Real Food Movement

More than 750 schools across U.S. nominated in Annie's second "Root 4 Kids" contest encouraging kids to dig real food.

BERKELEY, Calif., June 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Annie's, Inc. today announced The Village School in Eugene, Ore. as the winner in its second Root 4 Kids contest encouraging kids to dig and plant new veggies. The Village School generated more sign-ups than over 750 other schools throughout the nation competing to win their choice of a Farm to School program or school garden.

Root 4 Kids, a cause-related campaign conducted in partnership with the National Farm to School Network, has set out to reach and celebrate one million kids digging and planting new veggies. To encourage participation and create friendly competition this spring, Root 4 Kids invited parents, teachers, administrators and community members to sign up at http://www.root4kids.com/join and commit to helping kids "dig" new vegetables by completing at least one activity, such as learning about, eating and planting new veggies, or working to get more fresh foods into schools.

After Camas Ridge Elementary School in Eugene, Ore. took top prize in Root 4 Kids' first contest earlier this year, the community rallied again, helping carry The Village School to victory. With its prize, The Village School will work with Farm to School to customize a combination of activities that best help its students become more deeply connected to real food.

"Winning the Root 4 Kids prize adds a vital third layer to our work already in progress to be more green, sustainable and to serve healthy food," said Bob Kaminski, Principal of The Village School, a public charter school. Kaminski is working closely with Executive Director Andy Peara and a group of dedicated staff and parents to start the school's own locally-grown, organic food service for its 212 K-8 students.

"We thank everyone who supported our efforts and Annie's leadership to promote kids' interest in healthy, natural and organic foods," said Peara. "Annie's message truly resonates in our community."

To help generate sign-ups, staff and parents spread the word far and wide via emails and phone calls. Following the lead of parent Abra Cooper, they also held a screening of the film "What's on your plate?" to educate both kids and parents on the importance of connecting families to where food comes from.

"After two successful contests, thousands of teachers, parents and community members have demonstrated a commitment to teaching kids about growing and eating more real food," said Aimee Sands, Marketing Director at Annie's. "The Village School and all the participating schools deserve recognition and support for their efforts. We wish we could award the prize to all of them."

Annie's will award Root 4 Kids merchandise, Annie's product and grants toward a garden or Farm to School program to all schools that finished in the contest top 10, including Hayhurst Elementary School, Portland, Ore.; Lakeshore Elementary School, Mooresville, N.C.; Anthony Elementary School, Anthony, Fla.; Greenwood Elementary School, Seattle; Somers Elementary School, Kenosha, Wis.; NICE Community School, Ishpeming, Mich.; Memminger Elementary School, Charleston, S.C.; Seven Generations Charter School, Emmaus, Penn.; and Hampton Elementary School, Hampton, Conn.

For more details about The Village School, visit http://happyvillage.org/. To learn more about Root 4 Kids, and to commit to helping kids dig and plant new veggies, visit www.Root4Kids.com.

About Annie's

Annie's is dedicated to nourishing families with delicious natural and organic foods made with the highest quality ingredients. The line includes cheese, pasta meals, crackers, cookies, pretzels, cereals, fruit snacks, salad dressings, BBQ sauce and condiments. Since its founding in 1989, Annie's has been committed to social and corporate responsibility. The company believes in the importance of sustainable farming practices that respect the earth and its inhabitants. Annie's products are available nationwide at major grocery stores, natural food stores and club stores. For more information, visit www.Annies.com. Follow Annie's on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/annieshomegrown) and Twitter (@annieshomegrown).

Thanks for visiting. Be Fancy. Be Green.

Today's Green Report

I've fallen in love.....again.  This time it's not an organic cotton tee or a merino wool 1/2 zip or even a repurposed fabric garment.  It's not even eco, really.  It's just green and totally delicious.

I haven't been posting the past few days because I've been eating and eating....I can't get enough of Trader Joe's Avocado Salsa Verde (you'll find it in the refrigerated section with other fresh salsas).  So YUM.  I've had it with their super salty organic blue chips, their soy/flax seed chips, their crunchy curls, and I've dipped my naanwiches into it. 

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Goodbye, Paul

Weird coincidence....so, I knew that Paul Newman was ill, but wasn't really thinking about him on Thursday night when I returned home from my vacation and had to go to the store late at night to get food. I picked up a few organic bananas, then wandered toward the snack aisles. I never buy cookies, but spotted a bag of Newman's Own Organics Alphabet Cookies (PN's daughter's company). They're wheat-free, dairy-free, and chocolate!!! And delicious. I ate the entire bag in about ten minutes. Now I've just read an article about his death yesterday from cancer. So I like to think of my late night cookie binge as my own little tribute to an incredible person who donated $200 million dollars to charitable organizations during his lifetime. Nice work!

So, if you're looking for something to do this weekend, why not have a Newman retrospective. Rent Cool Hand Luke, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the Hustler, etc -- and make sure you have plenty of Alphabet Cookies, a nice salad topped with his dressing, maybe some chips with his salsa. You can even get your dog some organic dog food. Read more about Paul and his charitable work.


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The Most Organic Meal of the Day

I'm not a cereal person. Never have been, except for a brief addiction to Frosted Flakes when I was a kid. I'm too tired and cranky to eat in the morning (well, morning for me is noon - I sleep late); I'd rather drink my food.

So, my standard liquid breakfast/lunch is a soy + banana + strawberry (or mango) smoothie, with Fatigued to Fantastic vitamin-amino acid powder (including a separate dose of vit B12) and a tablespoon of flax seed oil. Yum. When I get hungry a few hours later, I take a break from writing and have a bowl of Bob's Red Mill Muesli with soy milk (unsweetened, organic, fortified). So much better than cereal because the oats, nuts, and raisins don't get soggy.

When I'm on the run, I have a chocolate Larabar or my favorite meal replacement bar, Superfood Slam by ProBar.

Anyway, this is really not about me, it's about you and what you might like to eat for breakfast. Plenty Magazine, one of my favorite eco mags, assigned a breakfast cereal taste testing team to sample more than 40 brands of organic cereals. Click here to read about their top nine picks.

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More Chocolate

My other favorite chocolate: Theo's.

According to an article in E Magazine, they were the first U.S. chocolate company to make fire roasted, organic chocolate. They're located here in Seattle, so I've had the pleasure of gobbling up samples at several social events. My favorite flavor: nib brittle.
But it's not just their chocolate I love -- they're all about fair trade and quality. They buy fancy beans from all sorts of exotic locations around the world, use sugar made from Swedish sugar beets, and roast the beans in a 1930s German roaster. Yum.
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University of Fancy Green

I'm not sure if US News & World Report magazine has started including eco creds in its college ranking criteria, but they should! In the meantime, you can find green colleges and university rankings in Sierra Magazine, Grist, and Kiwi Magazine.

If you're looking for a college (or have a child looking at colleges), check out the March/April 2008 issue of E, The Environmental Magazine.

It's pretty inspiring to see what some schools have done to reduce their dependance on traditional power sources; offer healthy, organic meals at the school cafeteria; and promote sustainability.

Here are a few examples from the E article:

-Yale serves locally grown and organic meals, and even has a student-run farm.
-Middlebury College offers a bike borrowing program for students and is striving to reach carbon neutrality by 2016 by using alternate heating sources. Other schools with bike borrowing programs: Princeton, Utah State, University of Maine, University of California (Santa Barbara), and Davidson College.
-Carleton College, my alma mater, has the first utility-grade wind turbine on campus.
-Northland College and the University of Colorado (Denver), and have solar power programs.

(source: E Magazine)

Check out Pizter College's Green Bike Program




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