Statewide Initiative to Get Kids “Veggie Ready” Expands in Georgia
Over 4,200 of Georgia’s youngest eaters are getting “Veggie Ready” this spring! The Veggie Ready program, a hands-on classroom food education initiative, is helping children build lifelong healthy eating habits—one Small Bite at a time.
After a successful launch in August 2024 with over 30 childcare sites, Small Bites Adventure Club is expanding this groundbreaking initiative to reach even more young learners. With support from USDA Farm to School Grants and local and national partners, Veggie Ready is making high-quality, standards-based food education accessible to early childhood classrooms across the country.
About the Program:
Small Bites Adventure Club’s Veggie Ready program is a five-month, turn-key program designed to empower teachers with everything they need to lead fun, hands-on vegetable lessons. Each month, children explore a featured vegetable and create their own veggie-based snack while teachers seamlessly integrate essential learning standards in literacy, math, fine motor skills, and social-emotional development.
Little Linguistics International Preschool
Participating classrooms receive:
✅ Step-by-step lesson plans
✅ Stickers, printables, and a Veggie Passport
✅ Shelf-stable ingredients & fresh ingredients (where available) delivered monthly
✅ Kid-friendly recipes like 1-2-3 Vinaigrette with Lettuce & Green Machine Spinach Smoothie
All recipes, designed by Chef Asata Reid, are crafted with little hands in mind—like tearing lettuce leaves to strengthen fine motor skills or exploring our Mystery Bag Circle time Activity.
“Our vision for Veggie Ready is to provide young children opportunities to explore new vegetables before they even reach first grade,” stated Erin Croom, founder and CEO of Small Bites Adventure Club. “If we expect children to have foundational skills in literacy and math by age six, shouldn’t we also equip them with the skills to make simple, yummy, and healthy snacks? These are foundational experiences that will last a lifetime.”
Meeting a Growing Demand for Food Education
The demand for food education is skyrocketing. In Fall 2024 alone, over 140 early care programs applied for the first round of Veggie Ready, representing 4,400+ students from 75 cities across Georgia.
Educators are already seeing an impact:
Seminole County Elementary School
“The activity boxes and material folders are a LIFE SAVER. It is amazing that I don't have to print out anything, and my students have the recipe and a fun lesson with very little preparation. They are 100% more interested in eating healthy and trying new things after these lessons.”- Sarah Davie, Agriculture Teacher
“Almost everyone loved the recipe and they went home and told their parents about it. I had parents messaging me to tell me how happy they were that their child was loving these healthy foods!” - Jamye Donalson, Pre-K Teacher
By working with local and national partners, including Open Hand, HealthMPowers, Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District, Newton Education Foundation, Love is Love Cooperative Farm, and Eat Real (and more!), Small Bites Adventure Club is expanding hands-on food education to children across the state.
Join the Movement!
Veggie Ready is proving that kids can learn to love vegetables—especially when they prepare and taste them with their friends at school.
Want to support this movement? Funding partners, educators, and advocates can help us expand this critical program to even more classrooms by visiting our website smallbites.club!
For more information, interviews, or partnership opportunities, please contact:
Erin Croom
CEO & Co-Founder, Small Bites Adventure Club
📞 (404) 500-7559
📧 erin@smallbites.club
