It seems as though Vegetables don’t make you brighter after all! Well that’s all I can assume based on the latest story coming out of America which centres around Starbucks new healthy juice and organic food outlets.

Unfortunately as you can see below someone somewhere managed to miss an epic spelling mistake on one of their primary display boards… can you spot it?

The juice bar in question was their first Evolution Fresh juice bar in Washington. The error was pointed out by bloggers when it was received in promotional material sent out by Starbucks.

I’ll bet someone got a kicking for that one, though it does seem to have landed them with an awful lot of free press…..

As its nearly Christmas (again!) we thought it about time we gave away a little something for you all.

All you need to do is follow the instructions below and be in with a chance of winning 1 of 2 Unwins Salad Kitchen Garden Kits! before you know it you will be growing your own lamb’s lettuce, mustard, pak choi, spinach beet and wrinkled cress right on your windowsill at home!

Well, of course it isn’t.  But some prople accross the pond seem to think it is.

According to the Daily Mail today a School Lunches Bill is going before congress to try and reclassify the humble pizza as vegetable (even though its actually a fruit, but thats by the by!)  thanks to the tomato paste on the base.

Even though the tomato paste used is hardly packed with nutrition it seems as though it might be enough to get it through!!

Madness I say.  It’s all in aid of cost cutting too.

The move has been derided as a cost-cutting drive so the U.S. government will not have to spend so much on fresh food for school lunches. Subsidised  school meals must include a certain amount of vegetables.

Nutrition advocate Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest said Congress’s proposed changes will keep schools from serving a wider array of vegetables.

Children already get enough pizza and potatoes, she says.

It would also slow efforts to make pizzas — a longtime standby on school lunch lines — healthier, with whole grain crusts and lower levels of sodium.

‘They are making sure that two of the biggest problems in the school lunch program, pizza and french fries, are untouched,’ she said.

I think we will hold off from adding pizzas to the game just yet!

We know what you are thinking….

• Blackcurrants
• Red Pepper
• Strawberry
• Orange

…….nope…….. guess again.

We are talking about Albert Szent-Györgyi of course! (the handsome chap below)

Who?  Google are today commemorating him with their latest Google Doodle:

From Wikipedia:

“Albert von Szent-Györgyi de Nagyrápolt (September 16, 1893 – October 22, 1986) was a Hungarian physiologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937.[1] He is credited with discovering vitamin C and the components and reactions of the citric acid cycle. He was also active in the Hungarian Resistance during World War II and entered Hungarian politics after the war”

So we at Veggie Trumps salute you Albert!

Thanks to our friend Jim Willis for completing another 2 veggies to add to the pack.

The delicious Blackcurrant ( A Vitamin C powerhouse!!)

And the Sunday best Parsnip!

I’m sure you’ll agree that they are as beautiful illustrations and worthy of their place in the Veggie Trumps deck.

Have a play and let us know how you get on!

We have today made some changes to Veggie Trumps that will hopefully make the game both more interesting and more informational.  We have added in 2 new attributes for each fruit or veg.  Calcium and Iron.  Heres a little reminder of why these are important

Calcium
Calcium is an important component of a healthy diet and a mineral necessary for life it is needed for good teeth and strong bones and for the proper function of nerves, muscles, kidneys, and the heart. The National Osteoporosis Foundation says, “Calcium plays an important role in building stronger, denser bones early in life and keeping bones strong and healthy later in life.” Approximately 99 percent of the body’s calcium is stored in the bones and teeth.

Iron

Iron is an important dietary mineral that is involved in many different bodily functions, including the transport of oxygen in the blood. This is essential in providing energy for daily life.  About one-third of the world’s population is iron deficient!

So there you have it, another little improvement that we hope makes Veggie Trumps just a little bit more useful.

Let us know what you think and see if you can find the fruit or veg on the system with the most Calcium or Iron, you may be suprised.

I hope you will all join us here and do what ever it is you do to bring the rain!

That’s not us just being misreable and wishing away the glorious weather we have seen over the past few weeks.  It’s about helping out all of our lovely farmers crops, many of which are on the verge of collapse following the not so showery April.

For anyone needing a hand with the execution of a good rain dance here are some pointers:

1. Never do a rain dance on a hill.
2. Make sure you have a lot of room so you don’t run into anything.
3. Spin around in clockwise circles.
4. Make up your own rain chant. It should be rythmicaland easy to say fast.
5. Yell your rain chant while spinning around in circles.
6. If you are trying to get rid of rain, spin in
counterclockwise circles and say your chant backwards.

On a more serious note we do need some rain as the soil around Europe is drying out pretty dramatically. For more have a look at this article from the BBC!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13338174

Now, where was I……

I have just read through a recent poll from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) that suggests that many children nowadays are much less clued up about their greens than their parents and grandparents were.

The report did have some positives with about 90% of the children surveyed knowing where onions, strawberries, potatoes and bananas grow but there were some really rather worrying ones.

For example in response to the question: “Do you know where you would find these fruits or vegetables growing?”, and given the option of “on a tree”, “on a bush or plant” or “in the ground”, the children’s responses were as follows:

Radish 24% incorrect

Sweet corn 27% incorrect

Cucumber 36% incorrect

Broccoli 51% incorrect

Pumpkin 62% incorrect

Opinions are divided on what has led us to this with some people thinking it is because more children now live in cities and spend more time on the Xbox or watching TV where as people like my dad lived out in the countryside and spent almost all of his time outside in the garden or allotment or in parks and fields.

I think the ease of buying from supermarkets is another factor with less families growing their own these days. Young families in the newer build houses are really struggling as outdoor space in the form of a big garden has been sacrificed in favour of addional housing or car parking spaces!

Either way this is one of the reasons we have put the hours in developing Veggie Trumps and why we will continue to do so. We want children to love their greens and want to make learning about them and growing their own more fun!

Make sure you don’t miss out on our free seeds give away!

All you need to do to get your hands on 10 free tomato seeds is to visit our facebook page and become a fan, then send us your details on the free seeds page – free seeds

It’s really that simple!

Get them before we run out!

We are really pleased to announce that our very own Veggie Memory game has finally been approved on the Apple App Store.

It is free to download and is compatible with all the main mobile Apple devices!

You can download the app by clicking on one of the links below.

We are hoping to add more features and additions to the game in the coming weeks but we are really pleased with the outcome so far.

We have to thank Jim Willis again for his lovely illustrations!

If you do download it let us know what you think and watch this space for more news.