Connecting to Wholesome, Local Nutrition with Michigan Apples
National Nutrition Month is an ideal time to focus on making healthier food choices. Incorporating Michigan Apples into your meals and snacks is a simple yet effective way. Apples are deliciously affordable fruit packed with essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber, making them a perfect addition to a healthy diet. Rich in antioxidants and vitamin C, apples help support the immune system, promote heart health, aid digestion, and are a great choice for weight management. Health experts agree that the versatility and health benefits of Michigan Apples make them a smart choice year-round! Whether enjoyed fresh, baked, or blended into smoothies, apples are an easy and tasty way to support overall wellness every day.
With this year’s National Nutrition Month theme – Food Connects Us – it’s interesting to note that apples have long been a symbol of connection. Whether it’s sharing an apple recipe with family, picking apples together in an orchard, or gifting a basket of fresh apples to a friend.
How Michigan Apples and food bring people together:
Along with ideas on how to celebrate apples’ nourishing goodness!
Family Traditions
- Bake special apple recipes as a family tradition, and pass down apple recipes through generations.
- Teach children the joy of cooking by making homemade applesauce, apple muffins, or baked cinnamon apples.
- Find delicious Michigan Apple recipes to choose from!
Cultural Connections
- Discover how apples are used in dishes worldwide, from French Tarte Tatin to Middle Eastern Apple Stew, showing how food transcends borders.
Gathering & Sharing
- Have a Michigan Apple tasting party. Try different Michigan Apple varieties and compare flavors.
- Explore our apple usage chart with taste descriptors.
- Set up an apple dipping bar with toppings like nut butters, cinnamon, granola, dark chocolate, and yogurt-based dips. Add a variety of sliced Michigan Apples and skewers.
Storytelling & Nostalgia
- Share childhood memories of favorite apple treats, like your grandma’s warm apple cider, or your mom’s homemade cinnamon applesauce.
- Create your own memories with a special recipe like this Apple Walnut Snack Cake.
- Read stories like Johnny Appleseed or An Apple’s Life while enjoying apple snacks.
Health & Well-Being
- Prepare apple-based meals for loved ones as a way of showing care.
- Encourage your family to eat “an apple a day” by placing a large bowl of Michigan Apples on your counter or in your refrigerator to make it easy for everyone to enjoy apple’s nutritional benefits daily.
- Encourage family members to bring an apple in their lunch or to incorporate them in meals and snacks. Find quick meal and snack tips.
- Connect with local apple growers by seeking out Michigan Apples at your local store and learning more about how they grow.
- Share the many ways apples support good health with those you love – from dental health to reducing the risk of heart disease and certain cancers. Learn more about how Michigan Apples are Nature’s Health Defender.
Connect with Kids
- Create apple art by using apple halves as stamps with paint for a creative activity with kids.
- Get kids excited about healthy eating! Michigan Apples are not only crisp and delicious, they’re also part of a balanced diet that helps kids grow strong and healthy. Engaging children in food-related activities can inspire them to make nutritious choices for life. Explore kids’ activities to help engage their curiosity and get interested in healthy food choices.
- Take kids on a virtual Michigan Apple orchard field trip. Then make plans to visit a Michigan Apple orchard in person in the fall to go apple picking and learn about where food comes from.
- Learn more together about Michigan Apples on our YouTube channel, and get to know the growers who work hard to bring you delicious and healthy apples.
Find More Recipes to Connect with!
Find all kinds of apple-based, family-friendly recipes that help start new traditions and connect kids with Michigan Apples.
