Elementary students at Cleveland Independent School District in Texas learned about peanuts from NPB’s Markita Lewis (left) and Chelsea Becerra, CISD dietetic intern.

In October, as part of this year’s focus on K-12 school foodservice, the National Peanut Board (NPB) visited Clay Harmony Leland Elementary School in Mableton, Georgia and Southside Elementary School in Cleveland, Texas as part of a K-12 roadshow that highlighted peanut-packed school foodservice recipes and provided a fun educational opportunity for elementary school students.

Each school’s foodservice director identified recipes to prepare and share with third- through fifth-grade students via an interactive session. Each session taught students about the nutritional value and benefits of peanuts and included a fun relay race. NPB Marketing and Communications Associate Markita Lewis, MS, RDN, and consultant Sherry Coleman Collins, MS, RDN, LD, attended the Texas and Georgia events, respectively. The range of recipes sampled included the Rockin’ Rice Bowl with Peanut Butter Sauce & Chickpeas, Savory Chicken Shawarma Bowl with Peanut Hummus, West African Peanut Stew and Peanut Butter Overnight Oats.

Each student gave a Likert-style rating and provided their honest opinions on the recipes. Overall, both students and administrative staff enjoyed the event and welcome more visits from NPB. Post-event, each school received a recap report outlining student feedback with the hopes of encouraging inclusion of peanut recipes in their school menus moving forward. These new one-pagers also provide NPB with a tool to support securing additional school visits or recipe usage in the future.

Pictured: Maggie Moon, MS, RDN.

As a part of the National Peanut Board’s (NPB) ongoing outreach to healthcare professionals, our Health Ambassadors program helps nutrition and wellness professionals with a passion for nutrition communication increase their knowledge about the power of peanuts and trending health and wellness topics. With each quarterly box, ambassadors receive updates on key health and wellness messages to share with clients or on social media about a variety of topics, samples of new and trending peanut products, and additional giveaways.

Our year kicked off with a focus on health equity and the role that peanuts and peanut butter have in nutrition programs to overcome barriers to healthy eating. In our webinar about health equity, access and early introduction, we hosted a panel of dietitians in different specialties who address health equity in their work - Shamera Robinson, Sherry Coleman Collins, Cindy Culver and Clancy Harrison. Together they touched on school nutrition, allergy prevention, overcoming provider bias, and social determinants of health.

Healthy aging and brain health were the focus of our summer activation. Brain health nutrition expert Maggie Moon spoke with our ambassadors about the latest research on the role that nutrition plays in healthy brain aging and its impact on cognitive and mental health. She also discussed the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay diet (MIND diet) with practical tips for dietitians to consider when giving nutrition counseling to clients.

To close out the year, the winter activation will focus on the holidays and dining with comfort. NPB staff members will gather and talk about holiday memories, favorite foods, and how peanuts can be used in recipes that are great at gatherings or can be quick and easy holiday gifts!

In our activation boxes, we have featured products from brands including Hampton Farms, PB Fit and Bobo’s. Ambassadors have also received the book Zero Waste Cooking for Dummies! by Rosanne Rust, MS, RDN.