Once in a while there comes a time to take a stand on some issues that have an impact on the health of our children, a time to say ENOUGH and today I am very proud to be part of a campaign by Corporate Accountability International called #MomsNotLovinIt which aims to shed some light on the damaging effects of marketing junk food to children by McDonald’s.  In no way is this meant to make parents feel guilty about taking their kids to eat at McDonald’s, this is not about judging parents and how/what they choose to feed their children, this is about holding companies accountable for their dangerous marketing tactics.

Before I give you some alarming facts and information I would encourage you to watch this video by Anna Lappe and be sure to visit her site Food Mythbusters!

For decades, McDonald’s has profited richly at a staggering cost to our children’s health. Its strategy has been to undermine the efforts of whom the corporate executives call “gatekeepers” to feed kids healthfully. Well, these so-called “gatekeepers” are moms, and we are uniting this Mother’s Day to say that we are not “lovin’ it.” All around the world today, moms are calling on CEO Don Thompson to stop McDonald’s predatory marketing to
our kids·

We need a level playing field for parents who are working to make healthy choices for their kids. The efforts of parents simply cannot compete with the enormous marketing budget of McDonald’s…marketing that is designed to undermine parents and get around us at every turn. Ending marketing of junk food to kids is common sense, and this Mother’s Day, the time has come for McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson to give a gift to moms everywhere and
to stop marketing junk food to our kids.

Why are moms sharing this information? Here are some reasons we’ve heard…

• As a mom, we want our kids to be healthy, and getting them to eat healthy food is can be hard enough without McDonald’s wanting them hooked on its fast food.

• McDonald’s has long sought to undermine the efforts of moms to feed their kids healthfully by inundating children with marketing.

• McDonald’s spent about $115 million advertising Happy Meals alone during 2010.

• McDonald’s is clearly working to get around me as a parent and to aggressively market to my kid–from Happy Meal toys to Ronald assemblies in schools to online games–and that’s not okay.

• There are School districts in the USA that can get $1000 for allowing Ronald to “pitch health and wellness” to kids. In one egregious example, schools were paid to print the McDonald’s logo on report cards. And all over the country, McDonald’s has deliberated cited restaurants near schools and sought to market and/or sell its product in schools.

• Cross-promotions with kids’ shows and movies like “The Croods” also ensure whatever has cultural currency for kids is connected to McDonald’s brand. In a 2012 McDonald’s/Star Wars commercial, the corporation tells kids that “when it’s time to recharge, nothing beats a Happy Meal.”

• Celebrities and role models that children look up to have long been employed to build brand loyalty with kids. The latest example is the corporation’s tabbing gymnast Gabby Douglas to promote a new breakfast offering.

• Radio ads also target kids. The most insidious example was the promotion of McDonald’s junk food on BusRadio, which broadcast to 10,000 school buses and one million students in 24 states before going out of business.

• Happy Meal toys. McDonald’s is one of the largest distributors of toys, giving away 1.5 billion toys each year worldwide. It will come as no surprise to parents, but market research indicates that only 16 percent of children under six choose fast food children’s meals for the food inside, while more than one-third of kids choose the so called “Happy Meals” for the plastic collectables!

Here are some sad facts:

• According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 3 kids born in the year 2000 are expected to get type-2 diabetes in their lifetime.

• The American Academy of Pediatrics and other experts have noted that marketing to children under 8 is “inherently deceptive” and “wholly exploitative.” Kids are not simply little adults; their brains are still developing and they cannot yet distinguish between marketing and reality. What’s more, the American Academy of Pediatrics advocates banning junk food marketing during children’s television programming.

Enough is enough…our children deserve so much better than being bombarded with marketing that is geared to get them hooked on junk food! McDonald’s is RIGHT parents are the gatekeepers and it’s a job we should be proud of…raising healthy kids is one of the most important roles we have as a parent and that comes from setting healthy eating habits and showing our kids that the food they eat makes a difference to their bodies and to the planet!

Visit www.MomsNotLovinIt.org for more information and how you can share your voice! Remember this in not a campaign about judging parents or making them feel guilty – you are doing the best you can – this is about McDonald’s doing the right thing…leaving OUR kids alone!

Happy Healthy Eating
Kia

Making lunches takes a fun turn with this brilliant app and we are so excited that LaLa Lunchbox has generously provided 3 of these apps to giveaway to our awesome rainbow eating families!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here’s what others have been saying about the LaLa Lunchbox app:

“A slick, fun little app that helps parents and children plan meals together.”
The New York Times

“LaLa Lunchbox can be just what your picky eater needs to develop a healthy lifestyle.”
Parents.com

Loving @lalalunchbox to plan lunch w the kids. They make healthy choices, I get a handy grocery list!
Catherine McCord – Weelicious

Good luck and Happy Healthy Eating
Kia

Here she is in our very first video singing our Today I Ate A Rainbow Song:

Little did we know that she would go on to become a role model and friend to so many little kids around the globe! She has made special videos for rainbow eating kids in the USA, Canada, Ireland, Australia and more! She has had skype sessions with kids in feeding therapy camp. She spends time writing notes to children who love watching her on our cooking show In The Rainbow Kitchen, the favorite recipe so far is our Baked Kale Chips!

