SEED & FEED & RADIO!

Chickin Feed is excited to be headed back to the Seed Factory! Saturday, August 21st @ 11am. We'll be tellin' tales & singing tunes' all about food, farm & fun. And we'll have a fresh supply of our super wonderful - screen printed on canvas (by Bo @ Velocity Screen Printing- great job!), handmade books - FARM GRUB A to Z. Check out our Facebook Page for a fun little video preview.

And we're super excited to be joined again by Drama Chick, Amy Handler...aside from her day jobs, she's crankin' out show after show of super cool music on her Saturday Morning show - The Kids Are Alright - am 1690. Listen up Peeps!

Mo' Hen & Chirpin' Chick, Katherine will be on Ms. Amy's show with hot copies of our brand spankin' new CD... Lil' Chickin Radio presents The FARM GRUB Revue... (I heard some pretty complete versions of the songs tonight and cannot express how excited and overjoyed I am about this CD! Katherine & Fletcher Moore - you are amazingly talented folks. Adam, Annette, John K., James, Jimmy, John B., The Chickin Chorus & The Real Farmers' Chorus – Je t'aime!. What a wonderful job. Thank you so very much.) More to come on this obviously!

AND SAVE THE DATE... Labor Day Weekend - Saturday & Sunday 9/5 & 9/6 come say "Howdy" at our booth (same place as the past two years) at the Decatur Book Festival! It's awesome!!!

EMAIL TODAY FOR BETTER SCHOOL LUNCHES TOMORROW...

We're approaching the one year anniversary of the Eat-In @ the Decatur Book Festival where this photo was taken. The Eat-In's all over the country did great things to raise awareness of the need to improve the Child Nutrition Act.

Now the rubber meets the road...!

Please take a moment to send an URGENT EMAIL... to your US Representative TODAY if you can - it's easy.

Here's an email sent out just now from Slow Food USA / Time For Lunch Campaign...

After our huge campaign where 20,000 Slow Food supporters gathered for Eat-Ins all over the country, over 100,000 emails were sent and phone calls bombarded Congress, last Thursday the Senate passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act - the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act. This is the legislation that governs the quality of school lunches. Thanks to everyone for such a huge effort! The version that passed in the Senate included a bunch of our priorities - more funding for healthier meals, regulations to kick junk food out of school vending machines, and $50 million for Farm to School programs, but it also makes cuts to food stamps in order to pay for them.

The next step is for the House to pass the bill, maybe when they return from break in September. Or maybe they will pass it tomorrow before they head out. This is why we need your urgent help. http://www.slowfoodusa.org/onestepcloser The House bill, which is still being debated, has much of what we asked for but avoids making cuts to food stamps (SNAP) - a move which will impact the children that are the most vulnerable. School lunch should not be funded at the expense of other important food programs. Contact your legislator now to make sure that we get the bill our children deserve. http://www.slowfoodusa.org/onestepcloser

Thanks for all you do,
Jerusha Klemperer,
Program Manager and the Time for Lunch team at Slow Food USA.

p.s. The First Lady wrote a great opinion piece last week on why we need to pass this bill. Check it out here.

Make a phone call for better school lunches!

...



















Hi Peeps...

Got a request to make some calls to help get better school lunches NOW... If you have a minute, please read the forwarded message below & make some calls soon. Thanks!

FORWARDED MESSAGE:
_____________________
"I’m contacting you today to provide an update on the Child Nutrition Reauthorization and to encourage you to contact a couple of key members of Congress in your area.

In short, we are hoping that the House version of CNR will be introduced into the Education and Labor committee either next week or the week of July 12th. This bill isn’t perfect, but is a big improvement over the current CNR in many ways. The concern is that if the bill isn’t on the floor of Congress by the end of August, we will be stuck with the current CNR for at least another year.

Congressman John Lewis and Congressman Tom Price are on the committee and so could help make sure that the committee vote happens soon. Could you call each of their offices and urge them to help make sure the bill is introduced soon?

The staffer for Child Nutrition in Congressman Lewis’s office is Michaleen Crowell (202-225-3801) and in Tom Price’s office the staff person is Chris Skrzychi (202-225-4501). Please leave a message if he/she is not available. It would be great if you could pass on this request to others in your network as well.

