Family Farmed Expo

Organic School Project will be set up at the Family Farmed EXPO this Friday & Saturday with info on our programs. Please stop by and see us!


"The Midwest’s Premier Local Food Event returns featuring 3 great days of programming at the fantastic UIC Forum on the campus of University of Illinois at Chicago.

The MUST ATTEND EVENT for: Family Farmers ~ Local Food Businesses ~ Foodies ~ Industry/Trade Professionals ~ Restaurants ~ Artisan Food Producers ~ Investors ~ Food Policy Advocates Local Food System Stakeholders

Please check out our newly announced programming for the sixth FamilyFarmed EXPO – it’s three full days packed full of workshops, chef demo’s, exhibits, parties, business to business conferences, and more! We invite you to join us for the Midwest’s leading good food conference and festival."

Please see their website for more info. Tickets are still for sale and it is open to anyone! http://www.familyfarmedexpo.com/

Close Your Eyes, Imagine…Food!

How many times have you said OK, this time I’m going to eat more fruits and vegetables, but by the second week that memo slowly disappears?
Well now, researchers are suggesting if we develop a concrete plan and actually envision ourselves carrying out that plan, for example imagining ourselves going to the store, buying, and eating fruits, then it may help us follow through.

Barbel Knauper, an associate professor of psychology as McGill University in Montreal did a study on 177 students. She asked them to set their goals at eating more fruit a week. So some developed concrete plans, wrote them down, and envisioned themselves carrying out their plans. Of course, all the students ate more fruit during that time period, but the ones that visualized themselves carrying out their plans consumed twice as much fruit.

This is interesting because we all want to include more fruits and vegetables in our diets, but with massive workloads and hectic schedules, we first pick up some other alternatives than fruit, especially on the go. To combat this, maybe right before you get out of bed, or while you’re waiting for the train, or whenever you have a spare minute, imagine yourself getting to those fruits and veggies and eating them. Telling kids to do this might be just as useful too.

It’s all in your head.

Read the article from US News here.

Speaking March 18th

The NW Suburban Chapter of the Holistic Moms Network will be hosting OSP's Greg Christian at an "Evening of Fresh Foods". He will be speaking about the "Grow. Teach. Feed." collection. The event is Friday, March 18th at 6:30pm Arlington Heights Memorial Library.

Contact Mary Green at marysgreen@hotmail.com or 847-230-0544 if you have any questions

March: National Nutrition Month

Sponsored by the American Dietetic Association, this year’s theme is: Eat Right with Color because children tend to eat a bland, beige colored diet, which includes chicken nuggets, fries, and white bread. Not much excitement there…

Fruits and vegetables come in an array of colors and adding them to their diets not only makes the food visually more appealing, but also children can learn how the colors can be indications of nutritional density, says Chicago Sun Time.
Here is a breakdown of the colors:

Blue/purple

-Good sources of anthocyanins, the purplish phytonutrient that put blueberries on the map as a superfood. Other blue and purple foods offer similar benefits.

Choices: Purple grapes, plums, raisins, dried plums, purple asparagus, purple cabbage, purple carrots, eggplant, purple potatoes

Yellow/orange

-Ample amounts of antioxidants, such as vitamin C and beta carotene (vitamin A) in yellow and orange fruits and vegetables.

Choices: Apricots, cantaloupe, mangoes, oranges, tangerines, butternut squash, carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes

Red

-Flag for health-promoting compounds like lycopene and anthocyanins.

Choices: Cherries, cranberries, red grapes, raspberries, strawberries, watermelon, beets, red peppers, tomatoes

Green

-Signal for chlorophyll, and green vegetables are potent in folate and such phytonutrients as carotenoids, lutein and indoles.

Choices: Asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, green beans, leafy greens such as spinach and kale, peas, snow peas, spinach, zucchini

So remember taste the rainbow!

Read the original article here.

The release of OSP's Grow Teach Feed: A Complete Curriculum to Inspire Healthy Lifestyles in Schools is coming THIS MONTH! Intended to foster healthier, environmentally and nutrition conscious kids, the three-volume publication provides school and kitchen staff with the resources to grow, teach and feed every child.