In 2018, the State of Obesity Organization stated the combined rate for overweight and obese adolescents is 33.5% making Kentucky fall among the highest 15 states for overweight and obese children. Kentucky Health Facts stated that 40% of adults in Mason County are obese compared to the 35% in Kentucky as a whole. According to the CDC, around 49.7% and 43.2% of adolescents in Kentucky report consuming fruits and vegetables, respectively, less than one time a day. In an effort to increase the fruit and vegetable intake of children in Mason County in hopes of decreasing the obesity rates in adolescents and in time the obesity rates in the adults, Mason County FCS partnered with the entire 2^nd grade at Charles Straub Elementary School to offer a program called, Food Explorers for the second year in a row. 

Originally, Food Explorers took place every other week over a course of 20 weeks. In the second year, Food Explorers took place once a month during the school year. Every time we visited the school, we would take a different fruit or vegetable to be sampled. In some cases such a spinach, chickpeas, or spaghetti squash, a recipe was made so that the students could see the different ways fruits and vegetables can be prepared. The foods that were sampled in the first year included broccoli salad (broccoli), spinach dip (spinach), hummus (chickpeas), raspberries, bell peppers, spaghetti squash (cooked with marinara sauce), okra (roasted using the Plate It Up! Kentucky Proud recipe), kiwi, mangoes, and pomegranates. The foods added during the second year were guacamole (avocados) and guava juice (guavas).The rules behind getting the students to taste it were simple – you don’t have to like it, you just have to try it. An incentive was offered to the students who tried every food that was offered. An ice cream party was rewarded to the every student, and we spoke about how sweets are okay in moderation. Each classroom received a chart to hang up that listed every child’s name and pictures of the fruits and vegetables. After sampling, students placed a red star if they didn’t like it or a gold star if they did next to their name and below that food item.

As a result of the program between the two years, 391 out of 403 (97%) tried all of the fruits and vegetables that were sampled during Food Explorers. 108 out of 403 (27%) liked all of the fruits and vegetables that were sampled during Food Explorers. 351 out of 403 (87%) liked at least half of the fruits and vegetables that were sampled during Food Explorers. 402 out of 403 (99.8%) tried at least 1 new food during Food Explorers. The teachers loved the program and told the parents about it during parent teacher conferences. Each teacher requested that the program continue on next year. Some of the comments from the students included, “I didn’t think I would like that because it was green, but it was yummy!” and “I asked my mom to get me hummus to put in my lunch for school.” A parent even approached me at a separate event and asked if I was the reason her child asked for spaghetti squash at the grocery store and that she had never bought it before because she thought she wouldn’t like it, but now they eat it all the time.