Change Becomes Change

Eco-Friendly Water Bottles

2010-03-08T21:50:05-08:00

Are you still drinking bottled water?

There's many reasons most people made the switch to a reusable bottle that range from environmental to health reasons (remember BPA? and it's health concerns?). And when we did, sales of bottled water tanked. As you could imagine, the big guys that bottle up water would prefer we buy their product instead of using our reusable bottles with tap or filtered H2O. What's a beverage company to do?

Well, the Denver Post shared news that these beverage companies are preparing to launch some greener options for bottled water fans. Here's a snipit from their story:

Last year, Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co. unveiled a new plastic bottle made partially from plants. The Dasani bottle, made from a blend of petroleum-based materials and up to 30 percent plant-based materials, is now rolling out in select markets.
The Eco-Fina half-liter bottle for PepsiCo's Aquafina brand uses 50 percent less plastic than a similar package made in 2002.
Meanwhile, Nestle Waters is touting its next-generation Eco-Shape bottle as one of the lightest half-liter plastic bottles available today. It weighs 9.3 grams on average and uses about 25 percent less plastic than the Eco-Shape bottle launched in 2007.
Niagara Bottling LLC, which bills itself as the largest private-label water producer in America, sees "lightweighting" as a way to keep its prices low.

Are these changes enough for you? Will these innovations persuade you to make a change? Or is it too late - you're happy with your reusable bottle? Share your story with us here in the comments below.

Bake Sale to Help Hungry Children in Our Communities

2010-03-03T23:04:31-08:00

You've heard it before: Childhood hunger is at an all-time high and increasing every day. What most of us probably don't even realize is that there is likely hungry children in your neighborhood, your child's school and your church. The signs aren't always obvious, but hunger is still there.

Many of these hungry children rely on programs funded by donations from organizations and people like you and me for breakfast, lunch and after-school meals year-round. Did you know that many public schools provide "school lunches" for children during the summer break? Or that for many, the lunch they get at school or breakfast at their neighborhood care program might be the only nutritious meal they get all day?

Ready to help?

On April 17, food bloggers in communities across America are coming together for the Great American Bake Sale which benefits Share Our Strength, a national organization passionate about ending childhood hunger.

Change Becomes Change will offer three ways that you can help us in this effort.

1. You can donate to our "virtual" Bake Sale RIGHT HERE today through April 18. Please share this with friends and family too.

2. Visit our Bake Sale in Portland, Oregon DETAILS TO COME but please put this on your calendars now.

3. Help us find bakers to donate goods, promote the Bake Sale or volunteer with us at the event - we need lots of friends with passion to help make this happen! Email me at GinaMRau(at)gmail(dot)com or leave a comment to let us know how you'd like to help.

Share Our Strength supports many anti-hunger organizations all across the country and in Oregon they fund our St. Vincent De Paul Society, Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon and the Oregon Food Bank. Our family has special connections to the Oregon Food Bank that we personally support in many ways, and to St. Vincent De Paul Society that our school contributes to on a regular basis.

Our Bake Sale will specifically support efforts to help fund after school and summer feeding program grants that many of our community programs are probably applying for right now. As one of the hungriest states, Oregonian families rely on these services to provide nutrition for their children year-round.

Thanks for your support.

Pediatricians Want to Redesign Food

2010-03-01T20:11:29-08:00

It sounds a bit strange, doesn't it - "redesign food". When I first read the headline I thought maybe they were talking about genetically modified foods, but no, the American Academy of Pediatricians want hot dogs to come with a warning label.

Hooray you say - nutrition warning labels on processed foods instead of nutritional marketing claims. Don't cheer quite yet. This warning label is about a choking hazard. Yes, the ones found on small toys or other items that can be potentially dangerous for children under 3.

Would you be surprised to hear that the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council (yes, there really is such thing) is in favor of this warning label? Their product packaging already includes language cautioning parents but this label would go one step further...and hopefully deter the Food & Drug Administration from potentially pulling hot dogs from the market, deeming them "unfit" food for children.

