To get the veg out, there’s a pretty cool event held by our friends at Foodshare. Thursday, March 10 at 2:30pm EST, simply bite into a fresh veggie or fruit … bonus if you pledge or share on your favorite social media site#greatbigcrunch. For a serious crunch-factor, I’d recommend apples, carrots and celery over a banana or tomato.

Pledge to take the #greatbigcrunch

From Foodshare:

Everyone crunches in their own way! How will you crunch? Join us in biting a vegetable or fruit on Thursday, March 10 at 2:30pm EST. Let’s celebrate healthy snacking and year- round availability of fresh produce by taking a synchronized crunch.

Last year over 180,000 students, teachers, educators and good food enthusiasts joined together to make some noise.

Add to the chorus by pledging to crunch: http://bit.ly/gbc16

And remember, you can crunch from home, your classroom, a gym, work, online or beyond! Grab our Great Big Crunch activity guide to make your day crunch-tastic.

#greatbigcrunch // @FoodShareTO

Amid the clatter of conflicting nutritional advice, one message that stands strong is that eating more fresh fruits and veggies is great for your health. It’s not just good for your body … having a diet with more fruits and veggies in it (and less meat) is pretty great for the environment as well.

Comparing the environmental footprint of food. Image credit: Environmental Working Group
Comparing the environmental footprint of food. Production in green. Transportation/Processing in yellow. Image credit: Environmental Working Group

Using some handy dandy data from the EWG, it looks like if every Canadian went vegetarian, it would be like taking 5 million cars off the road. Not everyone has what it takes to be vegetarian or vegan (I tried for 2 years, then lost to the tasty beckon of bacon). To make it a bit easier and more attainable, if every Canadian reduced their meat by half, that’s a solid 2.5 million cars off the road. That’s something to crunch about!