Time to Eat Your Veggies...And Have Fun Doing It!

From rainbow chard to black kale, pink radishes to purple carrots, golden beets to sunchokes: There’s really nothing boring about vegetables. They’re fun to cook with and delicious to eat. All it takes is a willingness to discover vegetables’ abundance in flavor, texture and color.

One fun way to discover vegetables for kids and adults alike is to participate in the annual VegOut! Challenge by Recipe for Success, a Houston-based nonprofit that has been fighting child obesity by promoting vegetables as part of a healthy diet for over 10 years. Beyond Houston, VegOut! has found support across the nation, with participants from 32 states joining in the challenge last year.

VegOut! is open to anyone—as individual participant or in a team—willing to take the challenge: Eat 30 different vegetables in 30 days. The fun part is in discovering vegetables but also in the competition: The more vegetables you try, the greater your chances to earn a badge, or even win a prize!

To complete a list of 30 vegetables in 30 days sounds pretty straightforward and easy to do. You could tick off the first five on any given day: onions, tomatoes, bell pepper, lettuce and potatoes. It gets harder, though, and “20” appears to be a stumbling block.

“The biggest feedback we got from folks who registered last year and did not finish—even ones who considered themselves super healthy eaters—was that they hit the wall at 20 and it was really tough for them to track veggies when they were traveling for business or on spring break or eating out,” says Gracie Canvar, founder of Recipe for Success.

It’s one of the reasons why Recipe for Success developed a new app designed to help you keep track of vegetables wherever you are, look them up, or find suggestions for recipes and ways to prepare.

With this app and web resources like Recipes A-Z, the 1-click Tracker and an interactive Find Your Veg map, the 2016 VegOut! Challenge is set up to be accessible to anyone trying to eat healthier, for the workplace to use it as a wellness tool and for (grand) parents to challenge kids to enjoy vegetables. There is really no excuse not to veg out every day—so bring home those veggies and eat them braised or grilled, roasted or raw, in a soup, salad or stew, not just for 30 days but year-round.

Download the FREE mobile app from your app store and register. You can also visit VegOutWithRFS.org to register and explore our endless resources. The app and website integrate seamlessly. The new app makes it easy to find fresh vegetables on the go with a find-your-veggie map.

Don’t forget: You can sign up as individual or as a team. Earn badges and make sure you’re in the running for a prize!