Get your passports ready and your suitcases packed! The Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) is inviting everyone to use their imagination and join the Have A Plant® Movement for a trip around the globe this September for National Fruits & Veggies Month (NFVM). In honor of the United Nations General Assembly designating 2021 the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables, this month-long celebration of Americans’ favorite plant foods, and all the amazing flavors and feelings that come along with them, will include exciting digital and social activations, globally inspired content, recipes and more.
“If there is ONE thing we can all rally behind, it’s the multitude of benefits that come with eating more fruits and vegetables – from the sweet-tasting, healthy eating experience of fruits to the smart satisfaction and pride associated with preparing vegetables with a meal,” said Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, MS, RDN, President and CEO, PBH. “Enjoying fruits and veggies for a happier, healthier lifestyle is a common thread in every culture, and National Fruit & Veggies Month 2021 is the perfect time to drum up excitement for the world’s favorite and flavorful plants.”
To commemorate NFVM and the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables, PBH will be highlighting five unique themes throughout the PBH digital ecosystem, to get all seven continents singing the #haveaplant tune. From the incredible efforts of U.S. farmers and the produce supply chain who bring fruits and vegetables to people across the country and beyond, to the uniquely inspired ways we enjoy fruits and vegetables in all their glorious forms to improve our health and happiness in sustainable, waste-reducing ways, PBH invites everyone to #haveaplant. After all, research continues to demonstrate that eating more fruits and veggies is the single most important action people can take to live happier and healthier lives.
PBH’s rockstar Have A Plant® Ambassadors are joining the plant-packed party and lending their expertise to the month-long extravaganza. Here’s a preview of what to expect in the coming weeks:
- Bowls Around The World – Celebrate the flavor and healthful goodness of fruits and veggies in delicious bowls inspired by flavors from across the globe.
- Fruits & Veggies In Every Culture – Americans have access to a vast variety of fruits and vegetables given our global food supply. Learn where various fruits and veggies originated as well as their traditional uses in certain cultures.
- Root to Leaf: Cooking With The Whole Plant – According to data from the UN World Food Program, approximately one trillion dollars worth of food is lost or wasted every year – accounting for roughly one-third of the world’s food. The good news is that reversing this trend would preserve enough food to feed two billion people and promote more sustainable and healthy diets. We’ll inspire people to “get their home cook on” with tips and tricks to reduce food waste – from placing veggie scraps in a pot to using corncobs to make delicious broth.
- In The Ground, On A Vine, From A Tree – Honor our country’s fruit and veggie farms by taking a closer look at how plants are grown and celebrate global agriculture as part of the International Year of Fruits & Vegetables.
- Sing It With Me! – There is no denying that music is a universal language enjoyed around the globe. That’s why PBH will be belting out show-stopping tunes to remind everyone that eating fruits and veggies should be fun and as easy as recalling lyrics to our favorite songs.
Key Dates To Join In The Fun For National Fruits & Veggies Month 2021:
- September 1 – PBH President and CEO, Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, MS, RDN, will spread the Have A Plant® love nationwide during a Satellite Media Tour, in partnership with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association on behalf of Beef Checkoff and The Watermelon Board to promote powerful produce pairings during 25+ national and local TV and radio segments, as part of its consumer-facing media relations strategy.
- September 8 – Join us @fruitsandveggies on Facebook at 5:30 pm ET along with Have A Plant® Ambassador Dayle Hayes, MS, RD for our monthly Have A Plant® Cook Along, accompanied by school nutrition influencer Jeanne Reilly, MS, RD who will show followers how to make creative bowls using more fruits and veggies for schools with their “Bowls Goals For Back To School” cook along.
- September 16 – Follow along with Have A Plant® Ambassador Chef Abbie Gellman, MS, RD, CDN at 4:00 pm ET @fruitsandveggies where she’ll show folks a few recipes cooking with the whole plant – no waste and better taste!
- September 22 – The month wouldn’t be complete without Manuel Villacorta, MS, RD, CSSD dropping in @fruitsandveggies. This month he’ll share some of his favorite Latina-inspired cuisines as part of our Bowls Around The World Theme. Tune in at 4:00 pm ET to hear his story.
- September 28 – It’s THE webinar of the year! Celebrity registered dietitian and style icon Maye Musk will be sitting down with PBH President and CEO Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, MS, RDN to discuss how we can help consumers make a plan that includes more fruits and veggies for better health and happiness. Hear marketing strategies and insights from her latest book, A Woman Makes A Plan at 2:00 pm ET. RESERVE YOUR SEAT TODAY!
