Oceana Commissary Helps Kids Play With Their Veggies At Family-Fun Event On Friday, August 2
Birds Eye Sponsored Event Fuels Health Eating Fun for Military Families
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Aug. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Ninety percent of kids don't eat the recommended amount of veggies each day and summer is an ideal time to try a new and more playful approach. On Friday, August 2nd, Birds Eye Vegetables is inviting families stationed at Oceana Naval Base to "play with their veggies" and help kids eat healthier as part of its national summer-long campaign to encourage kids to eat more vegetables.
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The Play with Your Birds Eye Veggies outdoor event will be held from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. at the Oceana NAS Commissary and will both show kids how fun eating veggies can be as well as inspire families to turn up the dinnertime fun at home. Parents and kids can pit carrot against broccoli in a wacky, action-packed stationary bike race, create their own silly veggie self-portrait on a plate, get nutrition advice from a Registered Dietitian, and take home a free gift bag with kid-friendly veggie meal ideas.
The event is part of a summer-long national program led by Jennette McCurdy, star of Nickelodeon's hit show, Sam & Cat. McCurdy and Birds Eye are encouraging families across the country to get out and play more and eat healthier this summer by Rewriting the Dinnertime Rules. The multi-week challenge puts more play on the plate by inviting families to play with their food and, more specifically, their Birds Eye veggies. Families can get involved with the program at www.birdseye.com or www.facebook.com/BirdsEyeVegetables. At the August 2nd event, one local Virginia Beach military family will win a trip to Nickelodeon's 10th annual Worldwide Day of Play this fall.
Rewriting the Rules Inspiration
McCurdy and Birds Eye have the following suggestions for getting started Rewriting the Dinnertime Rules. These rules are only the beginning, McCurdy says. "Kids have endless imagination—veggie tacos, veggie faces, veggie 'try' outs and on and on. Rewriting the rules means letting them put the fun in the picture. I had so much fun filming as I played with my Birds Eye veggies, so I hope kids will watch my videos and they will provide inspiration!"
Rule #1: Role Reversal. Kids pick the menu and the veggies, help shop for the groceries and are in charge (with a little help from mom and dad) in the kitchen. Plus, they get to pick the theme and dress and decorate accordingly, whether it's hitting the "beach," bringing out your family's wild side in the "jungle" or cheering on your favorite sports team.
Rule #2: Play with Your Birds Eye Veggies! You can use your veggies to make smiley faces or create colorful rainbows on your plate ... you can even give your broccoli a mohawk haircut (really!) – just have fun!
Rule #3: Celebrate Every Bite. It can take up to 12 times for a kid to try a new type of veggie, or any new food before he or she begins liking it (www.choosemyplate.gov). So, keep it up! And while you're at it, give yourself a high five for every bite your kid takes.
Rule #4: Be a Veggie Explorer. There are all sorts of cool and surprising ways to serve veggies. Like smoothies (mixed veggies with yogurt, OJ and honey), popsicles (carrots and OJ) and salad dressings (carrot ginger). You AND your kids will be amazed at all the cool ways you can eat your veggies.
The Birds Eye and Nickelodeon partnership is in its second year. In 2012, the program drove a 20 percent increase in incremental volume for Birds Eye versus 2011. Not only did last year's program drive brand sales and overall category growth, the effort helped in reversing a negative trend in the category and increased vegetable consumption in a fun, engaging way.
The program also is part of Birds Eye's commitment to the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), which works with the private sector and PHA Honorary Chair First Lady Michelle Obama to end childhood obesity within a generation. First Lady Michelle Obama has lauded Birds Eye's innovative approach to inspiring kids and helping support families in healthier eating.
"This year's program is about getting kids to try new vegetables by making dinner time fun for them. We know that when kids are involved in the dinner process, they are more likely to want to eat what they helped create," said PHA Chief Marketing Officer Drew Nannis. "Birds Eye is showing not only that companies can be a positive, proactive part of making the healthy choice easier for kids, but also that they can be profitable while doing it."
Along with the consumer education programs and contests, this summer Birds Eye has launched an entire new product line called Recipe Ready that helps families save time with ingredient ready, fresh frozen vegetables assortments for the most popular meals we cook today. With more than 20 vegetable combinations for meals like fajitas, beef stew, pasta primavera, stir fry and grilling favorites, the Recipe Ready product line cuts down on the prep work of gathering and prepping the vegetables so instead of slicing and dicing the cook can focus on the rest and deliver weeknight meals more often.
"When families eat dinner together more often, children receive many benefits including better eating habits," Birds Eye Senior Vice President of Marketing Rodrigo Troni said, "We believe our product and programs are helping make a difference."
Consumers can enter the Rewrite the Dinnertime Rules sweepstakes, receive weekly ideas for increasing family fun with kid-friendly veggie-eating ideas and more at Birdseye.com or by following the brand page at Facebook.com/Birdseye.
About Birds Eye
Birds Eye® unlocks the wonder of vegetables and makes them accessible and enjoyable to everyone, everyday. Using vegetables picked and frozen at their peak of freshness, Birds Eye® helps Americans make vegetables a meaningful part of everyday life. Providing a range of tasty and exciting solutions that make eating vegetables a memorable taste experience, Birds Eye® has something for everyone: with pure and simple vegetables under the Birds Eye®, C&W®, Freshlike® and McKenzie's® brand names; Birds Eye Steamfresh® vegetables and vegetable rich blends; and Birds Eye Voila!® complete frozen meals. For more information on Birds Eye® visit www.birdseye.com or www.facebook.com/BirdsEyeVegetables. Birds Eye® is a portfolio brand of Pinnacle Foods Inc.
About Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon, now in its 34th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in almost 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 18 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB)
About The Partnership for a Healthier America
The Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) is devoted to working with the private sector to ensure the health of our nation's youth by solving the childhood obesity crisis. In 2010, PHA was created in conjunction with – but independent from – First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! effort. PHA is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that is led by some of the nation's most respected health and childhood obesity experts. PHA brings together public, private and nonprofit leaders to broker meaningful commitments and develop strategies to end childhood obesity. Most important, PHA ensures that commitments made are commitments kept by working with unbiased third parties to monitor and publicly report on the progress our partners are making. For more information about PHA, please visit www.aHealthierAmerica.org and follow PHA on Twitter @PHAnews.
SOURCE Birds Eye
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