According to Joel Berg, executive director of the New York Coalition Against Hunger, “Hunger and obesity are often flip sides to the same malnutrition coin…Hunger is certainly almost an exclusive symptom of poverty. And extra obesity is one of the symptoms of poverty.”

According to nationwide statistics, 18.5% of Americans were food insecure at some point in the last year – that means there was a time when people did not have the money to buy the food their families needed. In fact, 62% of teachers report buying food for their classes at some point using their own money because their students don’t have the money to buy food.

Think child hunger has no impact on a child’s ability to learn? Take a look at this two minute video:

You can download the full report of the study conducted by Share Our Strength. When learning or behavioral problems arise, teachers and parents often overlook the fact that sometimes, it’s because the child is HUNGRY.

To make matters worse, the food that makes you fat and unhealthy also tends to be cheaper and more affordable. You may have seen Nonna Joann of BabyBites post about her 1- year old Happy Meal. If her food didn’t change after ONE YEAR, would you want to feed this to your child? But it is a lot of food for not a lot of money.

Source: BabyBites

So what can we do?

Well, did you know that April is Child Nutrition Month? In its second year, the Global Child Nutrition Foundation and School Nutrition Association to raise awareness and funds to fight child hunger…and child malnutrition. Supported by Congress, it is also working to advocate for the Child Nutrition Act reauthorization. The Senate just passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 that calls for an increase of $4.5 billion over 10 years to address childhood hunger AND childhood obesity because they are connected. For example, programs will include new nutritional standards in schools. This bill is a step, though is not the $1 billion per year President Obama had requested.

What can you do? Write to your representative and senators. For more information on how to take action, check out Food Research and Action (FRAC).There is no excuse for children to get to school hungry or have access to only unhealthy, cheap food that leads to obesity and other preventable diseases. Preventable.

Sound the alert.

It’s no surprise anymore to hear about the horrific statistics on childhood obesity (i.e. obesity rates have tripled, $150 billion spent on obesity-related illnesses).

The good news is that there is a tremendous movement occurring to reverse and prevent these trends, from removing junk food from vending machines to establishing school gardens. I am sure by now you have heard of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! Campaign to mobilize the nation to advocate for healthier food and physical activity for our schoolchildren.

A broader movement is Four Years Go, a global campaign to achieve a “just, thriving, and sustainable world” by 2014.

4YG is not focused in one particular area, but engages EVERYONE from all sectors, so please take a look! We at Zomppa are supporting this movement with the focus on, what else?, access to and awareness of healthy food!

But how to raise awareness? Access? I’m not convinced that it can be done simply with changing the vending machines from soda to water or adding a class on the food pyramid (though they ARE wonderful and important initiatives).

It requires a change in our culture: how we relate to and understand food. One thing we are working on at Zomppa is to do this by engaging young people to be both healthier and more mindful eaters and impassioned appreciators of food…through play!

Which brings me to what I was doing one day at the Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh, NC.

I was so excited to come because I am a big advocate of learning through play and exploration. For me, as well as for countless kids, I learn best when I can touch things, pretend, and play.

At Marbles, I was blown away by all the fun and interactive activities, from the human-sized chess boards to half of a transit bus you can climb. Of course, I focused on the food-related play areas – including a pizzeria and an entire area where kids can learn about running a lemonade stand. What better way to learn about food economy than to count change with nickels bigger than your head?

Even adults seemed to like it – as there was not only a wedding photo shoot there, but a wedding party held there that night!

For those of you parents who are familiar with Montessori and Waldorf pedagogical philosophies, you probably understand the value of play in a child’s understanding. Play and creativity is an often underutilized component of learning that is critical to a child’s development.

Children (like me) often learn better when they don’t realize they’re learning. If we can give children more opportunity to learn through play – pretending to cook in the kitchen, colorful displays of fruits and vegetables, easy-to-follow physical activity- imagine the longer-term benefits.

Constructive and educative play is a necessary means to change the way our children relate to food, so they can love and appreciate it, as well as love and appreciate their own bodies and health.

So whether you have children or nieces or neighbors or yourself are trying to eat better, don’t see it as a boring, snooze-fest of statistics and calorie counting or exams. Have fun with it!

Some easy, simple ideas:

• Cook with kids: Devise easy to assemble meals that allow children to get involved – like grilled cheese sandwiches with apples or lettuce roll-ups – they will jump at the chance to eat their greens when they get to make them.
• Make food shopping fun: Make it a scavenger hunt for the kale on sale or who can first find the quinoa – and spell it correctly
• Pretend restaurant: make pretend one dinner a week that you are a restaurant and assign “roles” for everyone. You might surprised how quickly their plates are finished.

A more just and sustainable world…a more playful and optimistic culture…a more delicious appreciation for food – what a lovely outlook.

I tested this with 103 random people, and received 103 “OH MY GOSH, THIS IS DELICIOUS” responses. I’m not even a kale person usually (if you’ve been following, you’ll know veggies haven’t historically been my friend…), but this? THIS is going on my Christmas table. So easy, it’s almost cheating because it doesn’t seem like cooking.

