Greetings!
June can be one of those insanely busy months as the school year
winds down, our calendars are filled with parties, recitals,
graduations and more.
In addition to June madness, I've been busy making the leap from
PC to Mac. Plans with my new computer include podcasting and video
blogging. I'll be experimenting around with these features this
summer while I'm away at Camp.
Trying to learn a new computer can be humbling at times, but
change can be a good thing. It's a great reminder that we're never
done learning!
Here's wishes for a happy, healthy and fun filled summer!
Susan :)
School Food Happenings |
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Over the past 13 years of working as a school food
advocate, I've learned lots about the horrors of the toxic
food environment in school cafeterias across the country. I'm
more hopeful than ever that things can change for the better
now that we have a a First Lady who understands the importance
of school gardens. I do believe that gardens are a big part of
the solution.
Thanks to Teich
Garden Systems,I recently had an opportunity to speak with
the head of the USDA, Tom
Vilsack at the opening of a beautiful school garden in a
charter school in Washington DC. After gently reminding the
head of the USDA that the food pyramid doesn't succeed in
getting kids to eat more veggies, I asked Mr. Vilsack what we
can do to get a garden in every school across the US.
Better
School Food is now collaborating with Slow
Food USA as their school food advocacy campaign unfolds
this summer. The Child
Nutrition Act is federal legislation that is up for
renewal this fall. Slow Food understands that its essential
that we invest in children's health through this important
legislation.
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A Delicious and Inexpensive Fun Summer Idea: Host an
Eat-In! |
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Here's a fresh idea for a fun and inexpensive summer event:
Host an Eat-In !
What's an Eat-In? An Eat-In is a group of people
gathering in public in order to share a home-cooked meal. It's
a potluck. These days, coming together to share a meal is also
a political statement, because it challenges our status quo;
that's why we call it an "Eat-In." Eat-Ins give us a reason to
get cooking, to sit down with our neighbors and to talk about
what we need to do to build communities where everyone enjoys
real food.
Eat-Ins.org
is a resource to help people organize and participate in
Eat-Ins. Organizing an Eat-In is a conscious effort to bring
new people together, to strengthen our communities and to
broaden the food movement.
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June Recipe: Summer Camp Quinoa
Salad |
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This summer, my job will be "sue chef" under the direction
of Chefs Ellen
Thomas and Alison
Wiener. Here's one of the recipes we'll be serving at Camp
Ballibay
Ingredients: 2 cups dry quinoa 1/4 cup extra
virgin olive oil (use good quality olive oil for this
salad!) Juice from 4 lemons or limes 6 fresh mint
sprigs, leaves removed and chopped 1/2 cup chopped fresh
cilantro leaves or parsley 1 cup of ripe cherry or grape
tomatoes, quartered 1 cucumber, diced 2 chopped
scallions 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 t umeboshi vinegar
(this is a salty vinegar that can be found in health food
stores) sea salt and fresh pepper to taste
Directions: Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh strainer.
Cook as you would rice - 2 cups quinoa to 3.5 cups water.
Cover, bring to boil, simmer for 15 minutes until water is
absorbed. You want the quinoa to be light and fluffy. Add
1 t salt immediately after cooking and spread onto plate or
sheet pan to cool. Add the remaining ingredients, tossing
lightly with a fork until combined. Taste and adjust
seasonings. This salad tastes better on the second day
after the flavors have blended.
NOTE: This salad is also tasty with bulgar or other grains.
Quinoa is great because it cooks quickly, is light and fluffy
and gluten free.
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E-Book: Support for Parents of Picky
Eaters |
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Calling all parents plagued by picky eaters! My
downloadable E-booklet on picky eaters can help you
recover your sanity and make mealtimes more fun and
delicious. You can win the picky eater war without being
sneaky or deceptive as other books might suggest.
To learn more about my Picky Eater e-book, click on
this link
to my website.
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E-Book: Dump Your Diet! |
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Do you diet, lose weight and
re-gain allthe weight you lost again and again and
again? Perhaps it's time to Dump Your Diet! Learn more
with my
E- book on how to let go of unnecessary weight by
letting go of diets that make us unhappy and
unhealthy.
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E-Book: Teens, Tweens & Junk |
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Would you like your kids to eat less junk and more
real food? Check out my E-book, Winning
the Junk Food Wars for great ideas that will help
you to incorporate more real food into your kid's lives.
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This Is The One Movie You Must See This
Summer! |
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Thanks to my experience with
the Two
Angry Moms documentary on school food, I've learned more
than I ever wanted to know about the movie business. For a
movie to fuel a movement, you need a great film and a
well connected distribution deal so that it reaches viewers
far and wide. This movie is set to grow consciousness around
food issues like none before it has done. It has the same
distributor as
An Inconvenient Truth, expect to see Food Inc. across the
country this summer.
Food
Inc. is a modern horror story that will do for the
supermarket what Jaws did for the beach! The timing couldn't
be better as discussions of Health
Care Reform and
School Food Legislation start to heat up this
summer.
Some big food corporations are
increasingly nervous about the film's message, and have begun
their own counter-campaigns. It's curious to see the words
"sustainable" used by companies like Monsanto. Stay tuned for
more outrageous spin from fast food and agribusiness as the
backlash against chicken nuggets and industrial food
grows.
I'm interested to hear what
you think of this movie. Send me an email or post your movie
review on the Better
School Food blog. |
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