Hannah has been interviewed on tv, in newspapers and magazines…she loves every minute of it! She knows that she is helping kids learn to eat healthy and that means a lot to her! She takes her “job” as a role model very seriously and is always willing to help us in our mission to get kids eating a rainbow.

We are very proud to announce that Hannah has won and Impact award for all her efforts to improve the health of kids by eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables! Big thanks to Impact Kelowna for choosing Hannah for this award. Hannah does this from her heart but it made her day to be recognized!

Today I Ate A Rainbow has given Hannah the opportunity to make a difference in this world and for a 9 year old with a big heart to help others, that means a lot!

We are so proud of you Hannah!

One of my favorite parts of the article “Hannah is a nine-year-old cutie with a real Pippi Longstocking appeal, making her a natural on camera.”  We agree 100% with Mr. Bruce’s observation! Hannah loves her “job” of helping other kids get excited about eating a rainbow of fruits and veggies. She also took the opportunity to give her amazing grade four teacher Mrs. Letkeman a shout out for being the best teach in the world

If you can’t get your hands on a copy of the magazine you can click here read the article online.

Big thanks to the team at Okanagan Life Magazine for giving us the chance to be in you fantastic magazine! Mr. Bruce you’ll definitely have to come back to the Rainbow Kitchen for some kale chips!

Happy Healthy Eating
Kia & Hannah

This is a very quick lunch that we put together because we may have slept in lol! So Hannah is enjoying a coleslaw salad, veggie chips and cucumber slices. Who says lunches can be made in under 5 minutes?!

Happy Healthy Lunching
Kia & Hannah

Special thanks to WeeHands for creating the beautiful Spanish version of our Today I Ate A Rainbow song!

Happy Healthy Eating
Kia

We talked about the story behind Today I Ate A Rainbow, how we encourage picky eaters to eat a rainbow…or at least lick one, along with a bunch of other fun topics including my own picky eating issues and how I work around it!

Click here to go to the Learn and Play with Mrs A radio page and you’ll find my podcast on the right hand side!

I hope you enjoy the podcast, she even got me to sing so you could listen in just to hear that…please remember it was early in the morning so I didn’t have time to properly warm up lol

Special thanks to Kimberly Plumely who connected Barbara and I together…Kim you are the master at finding just the right people to bring together!

Have a delicious day,
Kia

Hannah made her own lunch of Annie’s pasta, strawberries, celery, cucumber, mini corns, orange peppers and wild rice crackers. She almost put a full rainbow in her lunch! Spending time in the kitchen with your kids right from a young age really pays off when they get old enough to help make lunches and other meals!

Happy Healthy Eating
Kia

Who says cake can’t be healthy and tasty?!

Happy Healthy Eating
Kia

By breaking produce down into groups of fire-engine red, bright orange, sunshine yellow, emerald green, and  rich blue/purples you can make eating fruits and vegetables fun and easy for your kids!  Even at a very young age, kids can easily grasp the concept of eating a rainbow.

So how do you get your kids to actually eat a rainbow? As parents, we need to get into the habit of serving fruits and veggies at every meal and snack! Start off with ones that they like (if they don’t like any produce then let them start with just giving them a kiss) then you can slowly try serving new produce! If you do the typical 3 meals and 2 snacks per day then you have at least 6 opportunities a day to get your kids eating colorful fruits and vegetable! I encourage parents to make this fun and keep it light, no pressure, no battles. If your child starts off by eating one color a day that is a great start…you can build up to a rainbow over time. Healthy bodies are made one bite at a time so celebrate every step towards the rainbow!

Breakfast: Always provide a fruit! Bananas, Apple Slices, Seedless Grapes, Pears Slices. If you eat dairy and your kids like to dip their fruit, yogurt works well! Sometimes I’ll incorporate the fruit into the meal, such as a bowl of yogurt, granola and apple chunks. Or I’ll add a handful of Raisins to a bowl of oatmeal. Or make a yummy fruit smoothie!

Snack: Veggie Time!! Cut up Celery, Carrots, Cucumbers, Bell Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes. Once again, a dip might help encourage your little one, try hummus, or perhaps you have a great homemade dressing, a store bought salad dressing works fine too! We like to serve this on a fun plate or in a muffin tray to make it a little more interesting!

Lunch: Sandwiches are a great place to add veggies! Sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, leafy lettuce, avocado slices all work well in a sandwich. If we’re not having sandwiches we always make sure there is a plate of veggies, based on the colours eaten at snack time, we then offer a colour or two that hasn’t been eaten yet.

Snack: Fruit Time!! At this point in the day think about what colours still need to be eaten…then serve a fruit that belongs to the colour group that is needed. A little bowl of frozen blueberries is a tasty treat!

Dinner: We always have a vegetable with dinner! Salads, steamed veggies, raw veggie slices all make their way onto our table! We also try to include veggies in our cooking; we add things like zucchini, carrots, tomatoes to spaghetti sauce.

Dessert: Fruit again!  If we re-think what “dessert” is, we can see that it can actually be a fantastic time to get in another serving of fruit!

And don’t forget to sing the Today I Ate A Rainbow Song with your kids when you’ve all eaten your rainbow!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Happy Healthy Eating
Kia