Christmas Kale
1 bunch organic green kale, chopped
1 bunch organic red kale, chopped
Olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup sweetened cranberries
Salt

1. Heat skillet until hot
2. Toast pine nuts until fragrant (move around so as not to burn)
3. Add some olive oil and garlic – saute for about 1 minute
4. Add kale and saute until wilted (about 4-5 minutes)
5. Season with salt
6. Add cranberries and saute for another 1-2 minutes

I swear (this photo doesn’t do it justice, I’ll try another one for Christmas), this dish is not only gorgeous, but it’s SO healthy for you. Chock full of good vitamins. You can add crushed red chili flakes, a bit of nutmeg, unsweetened cranberries, dried cherries, whatever you desire.

It’s a beautiful, tasty dish that is composed of the perfect Christmas colors to brighten up your holiday table (not to mention probably the easiest thing you’ll make)!

For those of you who are not familiar, it’s the story by Crockett Johnson of little Harold who uses his purple crayon to draw his adventures – it’s a lovely story about imagination, creativity, and making possibilities real.

Well, art, media, and food are all mediums for turning the imagination into reality. Harold, in fact, has now become a TV show for children. One great site capitalizing the power of media to create and imagine and educate is Fooditude. They are an up and coming food TV show for kids to get them aware of where their food comes from and how to eat better.

Another site you MUST check out is SnagFilms. They have HUNDREDS of documentaries you can watch for free, including Super Size Me and the Future of Food (if you haven’t seen these, YOU MUST IF YOU CARE!)

Take 45 minutes to watch this…it’s important…about why we are getting fat as a nation just by eating what is often offered out there are “food:”

My own purple creation to pay more attention to the source of my food came in the form not of a crayon, but of a sweet potato. Yup. It’s purple. Not orange.

In Stokes County, North Carolina, there is a movement to promote rural economic development through the Stokes Purple Sweet Potato. I found this at Whole Foods, and this wonderful, LOCAL produce both honors the region’s agricultural heritage and local entrepreneurship. Since it’s getting cold, I figured I’d create my own dish with my own purple crayon, er, potato,…and since it’s not a traditional gumbo, I’m calling it Gumby.

It’s super easy, perhaps not the prettiest dish when it first comes out, but it’s so cool and delicious. Just check out the colors.

Purple Sweet Potato Gumby

1 purple sweet potato
1 regular sweet potato
1/2 pound chorizo sausage (you can do sweet or spicy but I like it SPICY!)
1/2 pound ground turkey
10 cloves whole garlic, softened in olive oil
Chicken stock
Salt and pepper
1 cup orzo
1/4 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
2 cups chicken stock

1. Preheat 350F.
2. Slice potatoes into thin slices and layer on bottom of casserole dish.
3. Cut sausage into 1 inch slices and layer on top
4. Season turkey (can use turkey breast) with salt and pepper and layer with the sausage
5. Add garlic cloves
6. Add chicken broth (just enough to cover)
7. Bake for about 45 minutes until done
8. Meanwhile, make orzo with chicken stock with mushrooms
9. When casserole is done, add orzo.

The casserole will come out somewhat liquid-y since the juices from the sausage and turkey will be running, but don’t worry! The orzo will soak all those juices up and even turn a little purple!

Sweet potatoes are loaded with antioxidents, not to mention they are so sweet and yummy (even for people like me who hated veggies for so long;they are a fantastic way to get some good vitamins!). This is also a fun way to get kids excited about their food while being aware of the source of your food – who doesn’t like purple food?

Imagine we could take our little purple crayons and create a world where  we honored where our food comes from, where everyone has something GOOD to eat….

This is definitely a dilemma for me. I love animals. I love dogs. I think pigs are really smart animals. I care about the environment. I recycle. I reuse bags. I pay extra for the recycled business cards.

Am I a hypocrite?

For those of you who eat meat, I’m sure you understand. For those of you who don’t, please don’t prejudge me yet. I have tried to go vegetarian, but I really like meat and my body doesn’t really do well with only vegetables (or only grains).

A few weeks ago, we joined Blog Action Day on the issue of climate change. BTW, I thought I was so clever today and made up the word “carbon fooDprint.” Turns out, there’s a neat organization – Cool Foods Campaign –  where you can learn more about how to reduce your carbon “foodprint” via your food!

ANYWAYS, this issue just gets more interesting…let’s see a run-down just the last couple weeks…

Lord Stern of the UK (not a vegetarian himself) warned the public they need to turn vegetarian in the Times October 27, 2009. You’re probably familiar with the argument that cattle and pig emissions (i.e. farts and stuff) are more dangerous than carbon dioxide to global warming.

The first country to take this connection seriously is Sweden. In Elisabeth Rosenthal’s October 22, 2009 article, she reports that the Swedish  government is taking steps to literally track their food by labeling the carbon dioxide emissions on food products and menus, from pastas to burgers.

