Persimmon Tasting & Salad Recipe.pdf

- Health and Learning Connection: Less than a third of California children meet fruit recommendations, and only 10% meet vegetable recommendations. Integrating nutrition lessons, like exploring persimmons, can empower students to make healthier food choices, connecting classroom, cafeteria, home, and community.

- Persimmon Taste Testing Activity:
- Materials: One ripe Fuyu and Hachiya persimmon per four students, paper, pencils, cutting board, and knife.
- Procedure: Divide students into groups, observe and feel both varieties, cut and taste, discuss similarities and differences, and graph preferences to share with school nutrition staff.

- Persimmon Salad Recipe:
- Servings: 36 (2 tbsp each)
- Ingredients: 8 Fuyu persimmons, 2 Granny Smith apples, 1 lemon, 2 small honey packages, 1 tbsp fresh mint (optional).
- Instructions: Chop persimmons and apples, mix lemon and honey, toss with fruit, serve immediately (add mint just before serving).

- Nutritional Benefits of Persimmons:
- Half of one medium persimmon provides vitamin A, fiber, vitamin C, and various antioxidants like beta-carotene.

- Botanical Facts:
- Persimmons belong to the Ebenaceae family, genus Diospyros, species D. kaki.
- They are deciduous trees, adaptable to various soils and climates, and bear fruit about two to three years after grafting.

- Recommended Daily Fruit and Vegetable Intake:
- Kids (ages 5-12): 2.5-5 cups per day
- Teens and Adults (ages 13 and up): Males - 4.5-6.5 cups, Females - 3.5-5 cups per day (active individuals should consume the higher number).

- School Garden Activity: Cover Crops
- Late fall is ideal for planting cover crops like legumes (red clover, alfalfa, fava beans, or peas) to prevent soil erosion and add nitrogen to the soil.