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Sprouts at the Market – Healthy (and Local!) Trick-Or-Treat

Date: October 24, 2009 - 9:00am to 11:00am


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—October 14, 2009


The City of Urbana’s Market at the Square invites Market patrons and their kids to Sprouts at the Market, a produce-tasting/nutrition information event geared toward children ages 4-10. The season’s fourth and final Sprouts event, a self-guided market tour learning about fall and winter foods, will also feature a take-home Sprouts bag and trick-or-treating for produce for participants. The event will take place on Saturday, October 24.


Sprouts at the Market programming encourages young Market patrons - and their adults! - to learn about eating seasonally and healthfully in Illinois. In addition to meeting local farmers and receiving nutrition information, each child will have a chance to sample some of the fruits, vegetables, cheese, honey, and other farm products available at the Market.


Jennifer Hewitt, a student in Food Science and Human Nutrition in the College of ACES at the University of Illinois, coordinated the Sprouts at the Market project for Market at the Square in 2008 with Market Director Lisa Bralts, and is coordinating the full 2009 season. “Instilling healthy eating habits at an early age is really important,” Hewitt says. “Sprouts events at the Market are a really good resource for letting kids try new things and to get them excited about
healthy eating.”


“This event was hugely popular last year,” says Market Director Lisa Bralts. “The goal of the Sprouts program is to demonstrate to kids that fresh fruits, vegetables, and other farm produce are grown right here in Illinois, but we also want to send the message that these fresh fruits and vegetables are good for them. The basic idea is to get kids thinking more about their food and where it comes from, and to discover that healthy tastes great.”


The October event will center on the variety of produce available in the Market’s off-season, with nutrition information about a specific food or food group available at each stop. Participating farmers will be wearing Sprouts name badges as they work. All participants receive a Sprouts tote bag, a certificate of participation, and children participating in all four Sprouts events in 2009 will receive a free Sprouts T-shirt. Shirts will also be for sale.


The event runs Saturday, October 24 from 9-11:00 AM. Participants may check in at the main Sprouts table at the northwest entrance to the Market, or may check in at any of the several Sprouts tables within the Market.


For more information, contact Lisa Bralts, Director of Market at the Square, at 384-2319, or ljbralts@city.urbana.il.us.

Click on location marker to view address.
Map Locations: 
Lincoln Square
201 Lincoln Square
61801 Urbana , IL
Last modified:Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - 13:53
- Author: KellyC