What is the favorite vegetable for 2021? Vote and help decide the winner

Four vegetables are vying for the top spot and depending on voters to pick their favorite.

Crow Wing Energized’s One Vegetable, One Community campaign is back this year with an online option for voters to choose the winner and featured vegetable.

Choices are between salad greens, radishes, green onions and beans. The bean isn’t specified but the ballot has a green bean riding a skateboard as the icon. The radish is off for a jog and the salad greens are lifting weights. The campaign is designed to spark conversations about healthy eating and provide tools to make that happen from tips on growing and serving the vegetables, sharing recipes and providing information on what benefits they provide.

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Crow Wing Energized is asking the community to get involved and vote for the vegetable of choice. The deadline to vote is Feb. 26. Go online to bit.ly/2Ngrcxk to cast a ballot.

“One Vegetable, One Community strives to unite the community by encouraging community members to plant, grow, cook, and/or share a single vegetable,” reported Crow Wing Energized, a grassroots effort to improve health and wellness in area communities. “So vote and share this link for others to vote!”

One Vegetable One Community strives to unite the community by encouraging gardeners of all levels to plant, grow, cook, and/or share a single vegetable. The aim is to see the vegetable of the year growing in kitchen gardens, community and school gardens, containers on front porches, in front of businesses, faith-based organizations, and government buildings. Through sharing growing, preparing, cooking and storing information, One Vegetable One Community starts a conversation in the community about food, nutrition and how Crow Wing County can support healthier choices.

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In 2020, the winning vegetable was the carrot. Its health benefits included: containing more than two times the daily value of vitamin A, which helps eyes to adapt from bright light to darkness; a good source of vitamin K; including carotenoids that may help lower the risk of age-related macular degeneration.

The 2021 winning vegetable will be announced at Crow Wing Energized’s eighth annual Health & Wellness Summit. This year the March 5 summit will be virtual and has the theme of Watering the Seeds of Wellbeing. The sign-up for the summit is available at crowwingenergized.org/event .