Root Vegetables
EDUCATOR NEWSLETTER
Reasons to Eat
Root Vegetables
Root vegetables are rich in
complex carbohydrates, or starch,
which give your body energy,
especially for the brain and
nervous system.
A ½ cup of most root vegetables is
an excellent source of vitamin C.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 3 oz. (85g) raw rutabaga
Amount Per Serving
Calories 25
Calories from Fat 0
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g
0%
Saturated Fat 0g
0%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
0%
Sodium 55mg
2%
Total Carbohydrate 5g
2%
Dietary Fiber 2g
8%
Sugars 3g
Protein 1g
Vitamin A 0%
Vitamin C 30%
Calcium 2%
Iron 2%
How Much Do I Need?
A ½ cup of sliced root vegetables
is equal to one serving of fruits
and vegetables.
Health and Learning Success Go
Hand-In-Hand
Encouraging students to try new foods through
taste tests is a great classroom strategy. Creating
a safe environment for students to taste new
fruits and vegetables is a low-pressure approach
to help students develop a sense of what they
like. Incorporate Harvest of the Month fruits and
vegetables into lesson plans and help students
expand their eating horizons.
SUBGROUPS VARIETIES
Tubers
Potato, sunchoke, yam
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Tap Roots
Beet, carrot, cassava,
jicama, parsnip, radish,
rutabaga, turnip
Tuberous
Roots
Sweet potato, yucca
Corms
Celeriac, eddo, taro,
water chestnut
Rhizomes
Arrowroot, galangal,
ginger, ginseng, lotus
root, turmeric
Bulbs
Garlic, onion, shallot
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Root vegetables were an essential part of the
diet during the early evolution of humankind.
Parsnips are related to carrots. They are native
to Eurasia and have been eaten there since
ancient times.
Turnip fossils dating back thousands of years
were found in caves in China.
Egyptian writing reports that radishes were
a common food in ancient Egypt before the
pyramids were built.
In the 1600s, the Spanish brought jicama to
the Philippines and Malaysia.
Rutabagas are believed to have originated in
Bohemia in the 1700s as a cross between the
turnip and wild cabbage.
Romans were some of the first to cultivate and
develop beets for their roots and used them
for feeding animals, and Greeks were the first
to consume both roots and leaves.
The French began extracting sugar from the
sugar beet (or “white beet”) in the early
1800s.
American colonists relied heavily on root
vegetables because they could be stored for
months in the harsh New England winters.
Root Vegetable Facts
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•
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AGES 5-12
AGES 13 AND UP
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Males
2 ½ - 5 cups
Males
4 ½ - 6 ½ cups
•
Females
2 ½ - 5 cups
Females
3 ½ - 5 cups
*If you are active, eat the higher number
of cups per day.
Root vegetables are the roots
of plants that are eaten as
vegetables. These roots grow into
the ground from the base of the
plant stem, and they anchor the
plant, absorb water and nutrients,
and store energy. Root vegetables
are divided into six subgroups.
A Slice of Root Vegetable History
•
Recommended Daily Amount of
Fruits and Vegetables*
Botanical Facts
Only the roots of jicama plants are edible.
Turnips are members of the mustard family.
The name rutabaga comes from the Swedish
word rotbagga, meaning “thick root.”
Beet juice is widely used as a “natural” dye to
give pink or red coloration to processed foods.
There are five varieties of radishes: Red
Globe, Daikons, White Icicles and California
Mammoth White.
Tubers differ from other roots. They
are swollen underground stems,
capable of producing new plants
and storing energy for the parent
plant. If the parent plant dies, the
underground tubers can create
new plants. Other roots can take
nutrients from the ground, but
cannot store energy or use it for
reproduction. So while every tuber
is a root vegetable, not all roots are
tubers.
In Wisconsin, FoodShare assists low-income families and individuals to buy nutritious food.
Visit access.wisconsin.gov or call 1-800-362-3002.
Made possible with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Wisconsin Department
of Health Services. Material adapted from Harvest of the Month produced by the CA Department of Public Health’s
Network for a Healthy California with funding from USDA SNAP.
Cafeteria Connections
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Examine the school lunch menu.
List the different choices of root
vegetables. Have students design
posters promoting the nutritional
significance of a root vegetable
of their choice. Display posters in
cafeteria.
Ask students to select which root
vegetables they will try. Record
feedback and submit summary
to school food service staff with
recommendations.
Promote lunch time as a way
for students to obtain maximum
nutrition and help meet their
daily fruit and vegetable needs.
Design promotional messages
around fruits and vegetables
served that week.
Beet Taste Testing Activity
Adventurous Activities
Getting Started:
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Talk to a local store’s produce manager, school
nutrition staff or Farm to School Coordinator to
obtain fresh and canned beets for taste tests
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Cook fresh beets in advance (roast or
microwave); sauté beet greens in olive oil with
lemon
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What you will need (per student group):
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1 cup each of raw and cooked beets, sliced
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1 cup of canned beets (no salt added)
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1 cup cooked beet greens
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Printed Nutrition Facts labels for beets (raw
and canned) and beet greens (cooked)*
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Descriptive word bank**
*Download from www.harvestofthemonth.com
**Download from http://www.dpi.wi.gov/ne/pdf/
ndw.pdf
Activity:
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Make a 4”x5” chart and label the columns raw,
cooked, canned, and greens. Label the rows
sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste.
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Examine each variety and describe using the
descriptive word bank. Record the observations
on chart, and discuss findings as a class.
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Record the differences and similarities from the
Nutrition Facts labels for raw and cooked beets
using a Venn diagram.
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Use another Venn diagram and repeat for
cooked beets and beet greens.
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Take a poll of students’ favorite variety, and
share results with school food service staff.
Adventurous Activities
Nutrition Investigation: Healthy Snacks, Healthy
Choices
Materials:
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Display board
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Variety of student snacks (chips, crackers,
whole fruit, fruit snacks, cheese, etc.)
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Handout 6.8 (page 127) from Activities for
Youth on Nutrition and Physical Activity*
Activity:
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Make a list of the top 10 snacks students eat
on a regular basis. Write on board.
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Make a checklist with these headings: Low
in fat?, Low in sugar?, High in fiber?, Whole
grain?, and High in vitamins and minerals?.
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Using Handout 6.8, assess the ingredients in
each snack.
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Place a star next to the snacks that are
healthy.
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Have students write down five healthy
snacks that they will try to eat on a regular
basis. Encourage students to share their lists
with their families.
*Download from www.fns.usda.gov/tn/
Resources/EmpYouth_ch6.pdf
Physical Activity Corner
There are 1,440 minutes in one day. The Center
for Disease Control (CDC) recommends children
and adolescents get at least 60 minutes of
moderate to vigorous physical activity every day.
Have students engage in the following types of
activities to meet daily needs:
1. Aerobic activity
2. Muscle strengthening
3. Bone strengthening
Activity:
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Review the CDC’s recommendations* with
your class.
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Have students write down how they plan to
get 60 minutes of activity each day.
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Have students create a worksheet to help
track daily activity.
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Monitor students’ progress to help them
meet their goals.
*Download from www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/
everyone/guidelines/children.html
Student Sleuth
Ask students to use their research skills to find the
correct answers.
1. 1Complex carbohydrates, like those found in
starch, provide the body with longer releasing
energy. How does this differ from the energy
provided by simple carbohydrates?
2. 2What is a root? What is a tuber? List examples
of each.
3. 3What is the difference between annual and
perennial plants?
4. What is riboflavin? How does it work in our
bodies? What happens when you get too much
riboflavin? Too little? Make a list of good and
excellent sources of riboflavin. From that list,
make a plan for how you will get your daily
recommended amount of riboflavin.
For information, visit:
www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov
www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search
www.garden.org
Read together
Blue Potatoes, Orange
Tomatoes: How to Grow a
Rainbow Garden
by Rosalind Creasy
(ages 8-11)
The Enormous Potato by
Aubrey Davis (ages 5-6)
Learn more at live54218.org
SM