Eggplants. As part of fruits and veggies month, Thrive! is featuring a few favorite fruits and veggies. A whopping 90 percent of adults and children don’t get enough fruits and veggies. So, add this one to your shopping list this week! HISTORY Eggplants are one of the fruits most commonly mistaken as a vegetable and have been documented as a part of the world’s agricultural landscape since early BCE. Originally reported in China and India, there is speculation that the eggplants earliest uses were medicinal rather than for food. Eggplants grow from the nightshade plant and were originally thought to be poisonous because…
To celebrate June as National Fresh Fruit & Vegetables Month, Thrive!, alongside the USDA, is promoting fresh fruits and vegetables. Ninety percent of adults and children don’t include enough fruits or vegetables in their diet. We also need to get more fruits and vegetables into meeting menus outside of the standard crudité. The first vegetable we're going to highlight this month is Zucchini. HISTORY The origin of the zucchini is not entirely clear. It was not widely eaten in Europe before the twentieth century and some sources say it was developed from the squash. Squash have been cultivated in Central America for more than…