Pinnacle Foods' Birds Eye® Brand Awards "Share the Wonder" Grants to Help Local Communities Discover the Wonder of Vegetables

MOUNTAIN LAKES, N.J., Oct. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Announced today, five local organizations will receive a total of $55,000 in Birds Eye® "Share the Wonder" grant money to support sharing the wonder of vegetables in their communities.  Pinnacle Foods' Birds Eye brand kicked off the first-ever "Share the Wonder" grant program to provide financial rewards to nonprofit organizations that inspire communities and their children to discover the wonder of vegetables.

"At Birds Eye, we believe that everyone has the right to enjoy vegetables any time, any place, and we celebrate the organizations that make vegetables more enjoyable and accessible for children in their local communities," said Rodrigo Troni, vice president of marketing for Birds Eye. "We had an overwhelming response to the 'Share the Wonder' grant program, with nearly 100 nonprofit organizations nominated and thousands of votes cast. We're thrilled to give five local organizations this money to help share the wonder of vegetables in local communities and Feed Kids Better."

Each organization was nominated for a "Share the Wonder" grant at www.facebook.com/BirdsEyeVegetables and chosen as a finalist based on originality, the quality of the organization's vegetable-focused efforts and its passion for vegetables. The organizations then rallied their own fans and followers to vote based on a video about its cause.

The five organizations are being awarded based on the number of votes each received during the "Share the Wonder" grant program voting period. The winners are as follows:

• $20,000 - The Dinner Garden, San Antonio, Texas - In the face of the recession a local family began to help communities weather tough times by growing produce themselves. They began giving away fruit and vegetable seeds and teaching others how to grow their own food. Out of this family initiative came the Dinner Garden, which helps share the wonder of vegetables by providing people with vegetable seeds, free of charge and supports their efforts with gardening information and tips for cheap gardening. Today, the nonprofit has gardeners in all 50 states, has given seeds to over 65,000 families and has more than 50,000 families on their waiting list. The Dinner Garden will use the Birds Eye Grant to provide more seeds to families nationwide.

• $15,000 - Pennypack Farm & Education Center, Philadelphia, Pa. - Pennypack Farm & Education Center provides educational programming to children and adults from Philadelphia and its suburbs.  Classes at the farm teach where food comes from, how to grow your own food and how families can improve the way they live by cooking and eating well. At Pennypack, children are engaged in every wonderful step of veggie production from planting seeds, to nurturing sprouts and cooking meals. Pennypack helps children to discover that vegetables are both nutritious and fun! Pennypack will use the Birds Eye Grant to support educational programming, making it more affordable for children throughout the community.

• $10,000 – The Nashville Mobile Market, Nashville, Tenn. - The Nashville Mobile Market is a nonprofit that was created in February 2011 to bring fresh, affordable vegetables into the food deserts of Nashville. They aim to educate, empower, and provide the residents of Nashville with adequate access to healthy vegetables, fruits, whole grains, dairy products and lean meats. The Nashville Mobile Market unlocks the wonder of vegetables with nutrition education classes, healthy recipe suggestions and by providing fresh produce on a weekly basis to Nashville's food deserts. The Nashville Mobile Market will use the Birds Eye Grant towards providing more vegetable education in Nashville.

• $5,000 - Edible Schoolyard New Orleans, New Orleans, La. - Edible Schoolyard New Orleans aims to change the way children eat, learn and live in FirstLine Schools.  It is a comprehensive, hands-on food education program that integrates gardening and cooking into the curriculum, culture and cafeteria food programs for more than 2,000 children who live in depopulated areas in New Orleans. Edible Schoolyard New Orleans will use the Birds Eye Grant towards their Open Garden Days where the community is invited to work, harvest, and share meals created with veggies and herbs from the gardens.

• $5,000 - ChopChop, Boston, Mass. - ChopChop is a Boston-based nonprofit that educates kids across the U.S. to cook and be nutritionally literate, empowers them to actively participate as health partners with their families and helps establish better eating habits for a lifetime of good nutrition. ChopChop distributes a FREE magazine to help educate kids about food, show them how to cook and encourage fun family time in the kitchen. The magazine features fun facts, activities and kid-friendly veggie-powered recipes – like zucchini ribbons, double corn cakes, carrot cupcakes and cauliflower - all to celebrate vegetables. ChopChop will use the Birds Eye Grant to create 5,000 magazines for children who cannot afford a subscription.

Vegetables Anytime, Anywhere

Birds Eye helps people "Discover the Wonder of Vegetables™" by making them easy, delicious and accessible for everyone. With more than 40 unique vegetables offered and countless ways to enjoy them, from pure and simple vegetables and steamed varieties, to veggie powered recipes and complete vegetable rich meals, Birds Eye gives consumers limitless possibilities to get vegetables on their plates every day.

Visit www.facebook.com/birdseyevegetables for serving ideas, tips and tools to help make vegetables the star of the plate.

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.

About Pinnacle Foods Group LLC

Millions of times a day in more than 85% of American households, consumers reach for Pinnacle Foods brands.  We are a leading producer, marketer and distributor of high-quality branded food products, which have been trusted household names for decades.  Headquartered in Mountain Lakes, NJ, our business employs more than 4,500 people in North America. We are a leader in the shelf stable and frozen foods segments and our brands hold the #1 or #2 market position in 8 out of 12 major category segments in which they compete. Our Duncan Hines Grocery Division manages brands such as Duncan Hines® baking mixes and frostings, Vlasic® pickles, peppers, and relish, Mrs. Butterworth's® and Log Cabin® syrups, Armour® canned meats, Nalley® and Brooks® chili and chili ingredients, and Open Pit® barbecue sauces. Our Birds Eye Frozen Division manages brands such as Birds Eye® vegetables, Birds Eye Steamfresh®, C&W®, McKenzie's® and Freshlike® vegetables, Birds Eye Voila!® meals, Aunt Jemima® frozen breakfasts, Swanson® and Hungry-Man® dinners and entrees, Van de Kamp's® and Mrs. Paul's® seafood, Lender's® bagels and Celeste® frozen pizza. Our Specialty Food group manages Tim's Cascade Snacks®, Hawaiian™ Kettle Style Potato Chips Snyder of Berlin® and Husman's® in addition to our food service and private label businesses. Further information is available at www.pinnaclefoods.com.

SOURCE Pinnacle Foods Group LLC