April 6, 2010 -
PRLog -- Los Angeles, CA —For more than a decade, GrowingGreat™
, a non-profit nutrition education and school garden organization that is dedicated to inspiring children and adults to adopt healthy eating habits has been leading a national trend. Its important mission has gained the attention of multiple celebrities including Jamie Oliver, Tobey Maguire, Derek Fisher, Gabrielle Reese, Cat Cora, Jack Johnson, Carlos Santana and Kelly Meyer, who have all joined the effort to promote healthy eating habits by raising awareness and participating in events.
Prior to First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign (www.letsmove.gov/)
, GrowingGreat’
s proven, one-of-a-kind program has provided both education in classrooms and training to teachers, community leaders and families on nutrition and healthy eating. Their charge also includes a garden program, which gives students the opportunity to plant and harvest foods, enabling them with hands on learning experience and the chance to taste fresh foods. Since 1999, GrowingGreat has reached over 28,000 students and families in the Los Angeles area implementing programs in 20 schools and six school districts.
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has also joined the national movement spearheaded by GrowingGreat with his new series Food Revolution, which premiered on March 26, 2010 on ABC. In the series, Oliver uncovers the atrocities of America’s eating habits and stresses that nutrition education is the key to preventing disease and promoting healthier lifestyles. When receiving the TED prize (www.tedprize.org)
this month for his nutritional work, Oliver recognized that angel organizations like GrowingGreat need support and funding to continue making a difference in the community (www.jamieoliver.com/
campaigns/jamies-
food-revolution)
.
On March 22, 2010, environmental activist Kelly Meyer launched the sustainable Teaching Garden (www.takepart.com/
teachinggarden)
at Kelso Elementary School in Inglewood, CA with the help of GrowingGreat and a few celebrities. More than 700 students planted seeds with Tobey Maguire, Derek Fisher, Gabrielle Reese and Cat Cora. In the weeks to come, GrowingGreat will train Kelso teachers to implement their standard-based garden and nutrition curriculum to K-5 students. In alliance with GrowingGreat, Meyer’s goal is to roll the Teaching Garden out to 1,000 schools across America in the next year.
Prior to Meyers partnering with GrowingGreat, the program was issued a substantial grant by Jack Johnson’s Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation. The pro-surfer turned singer-songwriter’
s AINA In Schools also utilizes GrowingGreat's garden and nutrition curriculum in its programs that serve 5,000 students annually in eight public schools in Hawaii.
In 2009, GrowingGreat formed partnerships with Carlos Santana’s Milagro Foundation (www.milagrofoundation.org)
and the W.K.K Kellogg Foundation. GrowingGreat Marin City now brings school gardens, nutrition education, food access and health programs to the children and families of Marin City, an underserved community in Marin County, CA.
GrowingGreat was recently featured on Access Hollywood. See the clip here:
http://www.accesshollywood.com/the-stars-help-launch-the-... The organization was also recently featured in the Huffington Post,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-meyer/national-launch...GrowingGreat’
s 4th annual Healthy Living Festival is on Sunday May 16, 2010 in Manhattan Beach, CA. Information on this event will follow soon. For additional information on GrowingGreat, contact Sarah Gelb at 310-939-9216, visit www.growinggreat.org or email info@growinggreat.org.
