Over 112,352 Crunchers and still counting:
This year's Great Big Crunch was the Loudest EVER Victory for Food Literacy across Canada!

A Huge Victory for Food Literacy Across Canada!
By Brooke Ziebell, Field to Table Schools Coordinator

The chants could be heard for miles around… Apples! Apples! Apples!, the tweeters were madly tweeting, the bloggers were frantically updating, the journalists were phoning off the hook, the photographers were positioning themselves for the perfect juicy shot and us, well our mouths were watering, getting ready for that first crisp, cool taste of…. a 200 year old apple?!

That's right, now in its fourth successive year, and with the help of a record-breaking 112,352 participants, FoodShare's Great Big Crunch once again caused an "a-peeling" revolution in school classrooms, gymnasiums and cafeterias across Canada. The Great Big Crunch is a FoodShare initiative that brings students of all ages together to take a synchronized bite out of a locally grown apple, proving that children really do want to learn about good, healthy food – especially if it's grown by local farmers. This year, as a special edition to our celebrations, we crunched with McIntosh apples, courtesy of Norfolk Fruit Growers' Association to celebrate the ol' Mac's 200th birthday.

Here at Great Big Crunch headquarters, FoodShare celebrated on March 10th in true Field to Table Schools style alongside grade 3 students from Thorncliffe Park Public School. These apple-enthusiasts enjoyed becoming life-long members of the Pollination Patrol, putting on their best microorganism dance moves in the Rotten Apple Party and performing a food literacy rap with Macky Mac and the Crunchy Bunch! The Field to Table Schools program develops, facilitates (and shares!) curriculum-based food literacy workshops for students of all ages across the GTA.

This year, the Great Big Crunch went high-tech, by not only "Skyping" in two other schools from across Ontario so we could all crunch together, but also grabbing the attention of foodies, bloggers, Facebookers, journalists and Tweeters all over the country with a media storm ensuing. Stay tuned to our website to keep on top of the apple media-mania and enjoy the satisfied faces of those who committed to the crunch.

FoodShare's Great Big Crunch was made all the more successful with the help of the following supporters, the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Norfolk Fruit Growers' Association, the staff of Thorncliffe Park Public School, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. Thank you for helping make this year's crunch the biggest yet!

To learn more about the Field to Table Schools program or the Great Big Crunch, visit our website: www.foodshare.net

Videos and photos from 2011 Great Big Crunch

• View the Great Big Crunch video created by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
  
  
• If you have a video of your Great Big Crunch, and would like to share it on this website, please send it along to thegreatbigcrunch@foodshare.net
  
  
• Highgate Public School's Amazing Great Big Crunch video (and sing along to their original Great Big Crunch song)!
  
  
• The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs participate in FoodShare's Great Big Crunch! "March is Nutrition Month. Ontario students celebrated at the Great Big Crunch event"
  
  
• The Ministry of Children and Youth Services show their support for universal student nutrition programs and FoodShare's Great Big Crunch!
  
  
• To also see the Ministry's photos of the Great Big Crunch from around the province.
  

FoodShare's 2011 Great Big Crunch Photos:

This year, FoodShare celebrated The Great Big Crunch alongside grade 3 students from Thorncliffe Park Public School. These apple-enthusiasts enjoyed becoming life-long members of the Pollination Patrol, putting on their best microorganism dance moves in the Rotten Apple Party and performing a food literacy rap with Macky Mac and the Crunchy Bunch! The Field to Table Schools program develops, facilitates (and shares!) curriculum-based food literacy workshops for students of all ages across the GTA.

• Click here to see photos from FoodShare's 2011 Great Big Crunch at Thorncliffe Park Public School

Great Big Crunch Curriculum-linked workshops

• Click here to download some of Field to Table Schools' curriculum-linked workshops.

Student Great Big Crunch Poems

Thank you to all of those schools that submitted a Great Big Crunch poem along with their registration this year. The Field to Table Schools team had a great time reading them!

Click here to read the original poems written by students across Ontario who love their local apples.