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics posted a tip sheet about 20 ways to enjoy more fruits and veggies and we thought it had some great ideas so here you go! Visit http://www.eatright.org/ for more information!

Even though you may have missed a deadline, YOU CAN STILL ORDER LUNCHES ANYTIME! Yes, it's true!  You can always login or create an account and order lunches.  Once you are in the Order Form you will see all of the dates available for ordering.  MK

We have selected all of the winners for the Logo Design Contest!  We will be announcing the winner in just a few short days and will be posting all of the finalists and honorable mentions on our website and facebook page. Stay tuned....