The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program is serving a combination of peaches and mini carrots. These fruits and vegetables provide students with opportunities to explore different textures and flavors while learning nutritional facts.
Peaches are a type of stone fruit, a category that includes cherries, nectarines, plums, and apricots. They are named for the large, stone-like pit located in their center. Varieties are generally categorized as clingstone, where the pit adheres to the fruit, or freestone, where the pit is easy to remove. Peaches are native to China and are believed to have been discovered along the Yangzi River around 6000 BC. They arrived in North America in the early 1600s. Ripe peaches are known for a sweet, juicy flavor and fuzzy skin, and they serve as a source of fiber, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and vitamins A and C.
Mini carrots, which appear in various sizes, are made by cutting whole carrots into pieces roughly 1.5 to 2 inches long and passing them through large peelers. Because whole carrots vary in thickness from the top to the root, the resulting mini carrots can differ in size. Carrots are available in orange, yellow, purple, and red. They provide beta-carotene, antioxidants, minerals, and vitamin A.