Has this changed anything? Well, it seems that restaurants have found up to 75% of their carbon footprint attributable to meat. But even when they put these labels on their menu items and the more “climate-friendly items” have seen an increase in sales, some people just want a burger. They may feel a bit guilty ordering it, but they do anyways.

Moreover, she notes that the environmental cost is not just because of meat. Rosenthal notes that there are other factors like the type of soil used to grow the cattle’s food. So if we cannot cut meat entirely out of the human diet (which I don’t anticipate happening), then as Michael Pollan and others argue, we really should be paying more attention to where the meat comes from and how the animals are raised.

Rancher Nicolette Hahn Niman wrote in the New York Times on October 30, 2009 about this exact dilemma and raises some provoking points, affirming Rosenthal’s contention that it’s not as simple as meat/no meat, but how the land and surroundings are cared for in the raising of said meat. She points out that smaller, traditional, local farms don’t really have these carbon emissions that lead to global warming whether it is because of distance to market or little reliance on machinery (which sucks up energy).

And can vegetarians eat completely guiltless? Niman points out the reliance on soy for protein…and the most common soy and tofu found in supermarkets are from deforested lands overseas. Between large agribusiness emitting carbons to ship soy from overseas to large agribusiness companies like Monsanto destroying entire ecosystems in the Midwest to grow soybeans, we might have to think again whether meat is the only culprit to massive carbon “foodprints”.

Photo Source: Ecolitics Now

So what does this all mean? As Michael Pollan says, eat less meat. Eat more locally. By buying organic and local meat (which is also more expensive), I naturally buy and eat less. If I can’t get to the farmer’s market, I buy my meat at Whole Foods, where I know they have actually walked the walk with their involvement with the Animal Compassion Fund and Animal Welfare Standards.

I’m not sure I can ever fully resolve this dilemma. I sleep on organic cotton sheets, but my towels are not. I bike or walk where I can, but my car still gets lots of usage. But if Elisabeth Rosenthal is right that “”changing one’s diet can be as effective in reducing emissions of climate-changing gases as changing the car one drives or doing away with the clothes dryer,” then is it possible for me to care about the planet and animals, but still eat a little locally-, organically-, humanely-raised meat once in a while?

Starting today, I’ll start by cutting out meat 3 days a week.

When ZomppaB wrote about her decades-long search for the perfect yogurt, little did she know that so many others shared the same plight…and the same love for YoBaby! Check out the story here.

Her love for and commitment to YoBaby is true and genuine, and the kind folks at Stonyfield offered to help spread the love. This is the first time we’re trying this…but we would love to offer a YoBaby giveaway!! It includes: 1) reusable YoBaby bag, 2) travel YoBaby bowl with lid and utensils, 3) Eric Carle growth chart, 4) 5 Free YoBaby coupons, and 5) YoBaby bib.

But to make it more fun, please post a short food story in the comments about your baby or toddler (or someone else’s baby or toddler) here (no more than 250 words!) by August 10, 2009 and we’ll select the winner via random.org. PS: here’s a link to coupons for more yummy, healthy Stonyfield goodness.

GoBaby!

Food concerns more than nutrients; it concerns social and economic justice; it is empowerment, it is a change agent, it is art.

On occasion, I find myself  wondering whether I took my ‘crazy pills’ as I am constantly repeating my “ Mama Says” retort  during mealtime.     Rationalizing with a preschooler is difficult, but I find it almost impossible/excruciatingly painful to discuss the benefits of eating green leafy vegetables. All Pai cares about is whether or not her food is ‘deyishous.’

Pai Eating Something 'Deyishous'

A lot of parents enjoy the benefits of ‘hiding’ nutritious food items in their children’s food.  Although I applaud most (non-violent) techniques that encourage children to 1) eat and 2) eat well,  my personal goal is to teach Pai that the food she SEES on her plate is not only good for her, but also ‘deyishous.’

In an attempt to achieve this goal, I finagled a Banana and Sour Cream Pancake Recipe developed by one of my favorite cooks, Ina Garten, to create a whole grain version.  A huge hit at our place and chock full of fiber, B vitamins and protein.

Whole Grain Pancakes
Adapted from Ina Garten’s Banana Sour Cream Pancake Recipe

1 1/2 cup of organic whole-wheat pastry flour ***
3 tablespoons organic cane sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 cup organic Greek non-fat yogurt (like Oikos)
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon organic rice milk (or any milk)
2 extra-large organic eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pure maple syrup

Directions

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt, rice milk, eggs,  and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, but only until wet is just incorporated.  Will look a bit lumpy.  Don’t’ over mix!

Heat a (non stick) skillet over medium-low heat.  You can add a little bit of vegetable oil to lubricate the skillet. Pour the pancake batter into the pan to make 3/4 pancakes. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes.  Flip the pancakes and then cook for another minute. Serve with fresh, organic raspberries/blueberries and maple syrup.

*** If you want a lighter, more tender pancake, you can do 3/4 cup unbleached, all purpose flour and 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour.