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Just BARE® Cooking Challenge

Posted on October 26, 2011 by in Health News, Special Offers

I know the time on this is a little tight – but it’s a fun contest with great prizes and I think the results will be some healthy and tasty recipes. So please tap into that inner chef, think healthy and submit a recipe…

Like to cook simply delicious meals? Enter the Just BARE® Just 5 Cooking Challenge! Create a recipe using Just BARE Chicken and four more ingredients or fewer. One lucky winner will receive over $17,000 in prizes. And four runners-up will receive nearly $1,000 in prizes. Enter today!

The deadline is November 1, 2011 – you can get the details online. Good luck!

MyPlate National Middle School Recipe Contest

Posted on October 21, 2011 by in Health News, Special Offers, USDA MyPlate

stirring up health logo MyPlate National Middle School Recipe ContestWe are very pleased to pass on this opportunity from our friends at Healthy Kids Challenge:

We Challenge all 7th and 8th graders, individually or in groups, to “Stir Up Health” with MyPlate!

Teachers, Home Schools, Youth Leaders or Parents join Healthy Kids Challenge in its 10th year offering healthy cooking fun for 7th and 8th graders with the “Stirring Up HealthT” National Middle School Recipe Contest! Educational partners include Johnson & Wales University and Home Baking Association.

Kids learn basic food preparation and cooking skills they’ll use throughout life, with this hands-on experience. Engage the kids you know to create or modify a recipe to make it healthier, using USDA MyPlate guidelines.

Contest is open September 1, 2011 – March 2, 2012 Winners announced March 30, 2012

Open to all kids currently enrolled in 7th or 8th grade

Check out Entry rules, contest categories, prizes at http://www.healthykidschallenge.com/content/kids-healthy-recipe-contest

Free Tattoo Offer is Now Closed

Posted on October 15, 2011 by in Special Offers

Hi folks! We were astounded and amazed at the response to our Free Tattoo offer. Thanks for folks who have signed up. Unfortunately the offer is no longer open. On Monday we will be contacting folks who have signed up to confirm that they will be getting their tattoos. In the meantime – we do have a free downloadable poster on our homepage. (scroll halfway down to see it)

Free Tattoos for Facebook Fans!

Posted on October 14, 2011 by in Special Offers

Maybe we should be more specific – make that free temporary tattoos for Facebook Fans. It’s a reward for our cyber friends.

How does is work?

Visit our Facebook Page, “like” us and then click on the Free Temporary Tattoos link on the left column of our Facebook Page. Complete the form and we’ll send you a sample of 3-5 of our individual tattoos. Please remember that we will need your street address to mail the tattoos to you. We will not share your address with anyone. Also, we will check to make sure that you are a Facebook Fan. If your Facebook name is significantly different from your “real world” name, please put the Facebook name as your “middle name” on the form.

We hope you like the free tattoos. We wanted to share something fun with our Facebook fans – but we also have an ulterior motive. We’re on a campaign to promote healthier trick or treat giveaways. We thought the temporary tattoos might give you some ideas. (More on a healthier Halloween soon!)

(Please limit one per fan.)

Garden Hero on the Go

Posted on October 12, 2011 by in Garden Heroes, Special Offers

art 225x300 Garden Hero on the GoGarden Heroes are back on the road. This time Alonzo Avocado is leading the pack. Guess Where in the World Alonzo is and WIN A FREE GARDEN HERO of your choice. Guess correctly, and choose a single character from any of the 39 Garden Heroes! (Please post guesses on Facebook!)

Grants to promote healthy habits

Posted on October 10, 2011 by in FACS Resources, Health News, Special Offers

Over the weekend I ran into a few grant opportunities that I thought might be of interest to readers. The first two are particularly targeted to teachers, lunchroom and school cafeteria staff and healthcare professionals. The third is a bit of a wildcard – but if you wanted to open the door to working with a local farmer on a farm fresh program with the school or with your classroom that this grant might help.

Good luck!

  1. Youth Service America is offering grants of up to $1,000 to students, teachers, and staff members of community-based organizations working within a public K-12 school, or service learning coordinators, for service-learning projects in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Deadline: 11/9/2011. http://tinyurl.com/6y7ynqn
  2. USDA has funding available to nonprofits for grants to plan or implement community food projects that improve health and/or nutrition among disadvantaged and/or low-income populations and communities. Deadline: 11/17/2011. http://tinyurl.com/5t9vwuf
  3. Farmers and ranchers with innovative ideas for producing or marketing their crops or products may find funding through the SARE Farmer-Rancher Grants program. Proposals are due December 2, 2011 for up to $22,000. Go to: http://www.cfra.org/node/3524 . The North-Central Region Sustainable Ag Research and Education (NCSARE) Program expects to fund 45 farmer-led projects in 2012. These projects can address production, marketing, processing, environmental impacts, and community effects of farming and ranching. Projects would test or demonstrate a new idea and include a way of telling other farmers about it. This year the grant has a new category for partner-applicants. Individuals may apply for up to $7500, partners may ask for $15,000, and groups may ask for $22,500. Interested applicants can find the call for proposals as well as useful information for completing a proposal at: http://www.northcentralsare.org/Grants/. Assistance is available from grant coordinator Joan Benjamin at benjaminj@lincolnu.edu, 573.681.5545 or 800.529.1342.

Where in the World are the Garden Heroes!?

