Organic. It's Worth It in Schools

I've been concerned about school lunches for many years. There are a number of agencies and non-profit organizations, which are educating the public and advocating for healthy lunch programs. Here are two proactive organizations I support that I encourage you to connect with and support in any way that you can.

Organic. It's Worth It in Schools. Here is a repost from Mountain Rose Herbs about this campaign:

"Kids across the country should have access to organic foods with no artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, irradiation, or genetically modified organisms - especially at school, where it's so important for growing bodies and brains to have healthy fuel. Supporting organic gardens and farms that do not use harmful pesticides or synthetic fertilizers, helps lessen our impact on the earth and promotes healthier neighborhoods and ecosystems where children live, play, and learn.

Help the Organic Trade Association provide organic food to a school near you! The Organic Trade Association (OTA) is calling on teachers, parents, students, educators, and others to join the “Organic. It’s Worth It In Schools.” initiative to vote for their favorite school to win an organic garden complete with seeds, soil, and expert gardening support; or a fully stocked vending machine, featuring items like milk, fruit, cheese, yogurt, and organic snacks.

Through May 1, 2010, when you visit OrganicItsWorthIt.org you can “vote” for a school by signing up for an electronic newsletter featuring organic tips, recipes, news, and more. You can also write a letter to your school, sign and circulate a petition, or read and share the fact sheet on OTA's website to help us spread the word that organics are worth it for the health and well-being of our world."

Learn more about organic foods.

Another important campaign to support is Slow Food's Time for Lunch Campaign. Watch this short video.

USDA UPDATE: February 23, 2010 - Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Presents Obama Administration's Priorities to Improve National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs. Vilsack Urges Congress to Pass Strong Reauthorization of Child Nutrition Act for Overall Health and Nutrition of America's Children.

Please share this blog post with those who are educators, caregivers, guardians or parents of school-age children K-5 and above at home.

Fit to Serve Basics

My friend Brad Bloom, publisher of Faith & Fitness Magazine, posted a fitness challenge for 2010 inviting readers to submit an application to be considered to be one of five participants in a yearlong fitness challenge to reduce their overall body mass, while being personally coached by Coach Tim Powers.

Click on image to read the Faith & Fitness article about Coach Powers' book Fit to Serve.

Here is an excerpt about the 2010 Fit To Serve Challenge from the Faith & Fitness article Read, Set, Engage! by Coach Powers:

THE FIT TO SERVE BASICS

"... I want to share with you common strategies that I am having all (the "fab five") of them integrate into their daily and weekly physical fitness workout programs:

- All five on our team believe that they need to reduce their overall body mass, i.e. Body fat percentage. So, I have invoked the “one o’clock rule” for each one them. This rule states that they are not to ingest any starch carbohydrates after lunch. Starchy carbohydrates are considered a “super sugar” and include grains, flour, breads, cereals, chips, pasta, rice, beans and potatoes. They have been encouraged to have as much starch as they want for breakfast and lunch, but not after that. If you want dessert, have it for breakfast.

- The five will all be on an eating modification system where they will eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen and supper/dinner like a pauper. God created the human body to have its highest metabolic rate of burning calories from three o’clock in the morning through approximately eleven o’clock in the morning. By one o’clock in the afternoon physiology starts to ramp down. Supper is still a significant meal, but only in terms of actual hunger and not appetite and the enjoyment eating good tasting food.

- The team will be eating as organic as possible in terms of finances and convenience. The biggest concept will be to not eat any genetically modified breads and cereals and meat and poultry that have been shot up with growth hormones and antibiotics. Additives, preservatives, color dyes, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides are considered toxic and unsafe to consume for your 75 trillion cells. God has hard-wired them to recognize danger, so they encapsulate these poisons with body fat to protect the body.

The team will for the most part be engaging in two exercise sessions per day five days per week – 90 to 120 minutes in aggregate duration. The morning is the best time to train in resistance exercise such as weight-training and run sprints. Most our five will be weight-training three days per week and running sprints three days per week (trust me, they will all be easing into these protocols). The best time to train aerobically is at the end of your day and before your last major meal. Our goal to achieve an arterial blood cleaning and strengthening of the heart and lungs with a non-competitive workout such as power walking, light running, cycling, swimming or any other workout that they can sustain a “steady state” of 70% to 75% of their maximum intensity."

Great tips! Meet the team and join me to take the fitness challenge at home. Read more.

Faith & Fitness Magazine is a lifestyle resource to build physical and spiritual strength. It helps readers make connections between the Christian faith and their fitness lifestyle. It is your tool for powerful, healthy, and passionate living.

The Eat-Clean Movement

I invite you to watch a great new food series, the Clean Eating series on Life's Delicious TV with Robin Shea! In full disclosure, I need to tell you that Robin is a member of our extended family, but she does a terrific job of explaining the concept of "clean eating" and sharing healthy recipes with her viewers. Check it out. Maybe you will win a copy of The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook!

Series description: "The Eat Clean Series, Part One of Five! Enjoy the first of a five-part series on Clean Eating. Robin will introduce you to Basic Clean Eating, as well as advanced Uber-Clean Eating. She will also introduce you to Author and Fitness Model Tosca Reno; visit http://www.rememberlifesdelicious.blo... for your chance to win Tosca's The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook."