Halloween may be synonymous with candy and sugary sweets, but that is no reason to give up on healthy eating. Serving a balanced family meal before heading out to Halloween festivities can help to keep your ghouls from gobbling up all their candy before they get home.

Start with a festive family meal of Dinner in a Pumpkin, Spiced Hot Chocolate and Baked Pears. Be sure to save the seeds when scooping out your pumpkin and enjoy Spicy Roasted Pumpkin Seeds later in the week. Enjoy Pumpkin, Potato and Leek Soup, Cauldron of Chili with Spider Bread and Cauliflower Gratin with Prosciutto to Eat Better, Eat Together all week long.

Visit Facebook to take the Eat Better, Eat Together family meal pledge and follow the Twitter hashtag #EatBetter2Gether for family meal updates. Then register at MealsMatter.org to add these and other recipes to your personalized family meal plan and shopping list.

“Family Meals Matter” features registered dietitian-approved recipes from the thousands of user-contributed recipes available at the free family-nutrition and meal-planning website, Meals Matter, maintained by registered dietitian moms with Dairy Council of California. Healthy Eating Made Easier™

Happy Halloween from the Dairy Council of California

 Photo Caption:  Spiced Hot Chocolate, EatingWell.

Halloween conjures up fond memories of my two grown daughters – finding or making the perfect costume…debating the look that our carved jack-o-lantern should sport…and, of course, trick-or-treating.  Some people might think that with a mother who is a dietitian and a father who is a dentist, Halloween wouldn’t be celebrated in our household, or that we’d be giving out sugar-free gum or floss and confiscate all of daughters’ goodies.

Wrong! My husband and I wanted them to experience this kids’ tradition to the fullest…and that included candy. Sure, there are substitutes that kids like – stickers, small plastic toys, bubbles. One year a dental colleague gave out Flintstone toothbrushes that were a big hit! But in no way do these items negate the allure of candy.

My advice to parents is just relax…lighten up…and use a touch of common sense. Indulging in candy treats on this one special night (and maybe a handful of days after) is not going to condemn a child to a life sentence of sugar addiction. The more focus you put on forbidding children to have candy, the stronger their desire to have it.

With our own daughters we held a typical goodie bag inspection at the end of the evening, primarily a safety check. Then they could each pick about 15 of the pieces they most wanted to keep. The rest of the candy made its way to Dad’s golf buddies or Mom’s tap dance class colleagues. I always suggested to my girls that they eat one, maybe two pieces a day, but I didn’t monitor that. They could eat the candy as quickly or slowly as they chose. My younger daughter, a slave to instant gratification, usually depleted her supply within three days. But then she was done – no begging for more or splurging her allowance on candy bars, licorice whips, etc. And she was fine with that. My older daughter, the planner/saver, would stretch her supply out over about three weeks. She liked to savor. And once I even found a few pieces in a drawer in December – she’d forgotten about them! 

If you don’t make the candy a major issue, it’s likely your children won’t either. Keep Halloween in perspective – in no way will you undermine the everyday healthy habits you’re trying to nurture in your children. Kids recognize this is a special occasion and not the norm. I suggest you take pressure off of your kids and yourself – just enjoy a delightful, guilt-free day!

What are some of the ways you handle the Halloween “loot” collected by your children? 
 
Mary Anne Burkman, MPH, R.D.
Director, Program Services

Today is Food Day. At Dairy Council of California we love the idea of celebrating food, but like most of the health professionals, farmers and health advocates we work with, we think about and celebrate food 365 days year, so every day is Food Day! We join forces each day to educate and empower individuals to make the best food choices for optimal health.

The nutrition education programs we create and share with students and adults encourage each individual to make the best food choices for their circumstance. These decisions are often based on taste, cost, convenience, nutrition, cultural and family traditions, and personal values. We respect those values, circumstances and individual decisions and know that the best food choices for one family may not be right for another.

We think the best way to recognize Food Day is to thank the many partners, customers and industry funders who make our work to reach millions of Californians each year with this open and positive approach to nutrition education a reality.

Thank you to the dairy farmers and milk processors who have funded efforts since 1919 to build healthier communities and create healthier, successful students.

Thank you to the 80,000 educators who teach and share our nutrition curriculum in schools. Each year, they carve time from their busy classroom schedules to make nutrition a priority and teach lessons about making healthy food choices.

Thank you to those registered dietitians and other health professionals who follow an open and positive approach to food and believe that all foods can be a part of a healthful diet when managing for variety, moderation and proportionality.

And thank you to those who provide healthy, delicious, and affordable food produced in a sustainable and humane way.

Read a Farmer’s Words on Food Day:
The Wife of a Dairyman

Happy Food Day!

LeAnne R. Ruzzamenti
Director of Marketing Communications

Eat Better, Eat Together is a blog series by registered dietitians, educators and parents whose stories and advice help families start or strengthen a commitment to balanced family meals. Take the Eat Better, Eat Together Family Meal Pledge at Facebook.com/DairyCouncilofCalifornia.

Last week, 15 bloggers from the US, Canada and New Zealand shared their tips, tricks and motivation for sharing balanced meals with their families. Here are the top 10 big ideas they shared, from their families to yours.

