Syracuse men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim will join other university students, staff and faculty to crunch down on an apple on Friday as part of Big Apple Crunch Day.

This is the second time SU will be participating in the event, which promotes healthy eating. Grow NYC, Food Day, the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy and American Farmland Trust are all sponsoring Big Apple Crunch Day.

The university will be joining several other schools including the State University of New York at Albany, Colgate University and Stony Brook University, and many other organizations including businesses. The goal of the day is to set the record of over a million “apple crunches,” according to an SU news release.

Boeheim will be participating in the event at the Schine Student Center at noon. Students can also take an apple from any dining hall and take a crunch.  Participants are encouraged to share their experience with Big Apple Crunch Day by using the hashtags #NYCampusCrunch and #SUapplecrunch, which is how organizations will keep track of the number of apples eaten.

John Maleri, project coordinator for Food Day, said the event is a way to engage people in living a healthier lifestyle.

“Food Day and Big Apple Crunch are important because they inspire Americans to change their diets,” he said. “It also helps to support local farmers as it encourages universities and other organizations to go to local apple farms to get their apples.”

Amanda Gentile, an administrator at Grow NYC, said another goal of Food Day and Big Apple Crunch Day is to promote a “greener planet.” The name Big Apple Crunch was chosen because of references to New York City as the Big Apple.

This will be the fourth year of Big Apple Crunch as the event began in 2011. The event has continued to expand every year and now there are now events in cities as far away as Texas, according to the event website. Last year, around one million New Yorkers ate an apple as part of the event, according to the website.

While some students were unfamiliar with Big Apple Crunch Day, others said they are very excited and interested in the event.

 

Meghan Dare, a freshman in Martin J. Whitman School of Management, said she is excited to take part in the event and thinks that is a very easy and simple way to raise awareness. She said she would definitely get her roommate to do it as well, along with her friends.

Published on October 23, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Connor: clried@syr.edu