My heart aches for every parent who has lost a child from a choking accident. Is redesigning a food that is already processed into an unrecognizable shape, texture and taste in the best interest of raising healthy children? Even with all-beef hot dogs on the market, manufacturers (yes, they are indeed manufacturing a product in a factory, not growing or raising it) aren't required to list ingredients for their hot dog or sausage casings which are made from synthetic cellulose unless noted "natural".

Millions of children are at risk for a long list of health, academic and social issues due to a diet high in fat and unhealthy foods but we don't see warning labels on junk food, sodas or other empty-calorie snacks.

What if these food engineers tasked with redesigning the hot dog come back to recommend we do away with mechanically pulled and factory processed meats, in favor of chicken satay wrapped in a whole grain pita with fresh vegetables or steak and veggie fajitas on whole grain tortillas on the school lunch menu?

From the USA Today article that first shared this story, Alan Greene, author of Feeding Baby Green, says,

"The last thing we need is to redesign candy and junk food with cool shapes, so we can give them to kids even younger."

Quick Tips for National Cancer Prevention Month

2010-02-24T19:39:25-08:00

The following was originally posted at Healthy Child Healthy World whose mission is to ignite a movement that inspires parents to protect young children from harmful chemicals. Cancer and chemicals are important issues for our family and this article provides easy tips to reduce our risk of cancer by reducing our exposure to chemicals.

February is National Cancer Prevention Month and while most everyone focuses on diet, exercise, and quitting smoking as the core ways to prevent cancer – they’re forgetting another pillar of prevention. Reducing exposure to carcinogens in our everyday environments.

Hundreds of carcinogenic chemicals have been identified and, unfortunately, they’re quite common in our air, water, food, and everyday products. Here are some easy ways you can reduce your exposure to them.

1. Purge Plastics. Reduce exposure to carcinogens in plastics used for storing and serving food. Avoid microwaving food in plastic or putting plastics in the dishwasher, because heat may cause chemicals to leach out. And opt for safer plastics - those marked (usually at the bottom of a container) 1, 2, 4 or 5. The plastics to avoid are those numbered 3, 6 and 7 (unless they are also marked 'BPA-free')."  

2. Eat Healthy. Opt for more organic, whole foods. Ease up on animal fats. And, start reading labels. You are what you eat!  

3. Manage Pests Safely. Instead of using toxic pesticides, prevent pests by keeping a clean home. Prevent weeds by using mulch and maintaining a healthy lawn. If you do have a problem, opt for non-toxic methods before reaching for chemicals.  

4. Detoxify Your Beauty Routine. Personal care products contain a laundry list of suspect chemicals. Reduce how much you use and to use Skin Deep to find the safest products. You can also print the Healthy Child Pocket Guide to help you on the go.  

5. Clean Without Toxic Chemicals. Use gentle castile soap and water - these have been shown to keep surfaces as free of bacteria as antibacterial soaps do. In fact, antibacterial soaps and disposable wipes have not proven any more effective than regular soap in preventing infections among average consumers, but raise significant concerns about developing resistant bacteria. Opt for simple kitchen ingredients for basic cleaning, like vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda - or use natural, non-toxic cleaners instead.

Are You Watching Serving Sizes?

2010-02-22T20:57:41-08:00

With childhood obesity and health care reform hot topics for our government, we should expect to see new legislature aiming to help Americans better identify what's good for us, and what's not, so that we're better equipped to make smart decisions. One example is front-of-package nutrition labeling, where serving size and nutritional information will be more prominently labeled.

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is looking at the current information on those labels, like serving size, compared to how we really eat. Would you be surprised to hear that we're not following the serving size recommendation? And guess what that means?

