PART OF THE SOLUTION...

We need to combat the childhood obesity epidemic with KNOWLEDGE. Teaching young children AND their families about nutrition is essential if we want to tackle this massive public health issue. Giving children and their families simple, fun, interactive tools that do show them what they NEED to be putting into their bodies and that don't encourage them to sit in front of the computer is the mission of Chickin Feed (chickin is an affectionate term for children).

Aside from making eco-friendly products (locally produced & recyclable) we pride ourselves on good design. After all, if something is a well-designed tool that folks WANT to look at, interact with and take pride in possessing, rather than “some piece of paper they handed out at school that we had on the fridge but it fell off and we aren’t inspired enough to put it back up” odds are the outcome will be better.

By reconcepting the food pyramid into a user-friendly interactive board, Chickin Feed has really helped folks associate what they've HAD to eat vs. what they NEED to be eating. Actually seeing a representation of four servings of vegetables that need to be consumed each day and having to mark them off when you are done really does turn on a lightbulb! And sometimes children need tools that they can use to make good choices independent of their busy parents and well-intentioned urgings of the lunch lady.

We need some help spreading the word. Talk about healthy foods with your friends and neighbors, start an active club at your school, get involved in the local food movement or just do one small thing in your community to be part of the solution instead of focusing on the problem. It will all work out! As long as well all do too :)

Yours truly,
Mother Hen
leslie at chickinfeed dot com...