PANERA CARES COMMUNITY CAFE Contributed by Tami Carey
If you walk into one of Panera Bread's Panera Cares Community Cafes, you may not notice anything different at first. It looks like a Panera. The menu is the same Panera Bread menu you'd find anywhere else. But as you move through the line, you'll realize that where the cashier should be, there's a donation box and at the bottom of the receipt, where the total should be, is a suggested donation amount.
Panera Cares is a new kind of cafe, run by Panera Bread Foundation, a non-profit organization which allows customers to pay what they can, if they can, with the option to volunteer an hour of time in exchange for a meal if they can't. And, while it seems like a huge risk to gamble the cafe's success on the goodness and honesty of people, they have found that most customers pay the suggested donation amount while 20% pay more. Knowing that paying full price or even an extra dollar could help fund or supplement the meal of the person standing behind you seems to make an often thoughtless daily exchange much more personal. Not to mention, part of the donated money goes towards offering job and life skills training for at-risk youth as well as continuing to help feed those in need.
 With their first cafe opening one year ago in Clayton, MO, they have already opened two more locations in Dearborn, MI and Portland, OR. A spokeswoman for Panera confirmed that more Care Cafes are in the works but no new locations have been announced. In their 2011 press release, Ron Shaich, Panera Bread's co-founder and Executive Chairman, and President of the Panera Bread Foundation was quoted as saying, "The vision for the Panera Cares cafe was to use Panera's unique restaurant skills to address real societal needs and make a direct impact in communities. Thus, the Foundation developed these community cafes to make a difference by addressing the food insecurity issues that affect millions of Americans."
Well, that is certainly thinking outside the (lunch)box.
__________________________________________________
NEIGHBORHOOD FRUIT FOR THE PICKING! Contributed by Tami Carey  We've all probably begun to lose count of the number of news reports and studies all speculating about why our nation is in the unhealthy state that it's in. Fast food is more accessible and easier for our on-the-go lifestyles. Fast food is cheaper than healthier options. But, while money doesn't grow on trees, fruit does. And it may be more accessible than you think.
Neighborhoodfruit.com is a free online service that not only locates public fruit, vegetables and nuts that are ripe for the (free) picking in your neighborhood, they also allow those who have more than enough in their private gardens and yards to share with the Neighborhood Fruit community. Their website hosts very easy to use maps and fruit locators and, yes, there is an app for this. Iphone users can download Find Fruit, Neighborhoodfruit.com's handy  mobile companion. Also, be sure to follow their blog and sign up to receive their e-newsletter to stay in the fruit loop. Website: www.neighborhoodfruit.com To download the Find Fruit App, visit www.itunes.com Images Courtesy Of: NeighborhoodFruit.com
__________________________________________________
SCHOOL LUNCH LESSONS Contributed by Food For Lunch  Concerned about school lunches? Want to advocate for more nutritious meals for kids? Here are a few links to what is going on in the school lunch world...join in the push for healthier lunch!
> Changes in Washington DC schools: healthy school lunch pilot programs and made from scratch lunch kitchens;
> Chef Cathal Armstrong, also in Washington DC, and his group Chefs as Parents plan to develop a healthier school lunch model by adopting individual schools;
> Great American Salad Bar Project with Chef Ann Cooper and Whole Foods, plus The Lunchbox.org, their toolkit for creating healthy changes at any school;
> Revolution Foods is a vendor with contract nationwide that many schools are using to supply healthy lunches to their students;
> In Los Angeles, RootDown LA is a program that confronts obesity and related health issues in South Central Los Angeles by engaging youth in the education and skills training necessary to build demand for healthy food. LA Sprouts is a similar program.
> Food for Lunch is a group of concerned parents, residents, and community organizations from across Los Angeles working together to affect positive change in the LAUSD lunchroom.
PLUS: Better School Food, Farm to School, Healthy School Food, Jamie Oliver, School Food Focus, and School Nutrition Association. __________________________________________________ IS CANOLA OIL HEALTHY? Contributed by Liam Blume  In 1994, I helped launch the Candle Cafe in New York City with Bart Potenza and Joy Pearson. What a trudging thrill it was! Our vision was to provide the healthiest, farm fresh meals that one could eat to support a healthy lifestyle. So we started incorporating and mainstreaming ideas and products we now know of as local food, sustainable, organic farming, macrobiotics, raw food, vegan, and much more.
Back then when we were coming up with new recipes, a product came on the scene that became more and more prevelant in tasty dishes and desserts -- Canola oil. I recall people touting it as a good cost saver, flavor helper and tasty alternative to Olive Oil. And now here we are 16 years later and people are attacking it, along with soy products. Organizations are saying the product was pushed through the FDA politically without research to back up its claims. So which is it? Is Canola Oil healthy or bad for you? Here are some great articles to get you started with your exploration and investigation, so you can decide what you feel is right for your body.
Related articles by Zemanta:
> Canola Oil is Classic Example of Food Fraud (www.naturalnews.com)
> Up Next: Canola Oil (beinghealthyhomeandaway.blogspot.com)
> Get the Skinny on Fats (lifescript.com)
> Canola: The New Generation of Protein Substitutes (proteins-carb-fats.suite101.com)
> Heart Healthy Food: A Guide To Cardio-Vascular Nutrition (brighthub.com)
> Good Sources of Essential Fatty Acids (lifescript.com)
> Attack of the Giant Killer Canola? (reason.com)
|
Family Nutrition Resources
Become An (it) Sponsor!
You can help pave the way for placing more pro-social stories and resources in media, and fuel more purpose and passion in the world. Contact us at bizdev@itmagazine.net.
|