The message is simple! Urge your Representative to support H.R. 5504: “The Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act of 2010.”in the upcoming committee vote!"

END FORWARDED MESSAGE:

DUCKIE'S NAG PREVIEW!

How would you become a Modern Mobile Duck you ask? She's happy to tell you all the things she does to stay fit. And she loves to let Piggles know that she's NOT on the right track... Sound familiar to anyone?

BRAVA..Ms. Katherine Moore as Duckie! Hilarious & Fabulous and out of breath I'm sure...

CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON BELOW...Lyrics are in the video and below:




DUCKIE’S NAG (An ode to Gilbert & Sullivan’s Modern Major General)
Lyrics, Chirpin’ & Plinkin’: Katherine Moore (some lyrics by Mo’ Hen- the ones that don’t work as well!) Mixin’ & Recordin': Fletcher Moore Backup Vocals: Annette Wawerna & Adam Cole.

Duckie:
I am the very model of a modern mobile duck, you see.
I keep my feathers flapping and my toes a-tapping constantly.
I do plies and releves and pirouettes so gracefully.
I rarely play my X-Box, I prefer to do my yoga Wii.

I make my wings so big and strong by climbing on the monkey bars
I jumpy jumpy with my jumpy rope until I’m seeing stars
I pedal pedal on my bike until the wheels go hummy-hum.
I ride the tire swing until I’m queezy in my tummy-tum.

Chorus:
She rides the tire swing until she's queezy in her tummy-tum.
She rides the tire swing until she's queezy in her tummy-tum.
She rides the tire swing until she's queezy in her tummy-tummy-tum.

I work my garden and I do the laundry and I clean my nest,
And then I quack and eat a snack and run a marathon with zest.
How do I keep my girlish size?
I run and swim and even fly
(I feel it in my hips and thighs).
I get my daily exercise!

Chorus:
How does she keep her girlish size?
She runs and swims and even flies,
(She feels it in her hips and thighs)
She gets her daily exercise!

Duckie @ Piggles:
Get up you should be prepping for the farmer’s market trip right now.
I don’t know why you’re napping like an overfed seahorse or cow.
I’ve come to wake you up agai-ain from your sugar co-o-ma,
Only to see wrappers from pretend food in your ho-o-ma.

You really should be helping Farmer Goat to load the cart right now
Instead of lounging on your tushie eating bonbons like a sow.
Clean off that sugar from your snout and wipe away that sluggish frown
Roll off that sofa, make your body like a verb and not a noun!

Chorus:
Off that sofa, make your body like a verb and not a noun!
Off that sofa, make your body like a verb and not a noun!
Off that sofa, make your body like a verb and not a, not a noun!

Your body is so stationary that your tushie’s growing roots
The time has come to pull you up and don you in your working boots

Get up, get up and move around!
We have to get the food to town!
Be like a verb and not a noun!
Your only active chowing down!

Chorus:
Get up, get up and move around!
We have to get the food to town!
Be like a verb and not a noun!
Your only active chowing down!

CONT...

© 2010 Chickin Feed, LLC | All rights reserved.

SNACK CAKE BLUES..

Preview of Piggles "Snack Cake Blues" (Click on the black box below and LISTEN UP!)
from the upcoming CD... Chickin Tunes by the Farm Grub Critters.

Chickin Tunes are churning!

I love love love to meet open-hearted creative folks. No matter what their field. I've been so lucky to have found some of the most creative music souls on the planet (I'm certain!) living nearby and am so pleased that they've gotten on board to help record our new CD Chickin Tunes...


Katherine Moore (Chirpin' Chickin) is leading the efforts with her tirelessly talented hubby Fletcher Moore (Punker-Roo?) doing the recording, mixing, picking and surprise! Punk Vocals - he used to be in a band and is really great. (I told him I get to do his hair for our first live performance...) Katherine has taken on the job of writing stories for the Farm Grub series as well that we are about to debut. She takes the lead on the fast paced patter song called Duckie's Nag. She has a magical voice through and through and I'm so honored to be the recepient of her many lyrical gifts.

