Our Facebook Fans Speak Out About National Nutrition Month!

by The Meal Makeover Moms on March 18th, 2010

Every Tuesday since mid January, we’ve been joined by intern extraordinaire, Beth, a fourth semester nutrition graduate student at Boston University. Beth has been helping us with recipe development for our second cookbook, and she’s been working hard on various social media projects. Recently, we challenged her to write a blog post about National Nutrition Month (NNM), and here’s what she had to say:

The theme of this year’s National Nutrition Month, sponsored by the American Dietetic Association, is “Nutrition from the Ground Up.”  When I think about that message, I think about the importance of helping children establish positive eating habits and the importance of providing them with nutritious and delicious meals to grow into strong and healthy adults.

To celebrate National Nutrition Month, Liz and Janice asked their Facebook fans what “Nutrition from the Ground Up” means to them.  As an incentive, they offered a giveaway for three books written by fellow dietitian, Elisa Zied:  Feed Your Family Right, So What Can I Eat?, and Nutrition at Your Fingertips.

Well, the comments came flooding in, and after reading through all of them, I realized that a lot of people felt the same connection I did between “nutrition from the ground up” and the role good nutrition plays in kids’ overall health. I loved all of the comments, and I hope you head over to The Moms’ Facebook page to read them. For this post, I thought I’d share a few that really caught my attention:

Sally B: “From the first moment you place food in front of your child, do so in a mindful manner. From the “ground” (crawling stage) to adulthood, keep in mind the following: Know where your food comes from and relay this message to your children.”

Lisa M: “When I asked my four-year old what “from the ground up” means to her, she said that bunnies eat the flowers and plants that grow from the ground up to the sun. She also said that she loves to nibble on veggies just like the bunnies.”

Jennifer H.O.: “Yup–definitely thought of my kids’ planting seeds in little starter cups, transplanting them into the garden, watering them, and then being so excited to pick them and cook them into food. This year, we took potatoes that sprouted eyes and put them in glasses of water to sprout roots. We just transplanted them into a pot and can’t wait until Memorial Day weekend to start our veggie garden!”

Amber M.T.: “It means building a solid nutritional base using as many whole, organic, and locally-grown products as possible, to give everyone in my family a head start towards eating nutritious foods for life.”

Wanda F: “My Grandmother once told me you can spend good money for good food or you can spend it for the doctor. We have seriously got to get back to healthy eating with less fast food or the next generation will be in deep trouble.”

Leah G.S.: “To me, it means to get back to the basics (un-processed foods, growing your own foods, shop the perimeter your grocery store, etc.) and that good health can simply come from … nutrition, from the ground up. I am inspired to shop local farmer’s markets, grow a garden, and eat more fruits and vegetables. Even as a dietitian, we all need to be reminded sometimes.”

To learn more about National Nutrition Month, visit the ADA’s website, eatright.org. While you’re there, you’ll find lots of cool tools including a BMI Calculator, nutrition videos and articles, and diet book reviews.

If you’d like to share YOUR thoughts on “Nutrition from the Ground Up,” I hope you’ll leave a comment here on the blog or on Facebook!

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1 Comment | Filed Under Misc., Sustainability 

One Response to “Our Facebook Fans Speak Out About National Nutrition Month!”

  1. mandy on March 23rd, 2010

    Wow! This is full of great advice, thank you so much for sharing!
    We’ve got a really fun idea in the works to help promote healthier eating with the kids, we should have it up next week!

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