Beautiful Broccoli

Why should you eat broccoli?

A ½ cup of cooked broccoli is:An excellent source of vitamin A,

vitamin C, vitamin K, and folate.

A good source of fiber.

A ½ cup of fresh broccoli is:An excellent source of vitamin C and

vitamin K.

Vitamin A

Vitamin KIs the clotmaster!

Remember the last time you got a cut?

Your blood did something special called clotting.

This is when certain cells in your blood act like glue and stick together at the surface of the cut to help stop the bleeding.

What does the dark green color of broccoli mean?

The dark green color means it has lots on nutrients.

Foods high in nutrients can help you fight certain diseases.

FolateIs a B vitamin that works with other B vitamins to help make and support body cells.

Our bodies are made up of about 60-90 trillion cells. askabiologist.asu.edu/

Folate is important in preventing some birth defects and making healthy red blood cells.

Here is a diagram of broccoli

Home Grown Broccoli Facts

California is the number one producer of broccoli in the United States. We produce more than 90% of the nation’s crop.

Broccoli is available all year long in California.

It is grown in four areas: the south desert valley (Imperial and Riverside counties); the southern coast (Ventura, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties), central coast (Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties) and the Central Valley (Fresno, Kern, Stanislaus and Tulare counties).

Broccoli looks like a tiny tree!

Go to www.harvestofthemonth.comand Educators Cornerfor this great map of California showing each county and the many different crops and farm animals each has.

We are very, very lucky to live in a state that can grow so many different crops and support so many farm animals. Some states have such short growing seasons, they can only grow one or two crops.

A Spear of Broccoli HistoryBroccoli has been around for

2000 years.It has been in the United States for only 200 years.The son of Roman Emperor Tiberius loved broccoli so much that he refused to eat all other foods except broccoli for an entire month!

Just the FactsBroccoli was first grown in Calabrese, Italy and was

called “brocco” means branch

or arm in Italian.

Broccoli is the plural form of

brocco and refers to the many

flower-like shoots that form the

head of the plant.

Broccoli in bloomIf allowed to grow longer, broccoli will bloom into beautiful yellow flowers.

More FactsBroccoli is one of the most popular garden vegetables because it is very easy to grow.

Rich in vitamins and minerals it is also known as the “Crown Jewel of Nutrition”.

This variety is called Romanesco. Doesn’t it look like a space creature

or a space ship!

Sprouting BroccoliSprouting broccoli comes in both green and purple. It is also called calabrese broccoli.

Quiz Time1. One half cup of cooked broccoli is an excellent source of

vitamins ___, ___ and ____.

A, C and K

2. What does the dark green color of broccoli tell you?

It is very high in nutrients.

3. You can only get broccoli in the summer time. True or False

False. You can get it all year round in California.

4. What does brocco mean in Italian?

Branch or arm

5. When eating broccoli, you are eating a flower. True or False

True. If not picked and allowed to keep growing, the broccoli would flower.

See how smart you are!!