Kids are pretty famous for not wanting to eat their vegetables. But a recent program at Minot Forest Elementary School might change that for some Wareham students.

Each grade gets a bowl of fruits or vegetables on a certain day of the week. First graders receive it on Monday, second graders receive it on Tuesday and so on.

So far this year the students have tried oranges, green beans, plums, broccoli crowns, Forelle pears, tri-colored carrots, pineapple, carnival cauliflower, fresh figs, white asparagus, black grapes, and snap peas.

Minot Forest cafeteria manager Eileen Haley said some of the fruits and vegetables are a big hit, like star fruit which was served last year, while others fall somewhat flat like the fresh figs and white asparagus.

"The important thing is that they're trying it," she said.

She also said at least one classroom has a graph where they chart how much they like the certain fruits and vegetables. White asparagus was detested so much that they used black marker to notate it.

This is the second school year that Minot Forest has done this program. The elementary school became eligible for a state grant specifically offered for programs like this two years ago. Minot Forest, which is the only school in Wareham to host such a program, was denied the first time that secretary Deb Perry applied for it, but was accepted for the 2010-2011 school year.

Fifth grade teacher Lacey Remillard said the program is designed as a response to the influx of childhood obesity and diabetes in recent years. The snacks, in addition to nourishing the kids, give teachers an opportunity to lead some classroom discussion.

"Congress just made pizza a vegetable so we were able to have a discussion," Remillard said.

The mere mention of pizza being a vegetable prompts the fifth graders, who were snacking on snap peas that Friday, to protest that pizza is not a vegetable. Some students noted the fat and grease content of the dish.

Haley said two years ago some of the students had no idea what some of the fruits and vegetables were, like Brussels sprouts, because they had never had them at home.

Sometimes during lunch periods Haley will hold up the fruit or vegetable of the week and talk to the children about it. She noted that when many of the students stopped at her house for trick-or-treating on Halloween and were able to tell their parents about the various foods they've tried.

"I know they're listening and they're learning," she said.