Texas Department of Agriculture Makes Vegetables Rock
The Texas Department of Agriculture’s Marketing and International Trade Division and Jump with Jill are pleased to present their latest collaboration in produce promotion – the Superpower Vegetables Danceable Music Video. Utilizing funds from the Specialty Crop Block Program as part of a consumer education grant project, this video continued an important partnership in spite of the challenges of the global pandemic that sidelined the live Jump with Jill show from in-person performances at schools, farmers markets, and conferences. Donning a full body gold suit complete with a spinach crown and kale cape, you’ll find yourself hard pressed to hold still as she dances into a virtual reality of powering your plate with superpower vegetables. Beyond the everyday world of couch cushions, clothing racks, and picky eaters, you can walk on clouds, climb over buildings, and transform into a cruciferous comrade. United against junk food we will be victorious! The video is available for free on YouTube.
A partner since 2015, Jump with Jill’s live programs have reached over 50,000 students in Texas schools. “We were well aware of the impact that their work has on students. We have seen first-hand the excitement of Jill and her crew through school assemblies, performances at farmers markets and stage shows at the State Fair of Texas,” said Scott Sroufe, Coordinator for Horticulture Marketing at the Marketing and International Trade Division at the Texas Department of Agriculture. “The video allowed us the opportunity to showcase vegetables that are grown in Texas and support the continued efforts of Jump with Jill in nutrition education. It’s our hope that kids of all ages that watch the video will sing and dance along, and realize the superpowers that come from vegetables!”
People know what it takes to be healthy. Even a child can tell you to eat your vegetables and exercise every day. Despite well-documented benefits of fruits and vegetables for chronic disease prevention, intake among children remains below recommended levels. CDC data from 2007-2010 reports that 60% of children aged 1–18 years did not meet USDA food pattern recommendations, and a staggering 93% did not meet vegetable recommendations. What we know is healthy competes with how we act thanks to screen-based life encouraging us to be sedentary and consume food high in sugar, salt, and fat. Advertisers work very diligently to convert sugar water into a hip, multi-million dollar brand that has successfully made a generation of kids lifelong customers. And it’s working. Approximately 19% of kids age 2-19 have obesity; childhood obesity is estimated to cost $14 billion annually in direct health expenses.
Armed with catchy songs, upbeat dance moves, and a hip wardrobe, the world’s only rock & roll nutrition program Jump with Jill uses the same tools normally used to sell junk food and inactivity to empower kids to make healthy choices. Jump with Jill is the brainchild of Registered Dietitian and musician, Jill Jayne, MS, RD who specializes in making learning about nutrition an engaging and entertaining educational experience.
“You’ve been a Jump with Jill fan long enough to know that I loves vegetables. They inspire my fashion, my music, and of course, my meals,’” Jump with Jill creator Jill Jayne said. “Kids need to hear about the immediate benefits of eating vegetables – not just that their risk of heart disease will be reduced when they are middle-aged. They need to know that vegetables will transform them into every day super heroes. Vegetables are great for your skin, hair, muscles, eyes, and bones. It’s so important, I sing and dance about it.”
But the importance of vegetables are beyond health. Texas leads the nation in number of farms and ranches covering 127 million acres. In fact, 1 of every 7 working Texans is in an agriculture-related job. Therefore, encouraging healthy eating is not just good for a healthy body, it’s good for a healthy Texas economy. There are so many great vegetables to choose from. Signature Texas vegetables include spinach, carrots, squash, peppers, yellow onion, kale, lettuce, cabbage, cucumbers, field peas, sweet potatoes, and potatoes. Jill could go on, and she will. So start watching now.
