Last updated on June 2nd, 2016 at 10:03 am
Dole has kicked off its nationwide healthy-eating tour with the simple message that a healthier lifestyle is easier to achieve with friends.
In response to 2015 findings showing that Americans are more likely to eat, exercise and live healthier in the context of a larger group, Dole is christening its Get Up and Grow! Together Tour, a group-focused reprise of last summer’s nationwide journey that will stop at more than 400 supermarkets and special events across the country to offer recipe samplings, hands-on kid’s activities and interactive challenges for those wanting to pursue their health and wellness goals individually or in a community.
The official kickoff was May 26 in New York City, Dallas and New Orleans. The 40,000-mile tour is the centerpiece of Dole’s Get Up and Grow! Together, the second year of a multiyear initiative seeking to increase America’s nutritional health through greater consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. Three separate tour caravans will bring healthy-living insights, fresh recipes, free tastes, sharable selfies and other experiences for kids and adults to Americans in 42 cities across the U.S. A full tour schedule is available at www.dole.com/GetUpAndGrow.
“We learned during last year’s tour that the idea of camaraderie and competition has even impacted healthy eating and goal-setting,” said CarrieAnn Arias, VP of marketing of Dole Fresh Vegetables. “Tour visitors across the country told us they were more likely to stick to their diet, fitness and wellness goals if they were part of larger group that could help keep them accountable. So like fantasy sports, this year’s refreshed effort allows participants to form healthy-living teams committed to similar wellness goals, complete with updates and leaderboards—and then offers culinary-immersion and other group experiences as rewards for those that rise to the top.”
About the tour
Colorful tour caravans outfitted with kitchens and sampling tents will deliver new recipe tastes, an interactive “Kid’s Corner,” free giveaways and other activities that showcase the fun, flavor and preparation possibilities of fresh fruits and vegetables. Visitors can also present a grocery receipt showing a qualifying level of Dole fresh purchase to receive unique, tour-commemorative items.
New tour recipes available for sampling range from the Raspberry Mint Cooler, Refresh Juice, Grilled Banana & Greens Salad and Green Toast with Strawberries to Brussels Sprout and Grilled Pineapple Salad and Broccoli & Fruit Slaw. New salad and other recipes will be added throughout the summer.
A 2016 tour highlight is the interactive Get Up and Grow! Together Healthy Living Challenge, which updates last year’s individual pledge with a new team option enabling participants to build groups of people dedicated to a collective health or fitness goal. Team leaders can recruit their friends, family, co-workers or others to join their team, and then track the growth of their group against others across the U.S.
A prominent new Healthy Living Challenge kiosk will be featured at each tour stop to allow visitors to commit to eating and living healthier, either individually or as a team. Guests are also encouraged to take an onsite photo themed to Get Up and Grow! Together and share it on their own social pages.
Get Up and Grow! Together is a joint effort between Dole Fresh Fruit of Westlake Village, California, Dole Fresh Vegetables of Monterey, California, and the Kannapolis, North Carolina-based Dole Nutrition Institute (DNI), which includes Dole’s newly formed Culinary Nutrition department that blends scientific findings associated with fresh produce with culinary arts to motivate consumers to cook healthy meals with fruits and vegetables.
