Bring Back the Oranges … Please!

Last April, one week before the youth soccer season kicked off, Liz and her husband wrote a letter to their local newspaper urging parents to think twice before bringing junk food “team” snacks to their children’s weekend games. Liz’s two boys, who eat a pretty healthful diet during the week, were being inundated with sugary drinks, salty bags of chips, donuts, and even candy just for playing an hour of soccer or an afternoon of baseball. Things were out of control, to say the least.

Happily, their letter sparked a lot of sideline conversation, and the vast majority of parents agreed that junk food did not belong on the playing field. Once the community got behind the issue, Liz created a Fruit & Water Only team snack guideline which both the soccer club and the town’s Recreation Department adopted.

Now, every child who plays soccer looks forward to fresh fruit at halftime and right after the game. The parents are thrilled and the kids are just as happy eating a handful of sweet strawberries or a juicy slice of watermelon as they were with the donuts and cookies. The bottom line: One letter to the editor can change the behavior of an entire community!

Let us know what’s happening in your town – we’d love to hear from you.

Read the team snack guideline and sample letter to the editor: http://mealmakeovermoms.com/about/press/releases/index.html