Growing Healthy Kids event at Everything Outdoors Garden Shop is a HOME RUN SUCCESS!

Post-event notes:
Did we have fun? Yes!
Did the kids who attended learn tips for healthy eating and physical activity they can use for the rest of their lives? Yes!
Did the adults who volunteered learn something they can use for the rest of their lives? Yes!

On April 30, Growing Healthy Kids, in partnership with Youth Guidance Mentoring & Activities Program, held its second annual event at Everything Outdoors Garden Shop in Vero Beach, Florida. The 42 kids from Youth Guidance who attended had a blast with the action-packed morning where they all wanted the opportunity to help load up the fresh and locally grown vegetables into our beautiful salad bowl.

Teaching kids how to eat healthy is easy when you make it fun. That's what the Growing Healthy Kids movement is all about. We make it fun to learn how to eat healthy AND economically.

TIP FOR GROWING YOUR OWN HEALTHY KIDS: Plan some color at each meal. For example, at breakfast use fruit that is in season to make fruit shakes. A couple of weeks ago, I had a canteloupe that needed to get used QUICK, so I cut it up, put it in a zip-lock bag and froze it. A couple of days later I put the frozen canteloupe, some frozen strawberries, and some fat-free milk in the blender for a most delicious shake. Use a little splenda or agave nectar if you need to add a dash of sweet!

Back to my post-event notes...Thank you to all the children and the volunteers who attended our little event at the garden shop with the big Adirondack chairs. Let's do it again soon! A special thanks to Spencer Porteous for his fabulous "What's New in the Garden?" talk. Everyone enjoyed learning about pitcher plants and more!

Reversing childhood obesity is our moral responsibility. It begins with your next meal. Set an example for your kids.

Till next time!
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

First Annual Growing Healthy Kids Recipe Contest

Paradise Greetings,

What is YOUR favorite vegetable?? In honor of vegetables and the #1 favorite kid food, macaroni and cheese, Growing Healthy Kids is having its first annual Recipe Contest. In partnership with Annie's Homegrown Foods, kids in the Boys and Girls Clubs of Indian River County and all kids in Indian River County have been invited to create a recipe using Annie's mac and cheese and at least one vegetable. Creativity is highly encouraged because to enjoy great food requires creativity. We are showing kids how to find the flavors they enjoy and then get them hooked on health! Two recipe contest winners will be selected - one boy and one girl. Both winners will one of the highly prized Growing Healthy Kids chef aprons (because they contain magical powers) plus movie passes and more.

Did I tell you that there is so much excitement with this project that kids actually have been storming the door when they see my car pull up into the parking lot? They are having so much fun and are just so excited about our weekly Growing Healthy Kids program. Why can't schools do the same thing instead of saying, "We're meeting the USDA standards". Blah, blah, blah.

Let's take kids' infectious energy and create transformational change so BIG that everyone will be storming down the doors to learn how to make delicious foods that make you strong, smart, and healthy. What a great visual image -- can you see it?? Kids all over America running to be early to their healthy cooking classes! YES, YES! The pictures I am sharing today are from two of my recent programs, one in Vero Beach where the kids were invited to help one of our local farmers sell vegetables to his regular customers and the other in Sebastian at the Boys and Girls Club.

Who do you know who could use magical powers for Growing Healthy Kids? Get them their own hooked-on-healthy Chef Apron (and support our work to halt and reverse childhood obesity). Go to www.HealthyDiabetesCoach.com/kids to put the magic into YOUR kids' kitchen!

To your perfect health,
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

A Child's Tender Touch

Paradise greetings,

Since Growing Healthy Kids planted its first gardens in October, there has been a lot of joy and fun watching the kids connect with nature in a way that many of them have not done before. When we meet outside at the garden it is to first observe and record the changes. What has changed from the previous week? How much have our plants grown? Any weeds? Bugs? How big are the tomatoes?

What I am observing is how gently the children tend their garden. When I point out a weed that has sprung up, someone will carefully and methodically pull it out so they get the roots.

Many of the kids I'm playing with live in rental houses. Some are moving from relative to relative because a parent had their job down-sized. Some kids live in apartments, some in duplexes. They don't have anyplace where they can grow a plant, take care of it, and watch it grow. Some of the kids have told me they are glad they have a garden now so they can learn how to make things and provide some food to help their parents.

When Growing Healthy Kids surveyed 150 kids in the summer, most kids said they wanted to learn how to cook healthy foods, so we are doing that. They are learning to make healthy snacks. They do so enthusiastically. They are getting to choose health.

I am thankful that my Vero Beach Kiwanis Club members have totally embraced this project. I am thankful that the staff of Boys and Girls Clubs of Indian River County has allowed me to build boxes filled with dirt and plants and bring weekly lessons to the children they serve. I am thankful that the Youth Guidance program loves what Growing Healthy Kids is bringing to the kids they serve.

A lot of what Growing Healthy Kids is about is teaching kids to respect nature. When we respect nature, we learn how to respect ourselves and each other.

Growing Healthy Kids is about improving the health - and lives - of children, one garden and one child at a time.

To your perfect health,
Nancy Heinrich,
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids