"Plaid" by Peter Welch, on display in the For the Love of Food exhibit at the Children's Museum of NH's Gallery 6 through Spetember 5, 2010.

The Children’s Museum of NH is putting fresh food in focus with For the Love of Food, an art exhibit featuring images of nutritious foods—especially fruits and vegetables—depicted in attractive ways. This collection of paintings, photos, and illustrations by more than a dozen acclaimed New Hampshire artists is accompanied by nutritional information, recipes, and helpful suggestions designed to support caregivers in encouraging kids to make wise food choices.

For the Love of Food will be on display in the museum’s Gallery 6 during regular business hours (Tuesday–Saturday, 10 am–5 pm, Sunday 12 noon–5 pm, and Mondays 10-5 during July & August) through September 5. No admission fee is required to view the gallery only; regular museum admission is required to explore the rest of the museum.

In conjunction with the exhibit, Eileen Behan, RD, will present a 1-hour interactive workshop entitled Exploring Fruits and Vegetables on Tuesday, July 13, at 11 am. Families with children of all ages are invited to explore the amazing world of fresh foods and participate in a fun, food-related scavenger hunt. This family workshop is included with regular museum admission, and advance registration is not required.

The Children’s Museum of NH is located at 6 Washington Street, Dover, NH. For more information about the museum, the exhibit, the workshop, and other special events, please visit the museum’s website.

Are you concerned about nutrition in America’s schools?

Do you want America’s children to eat “real food” in school lunches?

Last year, Slow Food Seacoast participated in Slow Food USA’s Time for Lunch: National Day of Action by planting greens for school lunches at Dover High School. (See the evidence here!) Please join the Time for Lunch campaign by contacting legislators before Wednesday, March 24, when the Agriculture Committee will begin marking up the first draft of the Child Nutrition Act.

For a list of relevant contacts in Congress, please click here.

This BBC report features a Virginia farmer who is “feeding the community one stop at a time” as he takes his wares on the road—literally! His “Farm to Family” bus brings fresh food (vegetables, fruit, dairy, eggs, fresh meat, and bacon) to food deserts in Richmond, VA. And he uses Facebook to get the word out to customers! How cool is that?

The video also features commentary from Slow Food USA president Josh Viertel.

The Farm Bus on BBC News

Via NOFA-NH:

The theme of this year’s Northeast Organic Farming Association, New Hampshire Chapter (NOFA-NH), Winter Conference is “A Place at the Table”. It encourages everybody to become involved in shaping an organic farming and food future. There is a place at the table for everyone at the NOFA Winter conference, but we are especially encouraged by the prospect of young voices participating in the discussion. Keynote speaker Sharon Astyk will offer a special family-centered workshop on the topic of creating a viable way of life. The conference has many informational sessions that would be relevant to future farmers and consumers interested in organic food and farming. In addition, there is a special track for youth presented by youth.

Early registration discounts are available through February 26.

WHEN: Saturday March 6, 2010

WHERE: Rundlett Middle School, Concord, NH

CONTACT: Winter Conference Coordinator Scott Morrison, (603) 226-9434, WinterConference@nofanh.org, NOFA-NH website

How do kids learn to eat well - or poorly? With food manufacturers aggressively pushing junk food and branded processed food at kids, teaching the children in your life about good, clean, fair food isn’t an easy task. It might help to know what you’re up against.

On February 11 at 6:30 the first Seacoast screening of a provocative documentary on marketing food and other consumer goods directly to children. The Rye PTA and Nature’s Wonders are partnering to present  CONSUMING KIDS: The Commercialization of Childhood . This film by the Media Education Foundation reveals the practices of a million-dollar marketing machine that now sells kids and their parents everything from junk food and video games to bogus educational products. 

Drawing on the insights of health care professionals, children’s advocates, and industry insiders, the film focuses on the explosive growth of child marketing in the wake of deregulation, showing how youth marketers have used the latest advances in psychology and neuroscience to transform Children into the most powerful and profitable consumer demographics in the world.

CONSUMING KIDS pushes back against the wholesale commercialization of childhood, raising urgent questions about the ethics of children’s marketing and its impact on the health and well-being of kids. The film will be shown at the Rye Public Library on February 11 at 6:30 PM.

Slow Food Seacoast’s “Time for Lunch” eat-in was actually a teach-in/workday. An enthusiastic crowd met at the Dover, NH, High School greenhouses to initiate a greens growing project that will supply the district cafeterias with salad mix once a week.

Shawn and Sarah Stimson, organic farmers from Sustainable Farm Products, volunteered their time to give a demonstration and answer questions. Afterward, we all piled into the greenhouse to plant 36 trays for the school. It was a fantastic morning!

More pictures on our Flickr page.

Saturday, May 2, 8:30-4:15 p.m.

Saturday, May 2nd, 8:30-4:15 p.m.

This alert just in from Kidsgardening.org, a branch of the National Gardening Association:

“Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has included an amendment in the Farm Bill to authorize $10,000,000 to establish a pilot program for community school gardens. The Farm Bill passed the Senate by a vote of 79 to 14 on December 14 with the school garden amendment intact. The Farm Bill is now headed to conference committee where the Senate and House will determine the final version of the bill which goes to the President. Your letters, e-mails, and phone calls to your representatives in the House can help ensure that the school garden amendment is included in the final version of the Farm Bill.”

More information on the actual amendment can be found on the KidsGardening Website.

Representatives can be reached by calling the general Congressional switchboard number: (202) 224-3121.