We're taking in more calories, fat and sodium because we're eating larger portions. Now, if you sit down with your bag of chips and really think about this, it makes sense, right? But who does that? How many people are counting their number of chips at a friends' house? Do you know how to divide a big tub of ice cream into 16 equal servings? Does anyone have just one chocolate kiss?

That's not how we eat. We don't measure as often as we probably should if we're truly concerned about watching calories, fat and sodium. Not only will our pocket books feel this, our health is in jeopardy.

According to the NY Times, the serving size for most children’s breakfast cereals is three-quarters of a cup, yet most children are eating two to three cups per meal. The sugar, fat and calorie contents are typically high to begin with - should we be giving them even more? Is that how we want our children starting their day?

To be honest, more realistic serving sizes will be challenging at first. We will intuitively feel like we're getting less or consuming more calories with the old amount of food. Food manufacturers might see some backlash initially. The media will have fun with it.

But it's a good thing. We need a reality check on portion sizing and improving our nation's health. This is one of many steps to get there. Many.

Starting Again

2010-02-17T22:24:23-08:00

I can't believe that it's a year since we started Change Becomes Change as part of our family Lenten project to do nice deeds for others. We've all learned a lot over the past year and have grown closer as a family in our service journey.

I know we're doing good work in our community and I see little signs that our efforts are also making an impression on the children. We had a special family Valentine's dinner and we each shared what we love about our family. My son said: that we help others.

That kid knows just how to get me all choked up

That same evening we started talking about what we wanted to do for Lent this year. Do we want to make a sacrifice and give something up? Do we want to serve others? It was a unanimous decision to find ways to touch another life each of the next 40 days in a special way.

We generated some new ideas and the kids offered up some of their favorites like feeding the hungry, calling grandparents more often, filling other people's buckets and picking up trash. I was pleased to see that they could reflect back on the past year and recall some of the good deeds they'd accomplished and how good it felt to help.

For today, they bought food for the hungry after school and made special notes for their grandparents who are coming to visit. We'll be sharing some of the new ideas that we're excited about very soon...so stay tuned.

We'd also love to hear of some new ideas you have to get your children involved in helping others. What have you done with your family?

Here are some of our favorite ways that we've helped others this past year:

Doing Good with One Click

The Little Things That Count

Feeding the Homeless

Building a Hunger Garden

We Are The World

2010-02-14T22:23:39-08:00

Can you believe that it's been 25 years since the original We Are the World song and video was recorded? The cause in need was Africa and the artists included Michael Jackson,Lionel Richie, Diana Ross, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Cindi Lauper and many more.

Fast forward to January 2010 and the tragic earthquake in Haiti. The need is just as great. People around the world are coming together to help this small country in trouble.

If you haven't seen the new We Are The World, check it out here. We watched it many times over the weekend, enough that my children are now walking around the house singing it. The images from Haiti is powerful, even for my young ones, and the words carry much meaning.

I hope you'll also visit the YouTube channel HERE to catch some of the behind the scenes clips and interviews, as well as find an opportunity to help.

If you can't view this in your reader or email, just click here.

Showing Our Love

2010-02-12T22:02:11-08:00

In case you haven't looked at your calendar lately, Valentine's Day is this weekend. Before you run out to the Hallmark store, think about this:

What do you have from previous Valentine's Days? All the cards? Gifts? Flowers? Empty candy boxes? Heart-shaped soap?
Do you even remember what gifts you received in previous years and who gave them to you? Do you remember what gifts you gave, and to whom?

What DO YOU REMEMBER?

Let's Get Movin'

2010-02-10T21:08:00-08:00

For the first time in our history, the United States is raising a generation of children who may live sicker, shorter lives than their parents. Why? Childhood obesity threatens the health and future of our children. It's time to get moving to fight this epidemic!

Literally. Oh, and our partner in this is First Lady, Michelle Obama. Pretty cool, huh? Yeah, I've been a bit giddy since I first heard of this initiative last week and previewed it here.

