Highlighting the BLOGHER conference.

I wanted to share with you the BLOGHER conference that I went to last month before it gets away from me.  Let me first say, that it was so amazing to have a room full of women who blog about food.  I was totally in my element.   Everyone was pleasant and chatty and wanted to share their ideas and their blogs with eachother.  All of the women I chatted with were eager to learn new things, network and share their information.  It was great!  What could be better!?    I am also going to FOODBUZZ this upcoming weekend, more on that later.

I went to three seminars and I have to say that my favorite was the one with Mrs. Q http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/, Laura from Alaska at http://heywhatsfordinnermom.blogspot.com/ and two other moderators who were quite interesting.  It was a discussion about school lunches and boy do we need this discussion.  How do we expect children to learn if they are being fed processed, canned, and packaged foods that were made (when?) days, or weeks ago, we will never know.  I don't have school age children anymore, but I get sick to my stomach thinking that children are not a priority in our politician's minds.   Taking money from schools to pay the fat budgets of our states debacles, is criminal.   Have your city councilman, and politicos taken a pay cut recently?  God forbid their lunch money should be cut from the budgets.   But I am getting on my soap box.

If you want to help or want to know what to do in your own child's elementary, middle or high schools, check these sites out and commit to a plan of action with your parent/teacher association, school boards, and state goverment officials.  
Check out the SWAG (above) from this event....Thank you great SPONSORS, including Nutella, Athenos, Annie's, Seattle's Best, Dentyne, Cuties (tangerines! yum) and Scharffenberger Chocolate, Nature's Best and I am sure I missed a couple.....

Check out these sites on the internet to see what you can do to help in your community.
 http://www.chezpanissefoundation.org/what-you-can-do  Alice Waters was an early proponent for lunch programs and The Edible Schoolyard Program.  Her site is full of information for teachers and educators and parents.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution   Jamie Oliver has comandeered front and center for his cause of changing America's school lunch programs.  Check it out.

There is also a national campaign going on with Michelle Obama manning (womanning? Is this a word?  It should be.) the "Let's Move" ship.  It is a large ship that needs to turn around in shallow waters, but I am happy that she has started this journey.  http://www.letsmove.gov/

Happy Cooking!  Tricia