Enjoy the Flavors of Summer

My three-year-old daughter Mazie's favorite food is blueberries – fondly known as "blues." If you ask her, she will tell you the best day of her young life was the one on which she "picked blues with Grandma and Aunt Mary." Aunt Mary took her niece to an organic berry-picking farm, and when Mazie returned, she explained to me why: "There was only good stuff there, Mommy, nothing bad for me or the dirt."

As apparent in Mazie's trip to the berry-picking farm, summertime adventures are an excellent way for children to learn, even while school is out of session. There are many summer-friendly activities you can embark on this season to teach your children more about the world they live in and the food they eat:

• Local Fairs
  County and local fairs are tried and true summer rituals. Take advantage of these open-air activities to create learning opportunities, discussion topics and fun memories for your family.
• Take a Trip Back in Time
  Living museums, where different eras in history are recreated in a living timeline, are an excellent daytrip for children. Staff typically dresses in period costumes and demonstrates how early inhabitants in the area lived. They explain their lifestyles in character while performing day-to-day activities such as cooking and cultivating the land, and young visitors can often join in the activities. Wikipedia offers a list of living museums across the country.
• Plant a Garden, Watch it Grow
  For a child, a garden can be a very rewarding and valuable experience. If the thought of plowing up a corner of your yard is cringe-inducing, create a container garden in a large pot or window planter. The lessons learned through caring for and eventually enjoying the fruits (or veggies) of their labor will last for years to come.

Teaching our children about their world, as well as the food they eat, is good for them and the earth. Preparing and eating nutritious meals with your children is the next step in the right direction toward raising healthy, fit families. Providing foods like Hormel® Natural Choice® products, those that are nutritious, delicious, minimally processed with no preservatives and packaged in a sustainable way, enables you to begin a dialogue with your kids to help them realize that truly, we are what we eat.

When we began buying and eating the Hormel® Natural Choice® line of meats, Mazie noticed the difference. I explained that, like the blueberries, Hormel® Natural Choice® wasn't filled with anything bad for her body or the environment. My daughter knows what good food looks like and even recognizes the eco-friendly packaging of Hormel® Natural Choice®. As a parent, I'm glad to have the option to feed my family natural and organic foods, and I'm proud to be raising children who recognize that what is good for the earth, is good for us, too.

In Health,
Mary Beth Knight
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