Whole Foods Market Las Vegas: Eat Your Greens to Give Some Green

A Healthy, Vegas Blog

I am so excited to be part of an amazing campaign with Whole Foods Market that aims to bring healthy lunch choices to local schools by way of a salad bar addition. As a Vegas blog, and parent, this topic is important to me. Part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative, the Whole Kids Foundation and its Let’s Move Salad Bars To Schools effort has set the goal to provide 6,000 salad bars to local schools, and thus increasing the availability of fresh vegetables exponentially.

A few weeks back, I obsessively watched the HBO documentary series Weight of the Nation, in which the risks of obesity in varying sectors of the American population were examined. {For a great re-cap of this series, check out a fellow Vegas Blogger, The Organized Cook’s post: Weighing in on The Weight of the Nation.} One of the areas of concern, and one of the most heart wrentching episodes to watch, was the dissection of what our school aged kids are eating every. single. day.

Wow. Other than to say {1} Alina will not be eating school lunches and {2} you need to watch this documentary for yourself, I really have nothing else to say, but: W.O.W.

Kids need Super Green foods!

Since before Alina was ready for solids, I began to research diet plans that ensured she received all the nutrients and minerals her growing body needed. I was diligent about this research, making all her baby foods from scratch while figuring out the best combinations in which to give it to her. A bit spazzy, I know. But did you know that, if your baby takes vitamins with iron, and you hand them a sippy cup of milk, she will be less likely to adsorb that iron supplement? That is just one of the nutritional facts that I didn’t know before embarking on my quest for the best toddler meal plan. For the few years of her life, Alina’s breakfast has been broken down into a chemical routine, with variations only of the veggies within the classifications. I followed the Super Baby Food diet since its packed with super green food! It is my belief that, by exposing Alina to these super green foods early on, she is able to chug down green smoothies, and even green oatmeal {oh yes!} without so much as a second glance. Kids need green food! And, as their caregivers and providers, we need to make sure that fresh green vegetables are readily available for them.

Call to action!

Every mom I know wants the best for their kids, especially in the foods they eat, and this is a very easy way that you can make a difference! All you need to do is EAT and RETWEET!

This Sunday, on September 9th, visit the Whole Foods Market in your area and enjoy a healthy lunch with the family. For every pound purchased at Whole Food’s salad and hot bar, $1 will be donated to fund salad bar school grants in your community.

If you are not local to Las Vegas, but are on Twitter, you can still support this great cause! During the campaign on Sunday, September 9th, follow the hashtag: #WFMSaladDay and retweet, retweet, retweet! This campaign is also on-going in Southern Calfornia, Arizona and Hawaii… so go eat your greens!

Each retweet gets an additional $1 to fund salad bars in schools!

You are welcome to follow me @DeSuMama and my local girls at @VegasBloggers. I would love any support you can muster My little family of four will be at Whole Foods Fort Apache enjoying a yummy lunch, if you want to come by and say hello.

This campaign is happening in the Southern Pacific areas, so for my California Mom readers, be sure to contact your local Whole Foods Market to find out about participation. Or, check out http://saladbars2schools.org/ to find out if your kid’s school has applied to receive a salad bar. Let’s be the healthy change we wish to see in our kids, even if just one lunch at a time.