It seems as if I've been away for a while, but only from the computer...not from my "calling" of helping kids (including my own!) eat healthier.  I'm happy to report that more kids than ever are consuming vegetables, especially at Bridge Point Elementary School, here in Austin.  This year I've been helping them introduce a new "Lifeskill," called "Healthy Choices" (the principal is obviously VERY forward-thinking and proactive), and every week I feel more hopeful that it's possible to circumvent those scary stats looming over our children and their future.

For example, this week we finished filming "Veggie Raps," where kids created their own raps about--you guessed it--veggies!  Honestly, some were so darling I nearly fell over.  Besides the sheer creativity and talent, I enjoyed two other great delights...First, I had vastly underestimated the number of students who would find celery, broccoli, and cauliflower poetically compelling.  I'd anticipated about 30 kids would join in the veggie jam, but over 100 kids wrote and performed Veggie Raps!  (We had to film over a three-day period.) From dainty kindergarteners to fifth grade "jocks," pretty much everyone got in on the healthy fun.

The other unexpected Veggie Rap thrill was getting to quiz the kids on their produce-eating habits.  I challenged them, "OK, so you're writing FABULOUS rhymes about veggies...are you actually eating them?"  Without exception, they answered in the affirmative.  Not only that, but they proceeded to detail their upgrades: "I used to eat chips after school, but now I eat carrots."  "I've been trying broccoli every way I can think of...including with chocolate!"  "At night I make a salad for my school snack, so it's ready in the morning when I leave."

After the winners have been announced, I'll be putting the Veggie Raps up on our website, and on YouTube, as well, so watch for those fun videos...and have your kids watch them with you.  I'm certain these talented rappers will inspire many, many veggie resistors and veggie-lovers alike!

Oh, and about those breakfast innovations...I'm working on those, too.  I've created whole grain pancakes (and by that, I really mean WHOLE grains like teff, amaranth, and millet, not combined grains that have been pulverized into a flour), morning soup, and dandelion breakfast tacos, among other breakfast-nutrifying, boredom-stopping a.m. ideas...and I'll be putting those up soon!

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