Also chirpin' for us is Annette Wawerna, whose voice I would steal if I could. She reminds me of my favorite singer, Diana Krall. Annette sings the lead on Snackcake Blues, a great song penned my Ms. Moore that would make Little Debbie turn over in her grave. Annette has recorded her own CD and is one of the chirpin' chickins on our theme song you might have heard on our website. She also recently retired as one of the favorite teachers of The Music Class (where Ms. Katherine Moore still chirps).

Adam Cole joins us again with his particularly funny brand of cross-singing in our Tango Empanada (he plays a female Argentinian Bovine Chef with aplomb!) and he's lent his piano talents & vocals to other songs so far too.

James Palmer, a majorly talented illustrator, and leader of the The Wipes (a parent band of the Grant Park Cooperative Preschool that also has included Ms. Wawerna & Mr. Cole at times) is lending his southern thang to the Lamentation of the Rotten Zucchini.

And rounding out the main players so far is one of the finest pickers to hit Cherokee Avenue, Jimmy Galloway (co-owner with wife Bridget of Intown Healthy Hound in Grant Park).

Our backup singers include the "Chickin Chorus" and some real live Farmers! Who better to sing a song about composting! Farmer Joe Reynolds of Love is Love Farms, his mom (Mama Reynolds) & her friend Robert "Birdman" Ridenour and Farmer Matthew Bagshaw recorded a kickin' chorus for the Punk tune fronted by Punker-Roo Fletcher Moore entitled, Don't Trash Me Baby. What is really neat about this experience is that Mama Reynolds said the experience made her "Bucket List." How cool is that!

STAY TUNED! We've got several events scheduled over the summer to roll out FARM GRUB & CHICKIN TUNES...

LUNCH & LEARN WITH EFFECTIVE PARENTING

I'm teaming up with Dr. Kellie Ritter of Effective Parenting for a workshop on Friday May 14th. ...Come join us if you can... There will lots of chatting about getting your chickins to eat well and we'll be eating well with some free-range Chicken Pot Pies.

DRAMA ON THE RADIO!!!

kid's music for everyone! (or kids' music for people who hate kids' music)


Well, The Kids are Alright and coming to an AM frequency near you! Chickin Feed's own "DRAMA CHICK" is going to be hosting her own little Radio Show on Atlanta's Voice of the Arts - am 1690. It's the coolest thing you've heard ever! Yeah, I said so. There is even a rumor that Chickin Tunes will make it's debut. Woo Hoo...

Listen or stream it live this SATURDAY morning - May 1st @ 9am Eastern Time. Be There or Be Square.

NUTRITION DELIVERED

DELIVER IT PLEASE! Just found this site that delivers healthy toddler food to your home! Ah, the art of delivery – only in NYC. From my oat sowing days as a receptionist for Eisenman Architects on 21st in NYC, I remember perfecting this art as we would call down to the deli around the corner to bring up an iced coffee. Most of the time, we had 3-4 drinks ordered up, however...sometimes is was just ONE. How ridiculously indulgent!

On the other hand, here's a great excuse for delivery in the Big Apple – Toddler Food, help those picky chickins make good choices by bringing it straight to the door!

My favorite thing on their website is this cool handy Nutrition Chart that delivers all the essentials in a VERY DIGESTIBLE format. Chick them out @ Din Din's Food

COOL PROPS FROM CANADA!

Here's a great review from our friends North of the Border at Canadian Family Magazine - April 2010! Before the article hit, we were picked up by two mom-stores in Alberta... Cater Tot and Great Things in Store... Give them a little FB FAN and tell them Hello from Chickin Feed!

TV Worth Watching tonight.

Check out JAMIE OLIVER’S FOOD REVOLUTION 2-HOUR PREMIERE FRIDAY MAR 26 8|7c.
Then read through & follow up with this TOOLKIT put together in association with the PTA.

Thanks to Natalie Rogers. A local mom working hard to make this a reality!

Dear Task Force on Obesity... Less Talk-y, Paper Shuffley, More Do-ey...

1. FULLY fund the Child Nutrition Act - it's cued up for you. Take the shot.

2. FULLY fund FARM TO SCHOOL programs too. Kids need to reconnect to their food source. And this is a real valid learning tool.

3. No Child Left Behind ... hmmm anybody think that taking PE & Recess out of schools in order to spend more time prepping for tests is a good idea? It seems like it should be called "NO CHILD'S LEFT BEHIND should be too big to fit in their seat because we don't allow them to run around during the school day and Dang, why can't they pay attention anyway?!"

4. Parents & Task Force members... BE ROLE MODELS not ROLL models. We all have to do this together...It's not up to the government to make this one work...we do need their help but this one hits too close to home to leave it up to someone else.

5. Let's not try and solve every problem with a "tech-y" solution. Video & Computer Games are fine in small doses, but trying to get a kid to sit in front of the computer in order to learn about how to get healthy seems a little oxymoronic to me.

seeds, BIRDS | creative chickins

I just MUST post about this. My friend Rachel owns one of the coolest kid's stores I've ever been in. It's called the Seed Factory and is located on the west side of Atlanta, GA. She is hosting an event with one of the most creative artists I've seen in a long while. Have you ever seen a gigantic felted bird cage? Fantastic! Sign up & show up if you are geographically inclined. Even if you aren't, it might be worth the road trip.

What does it have to do with building healthy habits you ask? Well, inspiring kids to follow their creativity is a tremendously healthy habit!

Dr. Geary Recommends...

I like this blog (the author, Dr. Natalie Geary lives in NYC and I like that too...jealous much, am I) Check out this nice review of our Nutrition Tracking Boards.



Click here to check out all the helpful Nutrition info she has posted too!

"Keep on Cluckin'!" awarded to Local Mompreneurs!

Aside from getting to do what I love every day – The Chickin Biz – I get to meet lots of other interesting folks that are doing what they love too. I wanted to share a couple of stories about some that I find particularly inspirational for varied reasons. Keep on Cluckin' mommies!

Great news from fellow Atlanta mom-preneur, Britt Menzies who started a business based upon her passion for teaching children – Little Stinkers – to make good choices and "always be leaders of good." Britt just landed a really sweet deal with Madame Alexander to license and produce her line of plush dolls based upon the "Stinky Kids®"characters she has created. WAY TO GO BRITT. Thanks for being an inspiration to all mom/biz-owners to follow your passions and the rest will follow!

I met this mom late last year. Always thinking of ways to grow and expand, I thought about how Chickin Feed might work in the whole in-home party model – Having a Hen Party! – and my research uncovered local mom, Beth Remmes. She has built a company called ZOLA the art of living green, an eco-friendly home party business. She has a great section of links & resources. If you are a mom looking to Go Green in your home or looking to start your own home-based biz...Chick it out!

And I just met Jody Goldfarb, local mother of three, who saw a problem (school lunches) and started a business catering fresh foods to local schools to solve it: Lunch For Learners. Great idea and thanks for being Part of the Solution, Jody!

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...

WAY TO GO EWA!!!

NEW YORK—The sixth annual Wonder Women of Toys Awards were granted in nine categories on Feb. 14. The awards, which honor achievements by women all along the children’s entertainment supply chain, were presented by networking group Women In Toys and Playthings magazine at a gala at The Penn Club in Manhattan.

Some great big kudos to our good friend Ewa Martinoff, founder & hot mamma behind Shainsware the maker of our Nutrition Tracking To Go!

She just got some much deserved recognition for her really cool innovative products. Check it out!

YAY EWA!

WE DON'T HAVE A CHILDHOOD OBESITY EPIDEMIC . . .

because children want to be overweight. I believe that we have a childhood obesity epidemic because the adults in their lives are too full of excuses to do anything about it. Thank goodness the First Lady, Michelle Obama, has brought this issue to the forefront and done so in a way that doesn't shy away from the parental responsibility that will be neccessary if we really to address the issue.

REPOSTED from Sept '09.

Let's face it, none of us launched into parenthood with the aspiration to become the "Crusher of All Dreams." The fact that 20-30 times a day we have to tell our children what they CANNOT do gets to be quite tiring. After awhile, you start giving in a little to make peace and/or to get back to work and the very important adult things that we do.

One of the places that a lot of us give in, is where food is concerned. After all, we all HAVE to feed our kids. Several times a day in fact. We all must eat! We are busy and pinching pennies and just don't seem to have time to think about something we have to do so frequently. So we give in and justify it for numerous reasons...See if any of these excuses sound familiar?

• Healthy food is too expensive.

