Spinach is one of the few vegetables that are available year-round. It can be prepared and eaten in many different ways, but it has the most nutrients when eaten fresh! Spinach is a versatile vegetable that accounts for 100% of the daily value of vitamin A, which helps the health of your eyes, skin, and hair.

Spinach is a Great Source of:

• Vitamin A—great for your eyes, skin, and hair
• Vitamin K—builds strong bones by helping calcium adhere to your bones
• Vitamin C—helps heal wounds and bruises and controls cholesterol levels
• Vitamin E—helps keep your tissues healthy and supports immune system
• Vitamin B1, B2, B3, B5, B6—helps reduce stress and depression, and promotes healthy brain cells

Did You Know?

• Popeye was on to something! Ounce for ounce—there’s more iron in spinach than there is in ground beef.
• Spinach is one of the few vegetables that is available year-round. It grows best in cool, not freezing, moist conditions, especially during spring and autumn. It grows well in sandy soils.
• March 26th is National Spinach Day. Celebrate with your favorite spinach recipe!
• For many years in the 1930s and 1940s, spinach was ranked as the third most popular children’s food after turkey and ice cream.
• California is the number 1 U.S. grower/supplier of fresh and processed spinach, accounting for almost 75% of the national production. You can find processed spinach frozen, puréed, canned, and in baby food!

How to Prepare and Store Spinach

Tear off the stem and separate the leaves. Place in a large bowl of water; let any sand drift to the bottom of the bowl and remove the leaves from the water. Repeat until the leaves are clean. To keep it fresh, store the spinach in an open bag in the refrigerator vegetable tray/drawer.

Realistic Ways to Get Children to Eat Spinach

There’s a reason why children prefer sweet-tasting foods over vegetables. Until late adolescence our taste receptors are more sensitive to bitter tasting foods, meaning many vegetables can taste unpleasant to children. So how do we get children to eat nutritious spinach?

Two strategies to try are:

• Introduce spinach in small amounts continuously. Repetition is key. The more your child sees spinach, the more likely they’ll get curious and adventurous with the vegetable. Example: use a small amount in a homemade soup or salsa!
• Hide spinach in other foods that generously help eliminate the natural bitter flavor. Example: use it in a fun fruit-based smoothie!

Ways to Eat Spinach

1. Raw
2. Steamed
3. Microwaved
4. Sautéed
5. Stir fried

As you enjoy fresh produce, follow these safe handling tips to help protect yourself and your family.

Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet. Your local markets carry a wide variety of nutritious fresh fruits and vegetables. However, harmful bacteria that may be in the soil or water where produce grows can come in contact with fruits and vegetables and contaminate them. Fresh produce may also become contaminated after it is harvested, such as during storage or preparation.

Eating contaminated produce can lead to foodborne illness, often called “food poisoning.” So as you enjoy fresh produce, follow these safe handling tips to help protect you and your family.

Buy Right

You can help keep produce safe by making wise buying decisions.

• Choose produce that is not bruised or damaged.
• When buying pre-cut, bagged or packaged produce — such as half of a watermelon or bagged salad greens — choose only those items that are refrigerated or surrounded by ice.
• Bag fresh fruits and vegetables separately from raw meat, poultry, and seafood when packing them to take home from the market

Store Properly

Proper storage of fresh produce can affect both quality and safety.

• Store perishable fresh fruits and vegetables (like strawberries, lettuce, herbs, and mushrooms) in a clean refrigerator at a temperature of 40° F or below. Use a refrigerator thermometer to check! If you’re not sure whether an item should be refrigerated to keep its quality, ask your grocer.
• Refrigerate all produce that is purchased pre-cut or packaged .

Separate for Safety

Keep fruits and vegetables that will be eaten raw separate from raw meat, poultry, and seafood — and from kitchen utensils used for those products.

• Wash cutting boards, dishes, utensils, and countertops with soap and hot water between preparing raw meat, poultry, and seafood and preparing produce that will not be cooked.
• If possible, use one cutting board for fresh produce and a separate one for raw meat, poultry, and seafood.
• If you use plastic or other non-porous cutting boards, run them through the dishwasher after use

Prepare Safely

When preparing any fresh produce, begin with clean hands. Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm water before and after preparation.

• Cut away any damaged or bruised areas on fresh fruits and vegetables before preparing and/or eating. Throw away any produce that looks rotten.
• Wash all produce thoroughly under running water before preparing and/or eating, including produce grown at home or bought from a grocery store or farmers’ market. Washing fruits and vegetables with soap, detergent, or commercial produce wash is not recommended. Produce is porous. Soap and household detergents can be absorbed by fruits and vegetables, despite thorough rinsing, and can make you sick. Also, the safety of the residues of commercial produce washes is not known and their effectiveness has not been tested.
• Even if you do not plan to eat the skin, it is still important to wash produce first so dirt and bacteria are not transferred from the surface when peeling or cutting produce.
• Scrub firm produce, such as melons and cucumbers, with a clean produce brush.
• After washing, dry produce with a clean cloth towel or paper towel to further reduce bacteria that may be present on the surface

What About Pre-Washed Produce?

Many pre-cut, bagged, or packaged produce items are pre-washed and ready-to-eat. If so, it will be stated on the packaging, and you can use the produce without further washing.

If you choose to wash produce marked as “pre-washed” or “ready-to-eat,” be sure that it does not come in contact with unclean surfaces or utensils. This will help to avoid cross contamination.

About Foodborne Illness

Know the Symptoms

Consuming dangerous foodborne bacteria will usually cause illness within 1 to 3 days of eating the contaminated food. However, sickness can also occur within 20 minutes or up to 6 weeks later. Although most people will recover from a foodborne illness within a short period of time, some can develop chronic, severe, or even life-threatening health problems.

Foodborne illness can sometimes be confused with other illnesses that have similar symptoms. The symptoms of foodborne illness can include:

• Vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain
• Flu-like symptoms, such as fever, headache, and body ache

Take Action

If you think that you or a family member has a foodborne illness, contact your healthcare provider immediately.

Orange Sunrise Smoothie

Ingredients

• ½ ripe banana
• 1 cup orange juice
• ½ cup spinach leaves, rinsed
• ½ cup strawberries (fresh or frozen)

Directions

1. Blend all the ingredients until smooth
2. Serve and enjoy!

Spinach Salsa

Ingredients

• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1 cup spinach leaves, chopped
• 2 tsp lime juice
• ½ sweet onion, diced
• 1 tsp cilantro
• 1 tsp tabasco (optional)

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients and serve with whole wheat tortilla chips

• Spinach is a native plant of Persia, modern day Iran. It was introduced to China in the 7th century and was most probably brought to Europe in about the 12th century and to the US in 1806.

• In the 10 years from 1992-2002, the annual consumption of spinach jumped 66% mostly due to the availability of pre-cut bagged spinach. In a survey conducted by Bon Appetit magazine in 2005, 56% respondents toted spinach as their favorite vegetable.

• Spinach is one of the few vegetables that is available year-round. It grows best in cool, not freezing, moist condition especially during spring and autumn. It grows well in sandy soils.

• California is the number 1 U.S. grower/supplier of fresh and processed spinach accounting for almost 75% of national production. Processed spinach can be canned, frozen, or pureed for baby food.

• Popeye, a cartoon, was introduced in 1929 and U.S. spinach growers credited him with a 33% increase in domestic spinach consumption. It was a welcome boost especially during the depression era. Popeye was very strong because he ate spinach every day—that was the message he delivered in each cartoon. For many years, spinach was the third most popular children’s food after turkey and ice cream.