Fun Week at Dickinson Elementary!

Eat the Rainbow Challenge took place at Dickinson Elementary in Sugarland, TX last week and what a success it was!

Here's a few comments by the organizer and parents at the school!

"I have never seen so many kids excited to eat fruits & veggies:)"

"The kids are SO loving the challenge. I will be sad to see it come to an end this week--it has been fun volunteering!"

"The kids are so into this contest - fun to see them gobbling up the fruits and vegs!"

Thanks to our wonderful partners for sponsoring and getting so many kids excited about eating fruits and veggies! 

Produce For Kids
SUNSET® 

Bolthouse Farms

Chiquita

Eat Smart™ 

Naturipe

A special thanks to Brenda Thomspon, healthy lifestyles chairperson for organizing this event at her school!  
 
Check out some of the pictures from this recent event on our facebook page.

What's Good For You?

New diets and new ways of eating. Every. Single. Day.
If someone doesn't tell you that the food you thought was so healthy is actually not good for you, how else would they get your attention?
With the experts and media proclaiming one food to be a superfood one day and then banishing to the not-really healthy category after a few months, it's not surprising that most consumers are confused and suspicious.
The common sense and balanced approach to eating is not glamorous and it's difficult to sensationalize it.
For most people, though, it is the only approach that makes sense.

Listen Produce Companies

Is marketing to kids right?
Of course not, when the products are unhealthy and full of ingredients we can't even quite pronounce.
But produce companies, please listen.
We want you to market fruits and veggies to our kids. 

I love veggie gardening and educating about eating healthy but it will take a while before the whole country is eating healthy because it's 'good for us'.
We should still keep encouraging education but in the short term if it takes some marketing to get kids (and adults) to eat more fruits and veggies, we'll take it.

Change the Reality

A family goes grocery shopping and buys whatever they need according to the meal plan for the week. They get back and put away the groceries together. They cook their meals at home. The kids help to prep the veggies and they sit down to dinner together every night.

For most families, the above is a fantasy.
Reality is drive thru, soccer games, after school activities and eating on the go.

For now, we have to accept that this is how it is.

The question then is how do you infiltrate a culture, a community, a family with more healthful options? With fruits and veggies?

Because it will only be a a shift in the culture at home and from outside that can bring about real changes in eating patterns and habits.

That means parents making changes at home as well as the village making changes at the baseball field and the principals saying no to handing out candy in school.

If we focus on the positive, the negative dissipates.

Reality can be changed and it begins with you of course.

Buy the Rainbow

We eat fruits and veggies on a regular basis but it's only recently that I started shopping with Eat the Rainbow Challenge in mind.
It makes a HUGE difference.
Once you understand the system and the colors associated with the days, it can be a great guide when shopping for your groceries.
Remember the Michael Pollan's advice about shopping in the periphery of the grocery store?
Well, when you are the produce section, keep in mind the Eat the Rainbow Challenge score sheet and it will be a great tool to help you buy all the colors and thus a varied selection of fruits and veggies for the week.

In Two Years

Two years ago, mornings were stressful in our home.
I didn't wake up early enough.
The kids barely had enough time to eat breakfast and rush out to school.
I rushed them, scolded them for being late and we all were pretty panicky by the time we reached school.
The culprit was me of course.
I changed. I started waking up much earlier and making them wake up earlier too.
Everything got better.
This is our second year of having more time in the mornings.
Most mornings are calm. We have time to eat, finish up any homework and my daughter may even go for a quick bike ride.

The point is things can change. 
If you feel stuck in a pattern of eating unhealthy foods, it's very much possible to change that.
Your plate could look a lot different in two years than it does now.
Be open to change.
And then do it.
Start with yourself.

Satisfaction

I don't dress up every single day.
I do however put in more of an effort if I'm going out to a party.

Similarly, your food does not have to look like it just popped out of a food magazine or blog.
Perhaps if you have time on the weekend or if you are throwing a party, you would spend lots of time making it look like it does on pinterest or your favorite blogger's site.
But on an everyday basis, it's perfectly fine if we can't make rainbow ribbons and beautiful apple carved birds.

Cut some fruit, fill a plate and sit down with your family.
Or by yourself.

Just be. Simple. There's satisfaction in that too.

Three times a day

If we have to do something at least three times a day, it must be important.
VERY important.
What we eat on occasion doesn't matter.
What we eat everyday does.
If you are an adult who makes any decisions in your home about food, pay attention.
It's tempting to start by giving a lecture to everyone in the house about eating healthier.
But avoid it.  
Start by taking the lead.
Start by  doing it yourself first.


Get Eat the Rainbow Challenge the Game.

