According to kentuckyhealthfacts.org, only 10% of Kentuckians eat the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables daily and only 5% of Bourbon County residents eat those recommended amounts!  Nutrition conscious eating habits need to be nurtured and developed at an early age.  For this reason, the Bourbon County Extension FCS agent and the Senior Snap Assistant took this message to all the kindergarten classes in Bourbon County.  

The story and skit about Peter Rabbit and how he LOVED all the nutritious veggies in Mr. McGregor’s garden, was shared in 15 kindergarten classrooms with 357 students.  The skit had both Peter Rabbit and Mr. McGregor sharing their concerns about the garden.  Mr. McGregor was frustrated that his vegetables were being eaten by a pesky rabbit and Peter Rabbit was concerned about needing all the nutrition available in those vegetables so that he could jump higher and run faster (from Mr. McGregor).   Mr. McGregor share with the students what nutrients were in several of the vegetables and what those nutrients do for our bodies.  Peter Rabbit and Mr. McGregor come to an agreement to share the garden with each other as well as all the kindergarten students in the classroom.  The students sampled broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers, and tomatoes.  

98% of the students took “Hello Bites” of each of the vegetables and 73% said that they would eat the vegetables again.  78% is a very successful increase over the 5% of Bourbon County resident that have the recommended intake of fruits and vegetables