The Great Big Crunch
February 19, 2016
Apples part of an annual moment of anti-silence
An annual event to celebrate local food and healthy eating in a loud and fun way that started in Toronto is spreading its message across the country and around the globe.
FoodShare’s Great Big Crunch encourages schools, workplaces and even individuals to collectively “crunch” on an apple or other crunchy vegetable at the same time on the same day in March, which is Nutrition Month.
More than 785,000 people have taken part in the event since its start in 2006; last year alone attracted 185,000 participants, according to FoodShare’s Field to Table Schools Manager, Katie German, including schools in Nicaragua and Australia.
“It’s a fun way to engage young people, but also to highlight that there are ways to have local food in the winter, like apples, or carrots or other root crops, when we might not think there are any available,” she explains, adding that international cities like New York have taken Great Big Crunch on as their own event too. “It’s a low cost activity for teachers to do in a classroom.”
The idea started with a subway ride by a FoodShare staffer who bit into an apple while riding and noticing how the loud crunching noise attracted positive attention from fellow riders, says German.
The apple remains the crunch of choice, although the event did switch to carrots for one year when a devastating spring frost several years ago significantly reduced Ontario’s apple crop.
Interested crunchers can sign up at http://foodshare.net/program/crunch/ and although everyone is encouraged to crunch at the same time – 2:30 pm Eastern on March 10 this year – German says schools can choose the time and day to crunch that works best for them.
FoodShare produces an activity guide with curriculum connections for teachers every year in conjunction with the event; it’s also available on the Food Share website.
All schools are encouraged to buy local apples – or other crunchy, locally grown produce – for their participation, and schools in the Greater Toronto Area can order their apples through FoodShare.
The organization has built a partnership with the Norfolk Fruit Growers’ Association, which supplies them with a smaller, snack size apple for the annual event. The co-op also supplies FoodShare with small apples for their food programs and for use in local schools throughout the year. You can read more about Ontario’s apple farmers and the Norfolk Fruit Growers’ Association here: http://www.nfga.ca/about-us.
New for 2016 is a partnership between a local Ontario school and one in Nicaragua that participated last year and in advance of the big day, students are sharing emails with each other about what healthy local food is for them. Efforts are also underway to host a public crunch on Parliament Hill in Ottawa this year.
“We want to encourage people to participate, and to share their photos and tweets using #greatbigcrunch,” says German. “There’s no deadline to sign up – we welcome everyone to take a bite and crunch with us this year.”
Great Big Crunch is organized by FoodShare, a non-profit organization that works with communities and schools to deliver healthy food and food education. More information is available at www.foodshare.net.