State also wins top prize for Photo of the Year, Outstanding Contributor Awards

In a competition that pits eight states against each other to help celebrate local produce, support local agriculture and recognize the importance of healthy eating, Kansas received fifth place and won two top prizes.

The Mountain Plains Region Crunch Off takes place in the fall and challenges residents of Kansas, Colorado, Montana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming to bite into healthy and crunchy produce.

This was the fifth year for the Crunch Off. The goal was to have 230,000 crunches recorded across the eight states. The final tally for 2022 was 188,814, so this year’s goal was lofty. However, the Mountain Plains reached its target – even surpassed it – with a total of 444,379 across the region.

Every state in the region increased its participation numbers from 2022. Kansas increased to 40,944 (1.39% of the state’s population) from 37,691 (1.29% of the state’s population).

The top five states this year are:

1. Nebraska, 80,678 participants (4.11%)
2. North Dakota, 26,430 participants (3.39%)
3. Missouri, 188,673 participants (3.07%)
4. Montana, 23,933 participants (2.21%)
5. Kansas, 40,944 participants (1.39%)
    

Overall, the region increased participation in the ages 1 to 5 category by about 8,000, the school-aged children category by 134,000 and the adult category by 110,000.

Kansas was recognized for the Photo of the Year taken in Sterling of a large group of people biting into apples. Barb Depew and Eryn Davis, Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) Child Nutrition and Wellness team members, were recognized as outstanding contributors for the Crunch Off program, too.