William Rainier Rozelle

Hi,

We might be a little distracted for a while. Joan delivered our son last night. A healthy 8 lb 3 oz bundle of joy. We both are over the moon, as this is our first child. Of course, he'll be eating very locally for at least the next 6 months ;-)

Regards,
Bob

American Premium Blends launches On-line Store!

Eat Local Food is pleased to announce the successful launch of a new web site, on-line store and blog for customer American Premium Blends, a Michigan-based company that produces high-quality fruit juice concentrates.

With products that have no added sugars, colors, flavors or preservatives, American Premium Blend’s mission is to develop all natural healthy living drinks that will empower their customers to achieve and maintain a healthy life style. Prior to the launch of their on-line store, American Premium Blends products were available at stores, restaurants and farmers markets located all over Michigan. When visiting Michigan, out-of-state visitors frequently asked the owners of the company how to purchase their products elsewhere. The new on-line store not only gives American Premium Blends access to out-of-state customers, but provides existing customers with an easy ordering mechanism to try new products, place re-orders, and send healthy gifts to friends and family.

The American Premium Blends blog allows the company to stay in touch with existing customers by announcing weekend free tasting events, farmers market locations and product news. Visit their new blog to stay tuned with current company happenings!

Eat Local Food is dedicated to providing graphic and art design, merchandise and services to assist food producers, farmers, food retailers and local restaurateurs promote their local food businesses. In 2008, we added web site design, development, deployment and maintenance to our service offerings. Our service includes a free initial consultation, proposal and quote developed specifically for you and your business needs. We do not use cookie-cutter templates – we believe your web site should represent you, your values and your business. Here’s some information about what we offer, please visit “service offerings” in our on-line store at www.eatlocalfoodstore.com to learn more.

Website: Eat Local Food will design your website using provided photographs and logos. A maximum of 7 pages are included in the standard price. Website design will be for development using the Open Source product MODx Content Management System (http://www.modxcms.com). This product is licensed under the Gnu General Public License.

Option 1: Small Webstore: Eat Local Food will design a small webstore within the website using provided photographs and logos. A maximum of 10 initial products are included in the standard price. Webstore design will be for development using the Treasure Chest (http://www.treasurechestcart.com) extension to MODX which integrates with PayPal. This product is licensed under the Gnu General Public License.

Option 2: Large Webstore: Eat Local Food will design your webstore using provided photographs and logos. A maximum of 20 initial products are included in the standard price. Webstore design will be for development using the Open Source product osCommerce (http://www.oscommerce.com). This product is also licensed under the Gnu General Public License.

Optional Blog: Eat Local Food will design your blog using provided photographs and logos. Design will be for deployment using Blogger (http://www.blogger.com).

Made in Michigan? Here's an Opportunity to Showcase your Product

Looking to showcase your food or agriculture product to thousands of motivated buyers? The Michigan Department of Agriculture’s (MDA) Select Michigan Program is seeking Michigan food and agriculture companies to showcase their products in a special Select Michigan Pavilion at the 2009 Associated Food and Petroleum Dealers, Inc. (AFPD) Annual Trade Show being held April 27-28, 2009 at Rock Financial Showplace in Novi.

The AFPD Annual Trade Show is a selling trade show attracting buyers from supermarkets, specialty stores, restaurants, drug stores, bars, convenience stores, and service stations featuring two days with 10 hours of uninterrupted selling.

MDA’s Select Michigan Program is offering exhibit space within the pavilion to Michigan food processors, specialty food companies, and other food and agriculture businesses at a substantially discounted rate. Discounts of up 70% are available. The deadline for reserving booth space is Monday, March 16th.

Never exhibited before? Don't worry, the Select Michigan staff will coach you through the process. So, if you have questions or need more information, contact Christine Lietzau, Select Michigan Program Manager, MDA at 517-373-9800 or lietzauc@michigan.gov.

Creativity with Local Food can Spark Your Child’s Appetite

“I can’t” said the ant was a book that I loved as a child, so to celebrate the upcoming birth of our baby, my sister bought me a vintage copy as a present. “I can’t” said the ant was written by Polly Cameron, and was first published by Scholastic Books in 1961. Although it’s no longer in print, it’s a timeless children’s story about a group of caring and encouraging kitchen-based characters working together to save their broken teapot friend. It’s not only a great lesson in how teamwork and perseverance prevail, but it’s a wonderful way to teach your child about food and rhyming. Here’s an excerpt:
"What's all the clatter?" said the platter. "Teapot fell," said the dinner bell. "Pick her up," said the cup. "I can't," said the ant. "Please try," said the pie. "You must," said the crust. The rhymes will stick with you – my parents still say ““what a relief,” said the beef” after a stressful moment has ended.

Another creative food idea was presented in an article I read today on www.LiveScience.com about kids preferring vegetables with “cool names”. In a new study, 186 four-year-olds were given regular carrots and, on other lunch days, they were given the same vegetables renamed X-ray Vision Carrots. On the days they were served X-ray Vision Carrots, the kids ate nearly twice as many carrots, and perhaps more importantly, the higher rate of carrot consumption continued even after they were no longer labeled with a creative name.

Researcher Collin Payne states, "Whatever sparks their imagination seems to spark their appetite." Here’s the link to the article:
http://www.livescience.com/health/090302-kids-veggies.html

One more creative way to teach your children to make a connection with their food is through gardening. Two things children love is to play in the dirt and to be active. Letting them plant, care for and harvest their own little garden accomplishes both. The underlying benefit to parents is that they are learning. Children will experience a sense of pride and enjoyment when growing and cultivating their own fruits, vegetables and flowers. They also tend to be more willing to taste produce they grew on their own, leading to healthy eating and less risk of obesity. Here’s a great organization that even provide a free “Parent’s Primer” with guidance on how to make the most of your family garden: http://www.kidsgardening.org/family.asp. There are 10 chapters with topics such as how to start on paper, get ideas, choose what to plant, and building a small garden.

So instead of hiding your child’s vegetables in purees and under batter, try some activities like gardening, creative naming and rhyming with fruits and vegetables. Who says you can’t have fun with your food? Your children will be more likely to enjoy their food now and to develop healthy eating habits that will last a lifetime.