America is facing a major health crisis, which can mostly be attributed to our diet. Many kids are eating processed foods daily; lots of sugary junk with little to no fruits or vegetables. About 25% of toddlers between ages one and two eat no fruits and vegetables at all. By the time American children are 15 months old (yes, 15 months!), French fries have become their most commonly consumed vegetable. The science overwhelmingly tells us that we can prevent (and even reverse) many of today’s epidemic illnesses and diseases by incorporating more whole foods (and less processed foods) into our diet. This starts with fruits and vegetables. According to one of the world leaders in nutrition research, T. Colin Campbell, who published more than 300 research papers including executing the most comprehensive study of health and nutrition ever conducted…if we all adopt a plant-based diet today we could potentially cut healthcare costs by up to 80%! Think about that for a minute. Can you imagine?
The nutrition guidelines in this country are backwards to say the least. They’re being upheld by outdated science, biases, traditions, and other misconceptions, rather than being based on real facts and science. We’re taking orders and advice from bureaucrats and doctors who are still stuck in the past when it comes to nutritional needs and disease prevention, the government is handing over huge subsidies to companies involved in factory farming, our kids in school are being “educated” by the USDA, and the billion-dollar industries that are exploiting animals, workers, and the environment are pulling the strings and controlling our food system. These societal issues are a little more complicated and difficult to untangle, but when it comes to our own families, we can take charge of the situation. We are in control of what our kids eat. After doing the research, we can be the experts. Kia Robertson, founder of Today I Ate A Rainbow! offers a creative, fun approach to helping families incorporate more fruits and vegetables into their daily diets.
Kia created the Rainbow Kit. The kit includes:
- 1 Today I Ate A Rainbow! chart
- 4 sets colored magnets
- 4 achievement magnets
- 2 fridge magnets
- 1 color-coded shopping list
- The Rainbow Bunch book
- 1 bonus bookmark
This kit gets kids excited about eating fruits and vegetables. When kids are allowed, and more importantly encouraged to be involved in the process of what they eat, they gain confidence, knowledge, and a sense of personal responsibility in their health. The Rainbow Kit has this power.
The package presentation is beautiful-- after all, who doesn’t love rainbows. The goal of the kit is to get kids to eat at least 5 fruits and vegetables every day… one from each color of the rainbow, by tracking them on a color-coded refrigerator chart. The magnets are stuck on the coordinating color column on the chart every time a fruit or veggie is eaten. (The rainbow chart includes a written list of foods from each color to help get kids started). Once five are eaten and the quota is filled for the day, the kids can stick on their achievement magnet. What a great achievement it is!
The kit also includes a shopping list notepad- creatively color-coded so you can write down what you want to pick up at the grocery store according to color.
The Rainbow Bunch book is also included. It tells the story of five kids who ate no fruits or veggies; they couldn’t focus at school, they were too tired to play, and they got sick all the time. Then one day, starting one bite at a time, they started to incorporate fruits and vegetables into their diets. They eat a rainbow each day, and they became happy and healthy! It’s a great book, and a perfect launching off pad for kids to get started eating a rainbow themselves. There’s also a rainbow bookmark included.
If you have kids, the Rainbow kit is worth its weight in gold. It’s an investment in your child’s health. So start today, and get kids involved and keep them involved way into to the future.
I highly recommend the book, Disease-Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. It is one of the most eye-opening, life changing books that I've ever read-- it will change the way you feed your children forever. In it, Dr. Fuhrman talks about the tremendous benefits of eating fruits and vegetables, and how it can have long-lasting positive effects on our health way into the future. An important, must-read for all parents (I wish this book was given out to all new parents in the hospital!).
Also check out the kid's book, The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach by Hillary Feerik and Jeff Hillenbrand.
Tell me your child's favorite fruit or vegetable in the comment section below and you will be entered in the contest to win a free Rainbow Kit!
Happy RAINBOW eating!