From the Let's Move site:

Let's Move! has an ambitious but important goal: to solve the epidemic of childhood obesity within a generation.
Let’s Move will give parents the support they need, provide healthier food in schools, help our kids to be more physically active, and make healthy, affordable food available in every part of our country.

Specifically, with Let's Move she wants to improve nutrition and physical education in schools; promote activity such as walking and biking in community planning; make healthy food more available, particularly in poor areas; and make nutrition information on food packages clearer.

There have been previous efforts (by many) at chipping away at the problems:

some food manufacturers have curbed marketing to children, decreased the salt and sugar content in some foods, and sought to remove trans fats from their products

select cities and states have required restaurants to post the calorie and fat content of their offerings

many parent and health organizations have tried to remove sugary drinks and salty snacks in school vending machines

a group of food manufacturers attempted to advise consumers on "Smart Choices" in the aisles before the FDA claimed their labels were misleading

fast food chains like McDonald's and Jack in the Box have added produce options for their kids meals

But childhood obesity hasn't gone away. Our kids still face life-long disease and health challenges. These are big problems, needing collaboration, ideas and a lot of hard work from everyone involved with children, food and health.

Stay tuned. I'm sure there's more to come very soon. Until then...get your kids, grandkids or friends moving.

Cooking with Kids: How Are You Growing Lil' Foodies?

2010-02-08T21:20:23-08:00

I want to share with you some of the incredible work that my friend Michelle is doing to encourage parents cook with their children. Michelle owns a company called What's Cooking that offers healthy cooking classes to kids in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her classes teach kids and their families to enjoy delicious home-made foods, and motivate families to use food and cooking to help those less fortunate. She just started a new feature on her website called What's Cooking With YOUR Kids to showcase how other families are doing this. Here's some of my recent chat with Michelle to learn more about this project:

What was your inspiration?

My What's Cooking with YOUR Kids program was inspired by a blog series on The Perfect Pantry, called "Other People's Pantries". Readers send Lydia photos of their food pantries and cabinets, and share tips on what type of items are helpful to have on hand and how to stay organized. It is a fun way for us to see how other people are "doing it."

For me, I was curious about whether or not people are cooking with their kids. If they are, I wanted to get a glimpse through their virtual kitchen window to see what they were up to. What types of recipes were they making together? Do they only make "kid food" or do they make their family meals together? Did they have tips on where their kids should stand or on jobs their kids felt comfortable doing in the kitchen? Did anything funny or disgusting ever happen?

What are you hoping to accomplish?

I think that deep down, many people doubt their abilities in the kitchen - and are therefore nervous about cooking with their kids. Or, maybe they are great cooks, but are unsure about how to "teach" their kids or make it safe for them to participate. By starting this series, my goal was to show lots of success stories, so that we could inspire others to give it a shot. I would love it if someone were to read these posts and say, "hey - if she can do it with her 3 kids, I can do it too!" Or maybe someone will realize that kids can make more than just cookies! They can help you prepare the veggies for your stir-fry or they can become Head Salad Maker of your household.

Why is it important to cook with our kids?

I could probably go on for days about why I think it's important for children to learn to cook - especially with their families. But if I were to give you the super-duper abbreviated edition, I would start by saying that it gives kids the experience to make good food choices for the rest of their lives. They can learn that their choice of ingredients can not only affect their personal health, but it can effect the environment, too. Plus, kids who get the opportunity to cook are exposed to a greater variety of flavors and become better eaters. They also get to spend quality time with the family - which is hard to come by, these days (with such a prevalence of t.v., video games, etc.).

How can families share how they're cooking with their kids on your site?

So far, I have received a variety of submissions. I adore when photos are included - they really make these stories come to life. Some people share silly stories, while others share touching tales of culinary wisdom being passed down from one generation to another. But all of them are wonderful - and will speak differently to each of my readers. You can submit yours by sending a note to Michelle(at)WhatsCooking(dot)info

We hope you're cooking, baking and having fun with your kids in the kitchen too!