Happy St. Patricks Day! Happy daylight savings time. March is a whirlwind on every front, and we hope you're weathering it all with gusto. This week we're talking about junk food marketing to kids, DIY yogurts and more. This is all information we hope you take and use in your own work, social media, blog, etc. Read on, friends!
1. TOP STORIES
Why It's Not About Turning Off the TV (i.e. why junk food marketing to kids is such a problem)
The food and beverage industry spends $2 billion/year marketing products to kids. Believing that any amount of “saying no” can counteract the tidalwave of marketing our kids experience is, well, an exercise in self-abuse. But as parents we DO have the power to tell companies to stop. Check out these terrifying facts about junk food marketing to kids.
- Ads come in places, ways and moments when we're far, far away from our kids. Scoreboards, fundraisers, benefit nights, cell phones… It goes on. And on.
- Companies target kids where it hurts. With young kids, it’s through character endorsements. With older kids, it’s through the siren song of “fitting in”.
- Not to mention the specific, targeted attack on communities of color.
- Companies are playing dirty in a game with very, very high stakes. The health impacts of junk food are astounding. Sugar-sweetened beverages like soda are the single largest source of added sugar in children’s diets. And, they are the third highest source of kids’ calories overall.
But parents: never fear! We have so much power to make it stop. Here are a few ways we can push back on marketing to kids:
- Pressure the industry to do better. Join us in telling the Corporate Food and Beverage Accountability Initiative (CFBAI) - the industry's self-regulatory body - to encourage its member companies to adopt new expert recommendations and do more to protect kids from junk food marketing!
- Use our power as consumers. We're reminding companies that they need to work with parents and consumers to create healthy environments for our kids. In response to our speaking out, restaurants like Applebee’s, IHOP, Burger King, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and now Jack in the Box have removed soda as the default beverage in kids’ meals. Still on the radar: Nickelodeon, which continues to push junk food to kids. Add your voice asking them to stop, and read what happened when we attended their recent shareholder meeting.
- Make the school day a healthy one: the forthcoming Wellness Policies will require school districts actually have a policy around junk food marketing to kids. This is an important way for parents to get involved; watch for more resources from us on Wellness Policies this spring!
2. TIPS AND RESOURCES
- Middle school students who eat breakfast in school – even if they had breakfast at home – are less likely to be overweight or obese than students who skip breakfast, according to a new study by researchers at the Rudd Center and the Yale School of Public Health.
- Philadelphia Mayor Kenney launches campaign to support Pre-K, parks and more through revenues from a new soda tax. Read more on Philly.com.
- A new issue brief from Healthy Eating Research and Bridging the Gap, looks at the changing landscape of food-related fundraising in schools.
- USDA announced $6.8 million in training grants to support healthy schools. "Grants through this program are intended to conduct and evaluate training, nutrition education, and technical assistance activities to support the implementation of USDA nutrition standards for snacks and meals, like school breakfast.
- U.K. to Introduce Soda Tax in 2018, by Sarah Begley in Time. March 16, 2016. The tax "would raise more than £500 million (about $700 million) which will be applied toward funding school sports."
3. CONNECT
#FoodFri Tweetchat on March 18: Bringing Healthy Food to Small Stores in Food Deserts
Join #FoodFri on March 18, 2016 at 1pm ET as we chat with @HEResearch about their latest report "Minimum Stocking Levels and Marketing Strategies of Healthful Foods for Small Retail Food Stores". We'll discuss how to bring healthy food into a community, and marketing strategies small stores can use to increase sales. Just follow #FoodFri and @MomsRising to participate!
Tweet: Join me, @MomsRising, @HEResearch to chat #marketing & healthy foods for small stores/#bodegas on 3/18, 1pET http://action.momsrising.org/go/6740?ak_proof=1&t=15&akid=7763.2330752.QPSUfO #FoodFri
In the Facebook Group: Healthy Easter Basket!
Stop by the GFF Facebook Group to share your thoughts on why a healthy breakfast is SO important, your favorite breakfast recipes, and more! The group is open to all; simply request to join.
Next Week's Update: Healthy Holiday Recipes!
Got a favorite recipe to share? Bring it on! We're compiling, tweeting and posting favorites from the Good Food Force all week. Please email us to share your favorite healthy holiday creation! (Extra points if they're in the shape of a bunny or carrot.)
4. SPOTLIGHT
Small Actions Can Have a BIG Impact
If there's a theme for this week's update, it's that as parents and consumers we have tremendous power to push back against junk food. This week we're sharing a photo Liz shared on the GFF Facebook page, asking a local store to stop handing out candy to kids. This is a great example of small actions that make a big difference! Thank you Liz!
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