• I just don't have time to prepare healthy foods. Eating out is so much simpler.

• They don't like vegetables and I just can't argue about one other thing today - I've picked all my battles!

• I don't want them to call me out as a hypocrite . . . "I can eat whatever I want because I'm grown but you have to eat healthy because you are still growing" Hmmm...Eat as I say, not as I do!

• My kids should be learning about nutrition at school - I pay lots of money in taxes for goodness sake! And I'm sure they will use that knowledge to make good choices once they grow up.

AND the great reason that our kids are less active these days...drumroll please,

• They can't go play outside right now, the mosquitoes are too bad and there might be a pervert lurking around the corner.

Which one is your favorite excuse? I know about three that I'll cop to on any given day. I think it might be time to grow up a little.

How are we, as the adults, going to help fix the very real obesity epidemic if we don't accept some responsibility? After all, IT'S NOT PRIMARILY OUR CHILDREN'S FAULT THAT THEY ARE OVERWEIGHT OR THE GOVERNMENT'S PROBLEM TO SOLVE. Parent-UP peeps!

Sincerely,

Leslie Smith Grant
President & Mother Hen
Chickin Feed, LLC

Un-busy a little bit.
Go play WITH your kids.
Feed them less / better...

How to PLAY with your chickins!

Ok, this seems like a no-brainer... Everybody knows how to "play" right? Well, there are some ways to get more out of it for both parents and the children. I met Dr. Kelli Ritter about a year ago. She's a hip intown mom that just happens to be a specialist in "playing" with your kids. I wanted to pass along her new lunch & learn format workshops for those of you in the Atlanta area. Chick it out! AND HAVE FUN WITH YOUR CHICKINS...IT'S GREAT EXERCISE.
Effective Parenting Workshop

Fluffing the Primer

So we recently had a publisher that was interested in Chickin Feed say that they just don't "get" our book, The Primer | a useful companion for modern families. They just couldn't quite pigeon-hole it. What category does it fit into?

Well, I take all the blame. When I was looking for some way to give my family (myself) a "health makeover" if you will – I thought up the idea for the Nutrition Tracking Board. A very simple concept. If I can SEE what we need each day to be healthy and mark it off, then I will be more aware, more accountable, and make better choices. It has worked! For myself and quite a few chickins all over the planet :) Yay!

Just after we concepted the initial idea for the Nutrition Tracking Boards we thought it would be good to have some sort of USER'S GUIDE for the board...someplace you could easily reference more info on all the good things the board addresses. Like a notebook that had been assembled over the years of all the helpful information you had collected on being a good parent, building a healthy home and healthier habits.

Putting simple to digest information in one place and designing it well so that folks want to pay attention to it seemed like a great idea at the time. So we chunked (Editor Chick, Michelle Newcome's term) the book together in sections:

• NUTRITION by Nutrition Chick, Emily Harrison- the first, most important part in easy to understand terms that you can easily explain to you chickins OR yourself!
  
• BUILDING A NUTRITIOUS KITCHEN by lot's of folks– think what Martha Stewart and Erma Bombeck's love child would be like...hmmm...it's a great chapter on how Kitchen 101.
  
• RECIPES by Chef Chick, Sheri Davis – why not show people what real food looks and tastes like? This chapter breaks the meals out by meal of the day and even let's you know how many of the different food groups you are "chicking off" as you go.
• OLD SCHOOL P.E. from Coach Brookins (Head Yard Bird) gives you some great fun FREE ways to get in a little exercise.
• DRAMA-CIZE by Drama Chick, Amy Handler is perhaps my favorite chapter since it comes from the brain of a mad woman (in a good way) gives you some really fun, creative ways to exercise your funny bone, imagination and body at the same time
• GETTING EVERYONE ON BOARD gives you tips to try and deal with the other folks that influence your lives because we all have to live with other people...
• RESOURCES is a handy little chapter that lists some of our favorite places to get more information on some of our favorite subjects that help you build a healthy life.

WHAT'S not to get? Our customers seem to get it.

We had it posted on amazon for a bit. Five Star Reviews on Amazon...

So, the original Primer is going fast...Our first edition is dwindling. If you'd like a copy they are available at a few stores and online @ www.chickinfeed.com. Hurry up Peeps! Get 'em while they are hot :)