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When this nutrition educator visits the school cafeteria, it’s not only to say “hi” to her students but also to connect with the students during their lunch time. As a nutrition educator for 15 years, now a FoodWIse Teaching Coordinator, Venkata Karri focuses on Dane County schools in Wisconsin.

Karri works with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension via FoodWIse – a SNAP-Ed and Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) initiative. FoodWIse aims to make it easier for Wisconsin residents, especially in underserved communities, to get healthy foods and make healthy choices. MyPlate is the foundation for all their work across all ages.

Using popular tools from MyPlate.gov and Team Nutrition like Discover MyPlate or Serving Up MyPlate, Karri works with elementary school teachers to place tent cards on lunchroom tables. These cards remind students about the classroom lessons around healthy food choices they learned earlier in the day. Middle school grade students and up are encouraged to download resources from MyPlate.gov.

Discover MyPlate introduces students to colorful characters that represent fruits, vegetables, grains, protein foods, and dairy and fortified soy alternatives. These characters help make learning fun and easy for children.

“I’m eating Reggie Veggie, a tomato, from the vegetables food group,” one student enthusiastically points out to his teacher. Another student holds up an orange from the lunch tray. “Look. It’s Farrah Fruit!” She matches the orange to the fruit group on the table tent card.

Before using Discover MyPlate materials, Karri shared the Two Bite approach teaching children about MyPlate and asking them to try food options with just two bites.

Karri, who is from India, always encourages students to talk about the foods their families eat. In their very diverse community, many of Karri’s students come from various backgrounds. Karri helps students connect healthy eating with their own cultural traditions and she helps remind them that foods from all cultures fit with MyPlate. Recipes like the vegetarian tacos from FoodWIse’s Facebook page or the diverse cuisines from MyPlate Kitchen help Karri teach her students and her own three boys about enjoying healthier eating.

For Karri, MyPlate makes helping her students make their own food decisions less stressful. “Making the healthy choice, an easy choice.”