I received an email this morning about: Betty Crocker Fruit Flavored snacks are giving away 1,000 Box Tops for Education to 30 lucky schools! See link. (http://www.boxtops4education.com/earn/bonus/OfferDetail.aspx?Id=15)
LUCKY? Lucky enough to help promote the consumption of artificially colored sugar junk pumped with a bit of vitamin C. The ad calls it "a smart way to pack your child's lunch and make a difference for their school, too." Yes it is SMART for Betty Crocker's sales, for teachers who want hyper kids in their class (the artificial colors), for the pharmaceutical companies that make ADHD drugs for children, and for parents who like being fooled into believing junk food is good for our kids. Bad Box Tops.
Many parents are terrified at the news that young healthy children and teens are dying from the H1N1 flu virus. What came as a revelation to me is that our children are NOT HEALTHY because we are pumping them up with artificial junk food instead of real fruits and vegetables. Even scarier is that this is the lesson about eating and food that they take into young adulthood.
I AM NOT pointing fingers or shaking my head at any parent because just 1.5 years ago, I bought into the convenience and hype and bought and served my children these same fruit flavored snacks thinking "at least he is getting some vitamin C". These companies make it so CHEAP and so easy to buy these things and our kids love us for giving them yummy snacks. The fun stuff kids want is very inexpensive, convenient when you have little time, frequently on sale and come with lots of great coupons to make you feel good about saving so much time and money. But what is CHEAP is the attitude concerning the decrease in our children's REAL health as best seen in the face of an outside challenge to their immune systems like the flu virus. What is NOT convenient is the extra time at the doctor, the extra money on medicine or the aggravation of dealing with our kids hyped up on junk.
The take home message here is serve more real food and avoid the junk food marketing tricks like this that fool you into thinking that you are getting a great deal and helping your child's education. It does not have to happen overnight but you CAN make one change each week until it does happen.
I am passionate about sharing any good news I find to help us all transition to better health and ENJOY IT! Kids will respond positively to the changes. Now when I ask kids and adults what they want as a birthday gift, they ALL say "one of your gift bags filled with healthy snacks".
Here are some links and tips for real foods, snacks and some FREE samples and coupons to make it affordable. Nothing irritates me more than someone telling me I should only eat product X because it is super healthy but not helping me AFFORD it and FIND it! Let me share the ways I use to afford high quality real healthy delicious life-energizing foods your whole family will LOVE! PLEASE SHARE WITH OTHERS.
Have a great weekend! Love, Renee
1. $2 off any Rice Select item. I love their AMERICAN Basmati rice. Prices and sizes range from $3.30-5.99. Buy the smaller size and get gourmet AMERICAN rice for a little over $1! I have yet to reach the print limit on this one.
http://www.riceselect.com/?id=1
2. Free sample Honey Nut Cheerios. Good Box Tops.
http://sample.nonchallenge.com/HNCFY10/Default.aspx
3. $1 off Colgate Total Care toothpaste. Remember the $1 sale at Kroger? Get some FREE toothpaste.
http://www.colgate.com/app/ColgateTotal/US/EN/SpecialOffers.cvsp
4. 75¢ off Mom’s Best Naturals products. Find these great tasting, simple, natural no HFCS ingredients AFFORDABLE cereals at Wal-Mart and many Dollar stores. The toasted cinnamon squares have no high fructose corn syrup but taste just like Cinnamon Toast Crunch for only $2.12 at Wal-Mart. Kroger has it on sale for $1.99. Add this coupon for a great deal. Coupon expires Dec 31 2009. http://www.momsbestnaturals.com/special-offers/special-offers.php
5. $1 off Pop Chips. I get these at Target and they are delicious and REAL!!! YES, potato chips are my weakness! Thank you to Kiwi magazine for offering this great coupon. Sign up for Kiwi magazine also for money saving coupons on organic and natural foods and snacks. YUMMY!
http://www.popchips.com/kiwi/
6. Try some good Box Tops for Education with Cascadian Farms organic cereals. Kroger and Wal-Mart sell them for ~$3 per box. Use this printable coupon from Coupons.com for $1 off. Just go to http://print.coupons.com/coupon.asp?id=131301311952
"Many times when we are sick, we pray to God for healing. Sometimes, the miracle of healing is the miracle of our obedience." - Renee Lea-Currie, Ph.D., www.thetakebacktour.com