1. Planning is essential; develop systems that make the purchasing, preparing and partaking easier.
2. Keep it simple. Family meals don’t have to be elaborate to be healthy and effective. Come up with easy ways to balance your meal with simple vegetable side dishes or fruit and yogurt for dessert.
3. Have healthy food on hand and eat from your freezer or pantry on busy weeknights. Prepare double batches of food when you’re less rushed so you can cook once, eat twice.
4. Family meal does not have to be dinner, breakfast or lunch may work better in some households.
5. Toughen up. Offer your family one meal that includes all five-food groups and everyone should be able to find something they’ll want to eat.
6. Turn off technology and tune into each other. Make conversation the focus of family meals, but keep it light. The dinner table is not the place for discipline.
7. Share the work. Enlist help from the family, from planning the shopping list to making lunches, setting the table, pouring the milk and clean up.
8. Eating as a family is truly comforting, from toddlers, teens to adults. Family meals can become a cherished tradition for the whole family.
9. Dump the guilt. Family meals may not happen every day, and that’s ok. Make the most of your family meals when they occur.
10. Family meals aren’t always easy, but we think they’re always worth the effort. Start or strengthen your family’s commitment and take the Eat Better, Eat Together family meal pledge today!

To learn more about family meals and how to make them a more positive and nutritious experience, subscribe to the Dairy Council of California blog, follow @Dairy_Council and #EatBetter2Gether on Twitter for more tips and the latest on healthy family meals.

Dairy Council of California

The 6th Biennial Childhood Obesity Conference was held in San Diego, California, June 28 – 30, 2011. It was my privilege to attend this exciting event.

With almost 2,000 participants from across the country this was a great venue to build new relationships and reacquaint ourselves with friends and colleagues that share our passion and determination to help make a difference in the future of our children’s health and well-being. This year’s theme was Celebrating Success and Moving Toward Health in All Policies. It underscored the importance of working together in a cohesive direction to successfully make an impact; it was invigorating to hear all of the success stories from efforts that have already been implemented and sustained throughout the state such as: breakfast in the classroom, joint-use facilities, and creating safe parks, sidewalks and communities. It was reassuring to learn how districts have strengthened their Local School Wellness Policies and are incorporating an emphasis on nutrition education and physical education through research-based practices. The sessions also provided insight into how new policies such as the Healthy & Hunger Free Kids Act and the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans will impact change in schools.

One highlight from the conference was Dairy Council of California partnering with California Department of Education’s Nutrition Services Division to sponsor breakfast during the pre-conference session, Nutrition Education That Works! which included hands-on activities on how to choose the right nutrition education curriculum and how to become an expert in using the 2010 Nutrition Competencies. In addition to providing a healthy, balanced breakfast, Dairy Council of California distributed the new interactive fact sheet, Boost Brainpower with Breakfast!, and highlighted the breakfast lessons from each of the Dairy Council of California grades K-8 curriculums. This pre-conference session was so popular the attendees were overflowing into the halls hoping to still be able to walk away with every bit of information that was shared. It was a great start to a great conference.

Be sure to save the date for the 7th Biennial Childhood Obesity Conference, June 18–20, 2013, in Long Beach, California. I am sure the conference in 2013 will be even bigger and better!

Tracy Conkey, Territory Manager
Dairy Council of California

Last month I attended the annual meeting of the California Dietetic Association in Pasadena.  Dairy Council was pleased to be able to support this meeting, which drew over through exhibiting and sponsorship of one of the featured continuing education sessions.

Dayle Hayes, MS, RD, well-known and highly regarded author and nutrition coach, addressed a packed audience on “Healthy Eating Environments: Put Your Best Food Forward.”  In that address Ms. Hayes urged dietitians to focus on the positive, nutrient-rich aspects of food.

Her positive, all-foods approach and rejection of the growing trend towards restricting and villainizing certain foods was a refreshing alternative perspective to what we frequently hear at conference after conference.  While she focused much of her talk on children and the school meals programs in particular, much of her counsel would be applicable across all audiences:

• Build a total diet that fits individual tastes and lifestyles around nutrient-rich foods from all food groups instead of zeroing in on the avoidance of salt, sugar or fats.
• While there may be appropriate times and places to “legislate and regulate” food choices, there is an even greater need to “educate, motivate and inspire.”
• Don’t trivialize the enjoyment of food, when taste and family/cultural traditions influence choices. Food is more than a package of nutrients.  Eating should be a pleasure rather than a duty.

Her upbeat and realistic approach to consumer education on healthy food choices definitely resonated with the audience.  They welcomed “permission” to embrace a positive, “can do” approach vs. the often espoused negative, “must not” dictates that abound.  More information about Ms. Hayes and her work can be found at Nutrition for the Future.

Ms. Hayes’ nutrition philosophy mirrors very closely that of Dairy Council of California; its nutrition education resources for both children and adults are a definite reflection of this inclusive style of empowering consumers to make healthy eating choices that can be sustained over time.  She challenges us all to think about how we can be more positive and encouraging in our efforts to create healthy eating environments.

Mary Anne Burkman, MPH, RD
Director, Program Services

It occurred to me today while talking to a school administrator that there are an overwhelming number of students who tell me they have never seen a cow.  I find that amazing, especially since you  are able to see thousands of dairy cows while driving down Highway 99. Do that many children never take a drive along the highway? It is clear to me when I open the door of the Mobile Dairy Classroom trailer and the children see a 1,200 lb animal, that seeing a dairy cow up close is a unique and exciting experience for them.

At the conclusion of an assembly, the students are able to get a closer look at the cow, as well as a calf.  I always ask them as they walk by to describe some of the senses they pick up from the animals.  Mainly, how does it feel and what does it smells like.  The varieties of answers students say are priceless; anything from she feels like a porcupine, to they smell like milk!

I was born and raised in the central San Joaquin valley, where agriculture is everywhere.  Driving past the acres of grape vineyards, almond orchards and fields with sheep grazing was something I did every day.  I am now beginning to realize that my experience was unique and quite special. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to provide an experience for school children to learn about agriculture and to have an up close experience with a dairy cow and calf.

Kimberlee Youman
Mobile Dairy Classroom Instructor

School will soon be out for the summer, but your lessons on healthy eating can continue at home.  As you prepare the end-of-the-year packets for your students, consider including these great healthy tools and tips for your parents.  

Snacks to stay on track: these quick and simple snacks are nourishing, portable and fun for kids.

Unite as a family through healthy meals.  Eat, Play, Love: Raising Healthy Eaters, brings stories and advice from parents and dietitians to help you build lifelong healthy eating habits for your children.

Meals matter, especially when it comes to breakfast.  Healthy and easy breakfasts will keep kids in the habit of eating the most important meal of the day all summer long.

Markets: whether it is a weekly visit to farmer’s market or a routine trip to your neighborhood grocery store, involve your kids in the planning and process of grocery shopping and they’ll be more interested in healthy foods.

Experiment with new foods and kid-friendly recipes by cooking with your kids.  

Re-energize on a fun family vacation or simply change up your routine and take your workout outdoors where you can enjoy the beauty of nature.

Valerie Fung-A-Ling

Territory Manager

The “Breakfast for Champions” event was held at Carolyn A. Clark Elementary on March 31, 2011 to honor those students who demonstrate their commitment to fueling up on a nutritious and balanced breakfast every day. The event was  co-sponsored by the Dairy Council of California and the San Francisco 49er’s, as a part of the Fuel Up to Play 60 program. The Fuel Up to Play 60, developed by the National Dairy Council and the National Football League, is designed to encourage students to fuel up with healthy food and to play at least 60 minutes a day.

In the beginning of March, students at Clark Elementary School were invited to participate in a school-wide poster contest that asked students to creatively draw why it’s important to eat a balanced and nutritious breakfast every day.

Students who submitted a poster were given a ticket to enter the “Breakfast for Champions” event before school on March 31st. At the event students were treated to a balanced breakfast of yogurt parfaits. All of the breakfast ingredients were donated by Carolyn A. Clark’s PTA, General Mills, Evergreen Child Nutrition Services and Dairy Council of California.  Once students finished their breakfast, they participated in other fun activities that promoted the importance of eating healthy and being active.

Students were also thrilled by the appearance of San Francisco 49er’s mascot, Sourdough Sam at the event. Sourdough Sam challenged students in a game of freeze dance and entertained those who took Milk Mustache pictures with him.

Winners of the poster contest were also announced for each grade level at the end of the event. Winners had their picture taken with Sourdough Sam with their prize.

The “Breakfast for Champions” event was a huge success; I especially enjoyed seeing the students have the opportunity to eat a healthy breakfast before school and the fun they had doing the activities. It was such an honor to work with Bernadette Marcias and the Child Nutrition Service staff. Their passion for educating students about making healthy choices is contagious.

Leslie Fondacabe

Territory Manager

When it comes to knowing food groups and which food belongs to which group, sometimes it can be a struggle for elementary children (well maybe for adults too).  Some foods the kids are very sure of, such as milk is from the milk group!  Other foods like eggs, ham, and bacon can be harder to classify, especially if you are in elementary school. 

During the introduction of my Mobile Dairy Classroom assembly, I like to review the milk group foods, so students can better relate a dairy cow to their everyday life.  They can usually identify the obvious foods like milk and yogurt -- and are very excited to tell me these foods. However, there are the occasional answers such as hamburgers, bacon, carrots, cookies and eggs are from the milk group.  What really caught my attention one day was the response, Chinese food. 

Chinese food from the milk group, hmm... I'm not sure how students make these connections. When I hear comments that show kids really do not understand the origin of the foods they eat, I feel my job is more important than ever.  I want to make sure kids know what foods are milk and dairy foods, where they come from (a cow!) and the importance of dairy foods in their diet. 

I am one of the newest instructors; so have fewer stories than some of our veteran instructors. We will be sharing more (and possibly better stories) in future blog posts. 

Kimberlee Youman
Mobile Dairy Classroom Instructor