Play is the Beginning of Knowledge ~George Dorsey

Play Eat the Rainbow Challenge for fun.
Eat the colors and earn the points.
Maybe, just maybe in the future it might open more doors.
Cooking, baking, gardening, farmers' markets....just maybe.
But for today, eating colors is more than enough.
Let's just play the game.

8 Out of 10 Times

Sorry to disappoint you but my kids don't jump in glee when they get offered an apple for a snack.
Their eyes don't light up when they have to eat a salad.
My 12 year old daughter rolls her eyes at green smoothies. 
My 9 year old hates slimy cooked veggies.
They ask for cheese pizza at birthday parties.
And after having kept them away from soda for years, they have recently discovered the guzzle of an iced coke and root beer. 

They love ice cream, chocolate and chips.
I don't expect them not to. 

But they also would love the opportunity to go a farmer's market.
My 12 year old daughter loves making a fresh Caprese salad with basil from our little veggie patch (which has little else growing right now).
She loves making fresh veggie juice.
My son will chomp on fresh organic carrots with the greens still on and say "Whats up Doc'?"
He dislikes eating greens but will happily drink up a blended smoothie.

I try to cook veggies everyday. This part is natural to me because it's a part of my culture (Indian).
Luckily for me, the connection of cooking to an everyday event hasn't been lost in my family.
If we want to eat, I cook or prepare it most of the time, unless it's a weekend.
On the weekend, we eat at our favorite restaurants.
You may even see us at Sonic picking up a grilled cheese and slushy once in a while.   

We are FAR from those who make perfectly healthy choices all the time.
We just try to do it about 8 out of 10 times.
If 8 out of 10 seems difficult, no worries. Start with a lower number.
But do start.

Why Eat the Colors of the Rainbow?

According to the study presented by Sandra Aamodt at Ted Talks, whether we are in a normal, overweight or obese weight range, our healthy habits can reduce our relative risk of death for the better.

One of the healthy habits is eating more fruits and veggies; this can significantly improve our health and longevity in the long run.

Start your journey today. Commit to eating more fruits and veggies.
It takes one person in the family to start. 

It's all serious stuff but in all seriousness, being scared and not doing anything is boring and a waste of time.
Make it fun. I invite you to play Eat the Rainbow Challenge.
Start eating the colors of the rainbow with us. Do it now! 

Just Start

"My kids don't listen to me"
"My husband or wife doesn't listen to me about eating better."
"We don't have time."
"We are always so busy."
"I want to eat healthy but my family doesn't."

YOU start.

Don't worry about anyone else. No expectations of anyone else in the team for today.
Don't even think about the results.

Just print out the score sheet and put it on your refrigerator.

Just play the game all by yourself. 

What's with the game?

We all know eating fruits and veggies is good for us.
So why are you (Barti) making a game out of this anyway?

The answer is simple. To make it more fun.

It's boring to do anything because it's good for us. Especially when you try to get others to do it.
It's great if you are inspired and are able to pull off eating healthy for yourself and your family.

But if like many of us, you struggle to make better choices for yourself and the family, are exasperated by all the effort you put in (that gets negated by big corporations marketing and demands for trips to fast food restaurants), struggle with the time and energy to battle strong-willed kids and in general need a little help without the pressure, I urge you to give it a shot.

Eat the Rainbow Challenge is about colors and fun and doing stuff together as a family. 
AND it's at no cost. 
Why not give it a shot?

No Excuses & Eating Fresh

I love vegetable gardens. I really do. And I know that gardening is a joy and one that comes easy to many.

It’s also a skill that can be learned and something all of us should be making an effort to do.

The truth is that however, life gets in the way and I end up buying my produce from regular grocery stores. Once in a while, I will have an odd free Saturday when I’m not transporting my kiddos to their games and end up at the local farmer’s market. The fresh produce and colors there are a feast for the senses and I hope that by shopping there, I support the local farmers and that it makes a difference.

But more often than not, our fruits and veggies come from the likes of Costco and Kroger. This is where I do my best to balance the organic versus conventional produce keeping in mind the cost as well as all the information (the dirty dozen, organic versus conventional debates etc.) that I am exposed to because I live in this world. And truthfully, also because as a health nut I’m looking for this information.

Knowledge is power but sometimes too much analysis can paralyze you.

I’ve come down to this. Eating fresh fruits and veggies is important for my family so I buy making the best choices where ever I am at that given moment. 

So whether I am at a farm, a market and or the supermarket down the street, I get the most produce I can and I leave it at that.

By all means, it's great to grow a garden or go to the farmer’s market.

But if you can’t today, that’s alright too. Just go to your local supermarket and get those apples, spinach and carrots. It may sound crazy but just FILL that cart with the colors of the rainbow.
It may not be picked from the field on that day but you're still miles ahead by making those colorful choices.