- September 28-29 – After rave reviews from 2020, PBH will host its second Have A Plant® Nation Event as the celebratory sendoff to NFVM. This event will bring together 50+ influencers in an intimate virtual setting for sponsors to interact with and inspire top-tier Have A Plant® Ambassadors spanning three points of influence: point-of-sale (retail), point-of-flavor (culinary/foodservice), and point-of-inspiration (online lifestyle/food and nutrition) to generate momentum for new fruit and vegetable behaviors and consumption across America and advance the Have A Plant® Movement.
See Full National Fruits & Veggies Month Event Calendar
“PBH is committed to improving fruit and vegetable consumption in America, and we’re hoping this September we can make an even bigger splash than 2020’s 75 million impressions during the month alone,” says Katie Calligaro, Marketing and Communications Director for PBH. “We need everyone to get involved to generate even more excitement and spread the Have A Plant® love this year – now more than ever when people are craving inspiration and care about their health and happiness.”
Here are a few simple ways to get involved and spread the Have A Plant® Movement:
- Share The Fruit & Veggie Love On Social Media: Stay inspired and share creative tips, tricks and all-around impressive food hacks from PBH’s Have A Plant® Ambassadors as well as your own. Encourage family, friends, colleagues and your community to get involved; tag @fruitsandveggies; and include the hashtags, #haveaplant #NFVM2021 #IYFV2021.
- Inspire Friends & Followers To Take The Have A Plant® Pledge: This NFVM, inspire friends and followers to add one more fruit and/or vegetable to their daily repertoire and share why they’re glad they did! Take the Have A Plant® Pledge HERE!
- Rock The Swag: From a variety of tops, tanks, hoodies and hats, shop the Have A Plant® Swag Shop so you can rep fruits and veggies as you work, play, stay active, meal prep and shop in the grocery store. All proceeds benefit PBH’s consumer education and research programs.
- Get Into The Groove: Participate in all of the above activities for FREE! Interact with consumer and influencer followers during our live events to get your brands, products and/or commodities shining! Do you or your team have a musical side? Participate in our weekly Music Monday Playlists and help us sing Have A Plant® from the rooftops!
- Donate: PBH is a 501c(3) non-profit organization dedicated to increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in America. Your philanthropic contribution benefits consumer education and research programs advancing this mission and the Have A Plant® Movement.
Sharing fun and easy ways to enjoy more plants is the ultimate way to pay it forward. Fruit and vegetable as well as other food industry stakeholders and community partners can join PBH – and plant-passionate advocates everywhere – in extending the Have A Plant® Movement nationwide for FREE. Download the 2021 National Fruits & Veggies Month Toolkit available at https://fruitsandveggies.org/nfvmtoolkit/.
For more information about how to get involved in National Fruits & Veggies Month, and how to customize your integrated September marketing plans with PBH, contact Katie Calligaro, Marketing and Communications Director of PBH.
About the Produce for Better Health Foundation
Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH), a nonprofit 501(c)(3), is the only national organization dedicated to helping consumers live happier, healthy lives by eating more fruits and vegetables, including fresh, frozen, canned, dried and 100% juice, every single day.
Since 1991, PBH has invested decades into developing trended insights on attitudes toward all forms of fruit and vegetable consumption, in addition to campaigns and partnerships with government, food industry stakeholders, health professionals and other thought leaders to collaborate, facilitate and advocate for increased intake. Campaigns included first, the 5-A-Day program, and then, the Fruits & Veggies—More Matters public health initiative. While five fruits and vegetables each day is great advice, and more will always matter, PBH’s new behavior-based call-to-action is Have A Plant®. Rooted in behavioral science, PBH’s transformative Have A Plant® Movement is an invitation that will inspire people with compelling reasons to believe in the powerful role fruits and vegetables can play to create happy, healthy and active lives.
Be sure to join the Have A Plant® Movement and get new recipes, snack hacks, meal ideas and other tips from chefs, registered dietitians, as well as food and wellness experts by visiting www.fruitsandveggies.org. Follow us on Facebook @fruitsandveggies; on Twitter @fruits_veggies; on Instagram @fruitsandveggies; on Pinterest @fruits_veggies; and on LinkedIn at Produce for Better Health Foundation. And remember to #haveaplant.
PBH is also responsible for the Lead The Change Movement — a multi-sector, multi-year initiative designed to maximize the power of PBH’s unique thought leadership position, widespread influencer network, credible scientific and market research, and, most importantly, its innovative members and partners, to lead a call-to-action for addressing the global fruit and vegetable consumption crisis. The initiative includes research, thought leadership and communication platforms to ensure the Movement speaks with One Purpose, One Voice and One Call-to-Action. For more information about the Lead The Change Movement visit: www.fruitsandveggies.org/leadthechange.
