PROBLEM: Summertime boredom is definitely setting in at my house! And that means grabbing whatever is quick and easy. Most often this means choosing the less healthy, pre-packaged choices from the fridge or pantry. I noticed this happening more and more with my family as there is a significant amount of mindless roaming-grabbing-eating-repeat happening, for sure! 
PURPOSE: To try to encourage healthier choices, I decided to try a little experiment with my family by implementing one of the strategies to increase fruit and vegetable consumption covered in both the Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less and Eat Smart, Move More, Prevent Diabetes curriculums. The title of this experiment is called “Fruit and Center” (a play on “Front and Center”)
METHODS: I embarrassingly had to clear out all of the onions and garlic cloves that had been migrating into the “fruit” bowl and replaced them with eye-catching seasonal fruit, like peaches, nectarines and red plums. I then made the fruit bowl the star of the show on the counter so that the bowl was the only visual food item as you entered the kitchen.
RESULT: Miraculously, when the kids came in from outside, hot, tired, and hungry, my daughter grabbed the first item that she could see, which was a peach. Very shortly after, my son was enticed and selected a plum. After “ooohs” and “aaaahhs” (ok, maybe it was more like a mouthful mumble resembling, “this is good, Mom”, but I’ll take it) about how delicious the fruit was, my husband and I joined the party! I have had to replenish the bowl already once this week and I happy to report that the Cheese Itz box in the pantry remains unopened ?
CONCLUSION: Making the healthy choice front and center to make it the easy choice encouraged the entire family to eat the fruit first before choosing other less healthy choices. SUCCESS!!