Posted on October 6, 2011 by in Garden Heroes, Special Offers

gracie 224x300 Where in the World are the Garden Heroes!?Garden Heroes are back on the road and being led by Gracie Grapefruit. Guess Where in the World the Garden Heroes are and WIN A FREE GARDEN HERO of your choice. Guess correctly, and choose a single character from any of the 39 Garden Heroes! (Please post guesses on Facebook!)

 

MyPlate Video Contest – deadline Nov 15

Posted on September 26, 2011 by in Special Offers, USDA MyPlate

MyPlate 300x245 MyPlate Video Contest – deadline Nov 15We are excited to help spread the word on the USDA Fruits and Vegetables Video contest. We think it’s going to be a great way to get good advice from teachers, parents, health care professionals – maybe even kids about how they are eating more fruits and vegetables and how they are doing it affordably.

The deadline to submit a video is November 15. You can get more details from the Challenge.gov web site…

About The Challenge

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) MyPlate Fruits and Veggies Video Challenge invites you to create short videos (approximately 30 seconds) showing how you’re adding fruits and vegetables to your diet without spending a lot of money. We encourage you to create videos that are inspiring and instructive — show a healthy tip that has worked for you and that you think can work for other people. Videos must be submitted in one of the following categories:

  • Tips for kids
  • Tips when eating at home
  • Tips when eating away from home

The goal of the challenge is to encourage healthy eating habits and raise awareness around USDA’s MyPlate dietary guidelines, which includes making half your plate fruits and vegetables.

If you haven’t checked out the Challenge.gov web site before – this is a great opportunity. They host contests and opportunities in a range of industries on a regular basis.

Learning ZoneXpress Launches FreeMyPlate.com for Free Teaching Resources on September 13

Posted on September 13, 2011 by in Garden Heroes, Special Offers, USDA MyPlate

We gave a sneak peek to readers last week – but today we are pleased to make our official announcement…

Learning ZoneXpress Launches FreeMyPlate.com for Free Teaching Resources on September 13 in Partnership With the USDA’s MyPlate Nutrition Initiative.

Learning ZoneXpress (LZX) announces the launch of a new website featuring free educational downloads to promote the message “Make half your plate fruits and vegetables” from the USDA’s new MyPlate food icon.

screen shot of freemyplate Learning ZoneXpress Launches FreeMyPlate.com for Free Teaching Resources on September 13Owatonna, MN (PRWEB) September 13, 2011

Today, Learning ZoneXpress (LZX) announces the launch of a new website featuring free educational downloads to promote the message “Make half your plate fruits and vegetables” from the USDA’s new MyPlate food icon.

As a National Strategic Partner with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP), Learning ZoneXpress is committed to amplify the key MyPlate initiatives nationwide. Melanie Nelson, CEO of Learning ZoneXpress, invites you to visit http://www.freemyplate.com  today for free nutrition education resources for educators, parents and all those with a desire to improve nutrition and health. Available resources include:

o Fun Taste Testing Activities
o MyPlate Bulletin Board Lesson Plans
o Delivering Fruits and Vegetables Activity
o What Does Cooking Do? Activity
o Veggie Bagel Face Recipe

youtube screen shot 300x191 Learning ZoneXpress Launches FreeMyPlate.com for Free Teaching Resources on September 13“Both USDA and LZX are trying to help children and adults live healthier lives. As a National Strategic Partner, we can help educate and encourage people of all ages to follow the MyPlate Guidelines to eat more fruits and vegetables,” said Nelson.

In addition to the free educational resources, Learning ZoneXpress will give any customer who orders $200 or more of product a free Garden Hero, an adorable fruit or vegetable plush character, as a reminder to include fruits and veggies at every meal.

Owatonna, Minn.-based Learning ZoneXpress is a leading source of award-winning teaching tools and is a USDA National Strategic Partner. Its mission is to help improve the health and vitality of children by providing relevant, creative and affordable learning tools about life skills, healthy behaviors and nutrition. Learning ZoneXpress offers a wide variety of affordable educational DVDs, posters, MyPlate products, lesson plans, and PowerPoint presentations. They are dedicated to responsive and personalized customer care. For more information about Learning ZoneXpress products, visit http://www.learningzonexpress.com or call Linnea Duffus at 888-455-7003.

Proud MyPlate Partners

Posted on September 1, 2011 by in LZX Team News, Special Offers, USDA MyPlate

MyPlate 300x245 Proud MyPlate PartnersWe’ve mentioned that Learning ZoneXpress is a MyPlate National Strategic Partner but we’ve never talked much about what that means for us. First, we are clearly proud to partner with the USDA and the network of partners on promoting healthy eating for all ages through the MyPlate strategy and infographic. Here are some of the things we signed up for when we became a National Strategic Partner:

National Strategic Partners consist of companies/organizations that are national in scope and reach and also fulfill the following requirements:

  • They must have a health mandate consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the mission of USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP).
  • They will promote nutrition content in the context of the entirety of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
  • They will specifically disseminate CNPP’s Dietary Guidelines messages in innovative ways.
  • They will participate in CNPP sessions to develop and execute a joint strategic nutrition promotion plan annually.

MyPLate bookmark 203x300 Proud MyPlate PartnersWe have always worked well with these group so it was an easy decision.

USDA MyPlate Fun in September

In September, the USDA MyPlate partnership will be focusing on actively promoting fruits and vegetables and making them half our MyPlate. Each partner will celebrate in a different way. We will do our best to get out the word on MyPlate events and specials via the blog, Facebook and Twitter. Our special day is coming up later in the month – but for our insiders we wanted to share a super sneak preview of our MyPlate specials web site…

Let us know what you think!