Veggies Early & Often

The Importance of Veggies Early and Often

Through Veggies Early & Often, PHA is convening leaders in industry, health professionals and early childhood education to consolidate evidence and outline an action agenda with the goal to raise a generation of veggie lovers.

Most young children fail to meet recommendations for vegetable intake, a regrettable fact given evidence suggesting that the early years are a unique window of opportunity to cultivate healthy taste preferences and dietary patterns.

PHA designed this nutrition education campaign with a cross-sector group of a dozen inaugural partners to align on the evidence that supports why young eaters need vegetables early in life.

Throughout 2021, PHA will:

• Consolidate the science behind why “veggies early and often” matters.

• Host conversations to discuss innovative approaches to increase and sustain consumption of vegetables among young children.

• Share the positive, science-based message that kids CAN learn to love veggies.

• Showcase brands and organizations who adopt PHA’s “Veggies Early & Often” as a reliable indicator for parents and caregivers of veggie-forward products and approaches.

• Announce new partnerships to increase veggie-forward product options in the marketplace at all price points.

Our Founding Members

• Hayley Adams, MScN, Program Coordinator Nutrition & Wellness, KinderCare Education

• Shibani Baluja, Founder & CEO, lil’gourmets

• Darlena Birch, MBA, RDN, Senior Public Health Nutritionist, National WIC Association

• Jennifer Chow, Co-Founder, Nurture Life

• Heidi DiEugenio, Founding Board Member, The Doctor Yum Project

• Leigh Ann Edwards Hall, MPH, RDN, Managing Director of Cooking Matters Campaign, Share our Strength

• Nimali Fernando, MD, MPH, Founder and Director, The Doctor Yum Project, Owner of Yum Pediatrics

• Betsy Fore, Co-CEO & Co-Founder, Tiny Organics

• Kendall Glynn MS, CGC, Co-Founder, COO, Square Baby

• Becky Graham, Co-Founder & Chief Marketing Officer, lil’gourmets

• Rachael Janas, RD, LDN, Nutrition & Regulatory Affairs Manager and Registered Dietician, Nurture Life

• Bonnie Johnson, MS, RDN, Director of Healthcare Professional Outreach, Good Feeding

• Jodi Kuhn, Director of Nutrition & Wellness, KinderCare Education

• Rupa Mahadevan, MD, FAAP, ABOIM Assistant Professor of Medicine at LSU/Ochsner Health System Feist Weiller Cancer Center /Director of Culinary Medicine Integrative Medicine Physician

• Carolyn O’Hare, COO, Tiny Organics

• Donna A. Pomerson, Senior Director Operational Compliance, Learning Care Group

• Bettina Elias Siegel, Author, Kid Food

• Saskia Sorrosa, Founder & CEO, Fresh Bellies

• Nicole Spain, MS, LDN, RDN, Registered Dietician Nutritionist, Learning Care Group

• Katie Thomson, MS, RD, Co-Founder & CEO, Square Baby

Our Newest Members

• Dr. Caree Cotwright, PhD, RDN, LD, Assistant Professor, College of Family and Consumer Sciences, Department of Foods and Nutrition, University of Georgia

• Carrie Dooyema, MPH, MSN, RN, Team Lead, Early Care and Education Team, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

• Kofi Essel, MD, MPH, FAAP, Community Pediatrician at Children’s National Hospital; Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Director of GW Culinary Medicine Program, Clinical Public Health Summit on Obesity and Community/Urban Health Scholarly Concentration at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences

• Stephanie K. Goodwin, PhD, MPH, RD, Senior Manager, Government & Industry Affairs at Danone

• Diane Harris, PhD, MPH, CHES, Senior Health Scientist and Team Lead, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

• MaryKate O'Boyle, Senior Manager, Mission/Social Impact, Happy Family Organics