Root Vegetables
Be good listeners.
Your teacher may have you complete
a Thinking Map®.
Why Eat Root Vegetables?
• Eating just ½ cup of most root
vegetables provides an excellent
source of vitamin C.
• Give two reasons to eat foods with
vitamin C?
• Helps to strengthen your immune
system, keeping you well and helps
heal cuts and wounds and prevent
infection.
More Reasons to Eat Them
• Root vegetables contain complex
carbohydrates (starches) which are a
key nutrient in root vegetables.
• Other sources of complex
carbohydrates are:
– Corn
– Dry Beans
– Peas
– Sweet Potatoes
Complex carbohydrates
provide the body with
energy primarily for the
brain and nervous system.
Dietary Fiber
• Dietary fiber is a
complex carbohydrate.
• Dietary fiber can’t be digested by
humans and therefore does not
provide a source of energy.
• Dietary fiber does help you feel full
and slow the rate of absorption of
simple carbohydrates.
What is a Simple Carb?
• Simple carbohydrates provide energy
to the body.
• They are more easily digested than
complex carbs.
• Simple carbohydrates include foods
such as fruits, that provide nutrients
as well as quick energy.
Simple carbs continued….
• Simple carbs also include candy, soda
and table sugar.
• These foods provide calories but not
nutrients.
What type of simple carb would you
choose for quick energy?
Did You Know……
• A ½ cup of sliced root vegetables is
one cupped handful.
• Root vegetables come in many colors
and most can be eaten raw.
Did You Know…….
• Root vegetables are the root of the
plant.
• Tubers, like a potato, grow
underground but are different from
root vegetables.
• A rhizome is plant stem that grows
horizontally underground and sends
out shoots from which new plants
grow.
Roots and Tubers
The following are examples of some
root and tuber vegetables.
Which are roots and which are
tubers?
Carrot
Beet
Sweet Potato
Radish
Potato
Yam
Rutabaga
Parsnip
Jicama
Answers
Carrot ……………….Root
Sweet Potato……….Root
Potato…………….…Tuber
Rutabaga……………Root
Beet………………….Root
Radish……………….Root
Yam………………….Tuber
Parsnip………………Root
Jicama……………….Root
A Slice of Root Veggie History
American colonists relied heavily on
root vegetables for food because they
could be stored for months in the harsh
New England winters.
What is it?
•
•
•
•
Taro
Ginger
Celeriac
Sunchoke
What is it?
•
•
•
•
Turnip
Jicama
Celeriac
Rutabage
What is it?
•
•
•
•
Carrot
Parsnip
Rutabaga
Daikon
What is it?
•
•
•
•
Parsnip
Turnip
Daikon
Radish
What is it?
•
•
•
•
Turnip
Parsnip
Rutabaga
Jicama
Bonus Questions
Complex carbs help you stay_____longer.
Full
A sweet potato and yam are the same?
False, a yam is a tuber and sweet potato
is a root
Name the five root vegetables
shown on the first slide.
Carrot, parsnip, turnip, jicama,
rutabaga
Engaging activities
• Check out this website for
GRRRRREAT root vegetable
activities to use in the classroom.
• http://www.handipoints.com/funfacts/root-vegetables
Thank you to all our sponsors.
This material was produced by the California Department of Public Health’s Network for
a Healthy California with funding from USDA SNAP, known in California as CalFresh
(formerly Food Stamps). These institutions are equal opportunity providers and
employers. CalFresh provides assistance to low-income households and can help buy
nutritious foods for better health. For CalFresh information, call 1-877-847-3663.
For important nutrition information, visit
www.cachampionsforchange.net.