“Veggie Ready” Program Expands to 3 New States - Applications Open Now!
Register & join our Open House on May 2nd from 10:15 - 10:45 am here!
Atlanta, GA – April 15, 2025
Everyone knows kids need to eat more vegetables. But trying new foods is hard!
So that’s where we come in. Our program, Veggie Ready is designed to make it EASY for busy teachers to lead fun, hands-on food education in the classroom. And we are growing!
Small Bites Adventure Club’s Veggie Ready program is expanding to 3 new states in Fall 2025, bringing high-quality, effective, hands-on food education to more classrooms.
PreK- 2 grade educators can now apply to join this hands-on program in Fall 2025, thanks to a partnership with Eat Real Certified and a USDA Farm to School grant.
About Veggie Ready:
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.
Participating classrooms receive:
Step-by-step lesson plans
Stickers, printables, and a Veggie Passport
Fresh ingredients (where available) delivered monthly
Kid-friendly recipes like Lovely Lettuce with Lemony Vinaigrette & Salsa Fresca
All recipes, designed by Chef Asata Reid, are crafted in consideration of little hands and developing minds. For example, tearing lettuce leaves helps strengthen fine motor skills, and following recipes supports early literacy.
“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, delicious, 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 Spring 2025 alone, 215 early care programs and public school classrooms participated in Veggie Ready, representing 5,300+ students from cities across Georgia.
Educators are already seeing an impact:
“Even my Pre-K kids go home and talk about what we’re doing. Parents are pulling up in the car line, asking for the recipes! When kids are excited to cook and grow food, they bring that energy home. That kind of family engagement is everything.” - Sarah Davie, Ag teacher in Rockdale County
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 county.
Join the Movement!
Veggie Ready is proving that kids can learn to not just eat - but love vegetables, especially when they prepare and taste them with their friends at school.
Want to learn more? Here are three ways to get more info!
Join our Veggie Ready Open House on May 2 from 10:15 - 10:45 am: Register Here
Schedule a 15 minute 1-on-1 with program staff
Email hello at smallbites.club
Are you an educator working in Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, or Oklahoma public schools? Go here to complete an application and read more about the Veggie Ready program.
