Healthy Harvest brings colorful carrots to New Vision High

POST FALLS — Everyone knows carrots are orange. 

Right?

“I’m a little bit scared,” New Vision High School senior Adrein Riddle said, glancing down at the purple baby carrot in his cup. “I’m not sure about it yet, but I’ll probably take a bite.”

Mustering the courage, he took a nibble and reported his findings.

“It's a very juicy carrot,” he said. “It’s a little bit more earthy."

Exploring the colorful world of carrots was on the menu Thursday for New Vision students, who were visited by representatives of Healthy Harvest, a program of the University of Idaho Extension’s Eat Smart Idaho. Healthy Harvest introduces school kids to a variety of fruits and vegetables, thereby increasing produce consumption among local youth.

“All the carrots are high in vitamin A. They’re healthy for your eyes," Eat Smart Idaho program coordinator Kali Gardiner said, adding that throughout this program, many students learned carrots don’t just come in orange.

Rainbow carrots come in a rainbow of colors, including yellow, white, red, purple and the "original orange." They can be found at farmers' markets and many grocery stores.

"There’s a variety of different ones they can try," she said. "They are packed with nutrients."

Gardiner and her Eat Smart Idaho colleagues recently shared the joy of rainbow carrots with Seltice Elementary School.

“It was funny, some of the kids were like, ‘I’ll just take the original orange,’” she said, smiling. “And some kids were like, ‘I want to try the purple!’ Some were braver than others.” 

Some of the purple carrots had white in them, “so that was kind of fun for them to see and not be afraid of that," she said.

“Just seeing those foods and being able to try them, they get to try it, they don’t have to buy it, they can see what they like and get introduced to new things they might not try normally," Gardiner said. "It might make them more open to trying other foods in the future if they see them at the grocery store or somewhere else."

New Vision freshman Bryson VanZandt had never tried a rainbow carrot before this Healthy Harvest session. 

“They were colorful," he said. "They kind of tasted all the same."

He said it was cool that the Eat Smart Idaho team brings new produce items to schools for students to try.

“I will try new things if they look appetizing enough,” he said.

Freshman Liam Leathers was aware of rainbow carrots because of his family's farming and vegetable-growing history. He enjoyed the Healthy Harvest offerings.

“They were pretty good,” he said. “I could tell the difference. The yellow ones tasted not fresher, but more recently from out of the ground, more earthy."

Carrots are his favorite veggie. Cauliflower and brussels sprouts, not so much.

“I hate Brussels sprouts," he said. "My mom puts vinegar on them so they’re all bitter."

Eat Smart Idaho is making its rounds, featuring foods at a few schools in the Post Falls School District. Other adventurous healthy offerings have included citrus-infused waters, hummus, chickpeas and baby cucumbers. The six-week lunchtime program will conclude after the first week of March.

“We just love the support of the community and exposing our kids to healthy options and maybe tasting something they didn’t think would be delicious and it surprising them," New Vision Principal Thomas Staples said. "It’s similar to school, we want them to taste something delicious and have it surprise them!"

    Becky Elmore, director of Post Falls School District Nutrition Services, preps cups of rainbow carrots on Thursday at New Vision High School.
  

    New Vision freshman Zackery Bostwick finds carrots a-peeling Thursday during a visit from Eat Smart Idaho's Health Harvest program.