Media Attention for my first Jamie Oliver Food Revolution Event!

The decision to become an ambassador for the Jamie Oliver Food Revolution Day was not a decision I took lightly. If I was going to put my name on an event to get people back in the kitchen I needed it to be amazing! I was very blessed with exceptional volunteers that I will never forget! They were incredible and I will definitely be doing more events and they are always welcome to be part of events I will continue to host!

One of the most amazing things was the attention that what I was doing was getting me! People were interested in talking to me about this and getting the word out!

I was interviewed for Fanshawe College Student Union First! Thanks Erika! This was my very first time being interviewed for any article!!

http://www.fsu.ca/interrobang_article.asp?storyID=8468&sectionID=1&issueID=0#.T6FaiNvnUT4.facebook

Then the Londoner local newspaper  , an interview at a Tim hortons of all places lol..My decision and a green tea was my choice!

http://www.thelondoner.ca/2012/05/17/its-time-for-a-revolution–a-food-revolution

Then I was contacted by a local radio station looking to have me on their morning radio show! That was a fun interview with 98.1 Free FM!

http://981freefm.ca/2012/05/15/food-revolution-day-in-london/

One of my best friends who is becoming a wonderful writer with a true future wrote a blog about what I was doing!!

http://gethealthywithmichelle.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/food-revolution-day-my-friend-kirstens-impressions-of-what-i-am-doing/

Then I met one of my favorite people that I have encountered in London Ontario so far! Sean Meyers of the London Community News and that interview was shared with my wonderful volunteer Christine Taleski!

http://www.londoncommunitynews.com/2012/05/putting-london-on-the-path-to-a-food-revolution/

Then I was contacted by Am980 news in London asking for an interview on Thursday on the John Biggs Show on CJBK 1290 AM

I loved this interview which I did on the way back to London from a trip to Toronto with my team at work! 2 of my favourite co workers Greg and Keith were in the car with me and I do think this was my best interview!

http://www.cjbk.com/Episodes.aspx?PID=2321

Then last but not least was an interview with Metro News in London Ontario with Mila who was also interviewing my daughter Megan!

http://metronews.ca/news/london/228510/daughters-illness-inspires-london-mother-to-launch-food-revolution-day/

I am beyond thankful that everyone cared enough to do these interviews and articles! That was more than I could have ever asked for with my first event!! Thank you all!!

Starting a Food Revolution in London Ontario

I have been so very busy for the last couple weeks, not really much time to breathe let alone write a blog about what I am doing! Today I want to take a moment out of everything and share with you the incredible Jamie Oliver Food Revolution Day that will take place in London Ontario on Saturday, May 19,2012! 

I was asked if I would host the Food Revolution Day in London Ontario about 3 weeks ago. I knew this was a big deal and if I make a great event happen then other amazing things are sure to follow!

My basic reason for doing this revolves around my 15 year old daughter Megan who has been chronically ill since she was 12 years old.  I am a 43 year old overweight mother who is healthy. This makes no sense to me, I have earned a chronic illness by abusing my body for the last 25 years. I would completely understand if my liver yelled at me or if Diabetes caught up with me.  But I am extremely angry that our processed foods are now so processed with so many bad ingredients that our children’s bodies are overwhelmed and unable to cope before they become adults. I am extremely passionate about this and about protecting future generations from this damage. The only way this will change is if we approach it from a grass root level.  This event is the 1st of many I will be hosting!

I am thrilled, proud, excited about the amazing volunteers that I have been able to find in London Ontario to make this day happen. All of the events and seminars are free! So there is no excuse not to come out and become part of the revolution!

I thank Jill Wilcox of Jill’s Table for suggesting we host this at the Covent Gardens Market! Our host site is so perfect for this event and Amy Shackelton at the Market has gone above and beyond in arranging sponsorship from her boss so that our base expenses to run the event are covered!

Jill Wilcox also pointed me to Andrew Fleet who runs Growing Chefs in London Ontario! I love what Andrew does!! They go into schools and teach kids about growing vegetables, making salad dressing , making salads and just having fun learning about nutrition!

Growing Chefs will start our day in the Labatt Room at 10:00 am -12pm  Kids will be welcome to come in and make a fruit or vegetable character! Kinda like there own live mr potato head!  Kids will also have the opportunity to do colouring sheets and have fun! Growing Chef’s will also be showcased at the Grickle Grass festival at the Children’s Museum on May 26th in a full day of events that you should consider with your kids!

Britown Music will be doing 2 performances 1 starting at 10:15 and the next at 11am. My own daughter Megan is enjoying awesome singing lessons with Britown Music and she will be singing as one of their students during the kids event on May 19th!! I highly recommend Britown Music and love that they are starting RockBand Day Camps for this summer! If you have a pre-teen who will be restless this summer consider this choice!!

At 10:30 - 11:30  in the morning Parents are invited next door to learn about nutrition for children. Tracey Platero and Carole Persaud will teach you how to read labels, understand ingredient lists and give you tips on keeping your children healthy and strong. We will also warn you about the potential impact of high fructose corn syrup, and extremely high levels of sodium on their young organs.

At 12 pm registered dietician Melissa Briones will meet registered attendees upstairs and bring you on a tour of the market , highlighting where you can get Revolutionary Meals that support real food concepts of the food revolution and also where you can get organics.  Melissa will have some awesome tips for you!!

At 1pm come and listen to Dr. Kresimir Jug talk about Life By Design. “Life By Design is an essential part of transforming the world’s health. It is based on powerful principles that are scientific, logical and easy to follow. Health is your birthright. It is that natural, normal expression of living your Life By Design.” He has an amazing clinic in London called  Gainsborough Family Chiropractor with his lovely wife Rachel and I am now a member of their client family!

 

At 3 pm come and listen to Margarita Ibbott and Melissa Briones talk about Healthy Eating on A budget and Organizing your Kitchen! this session  is targeted to young adults starting out or anyone struggling to make ends meet that still want to eat healthy, we will have tips and suggestions for planning your meals. We will also teach you how to organize a kitchen to make cooking easy and convenient.

I can’t forget to name some of the other volunteers that are helping me to make this event amazing!

Tracey Platero has been my right hand girl, chasing down vendors trying to convince them to create Revolutionary Meals!

Denise Testa of JD Communications and Design has volunteered her talents to design our Posters and Vendor Signs! If you need Graphic, branding, web design work in London Ontario I highly recommend Denise!!

Erin Neely  has been working tirelessly to find a printer who can produce our Posters and signs for a good price and quickly!!

Trevor Johnson – working for the City of London and always providing ideas and trying to get support for our event from the city!

Dallas Rocheleau – is planning a big move to Halifax in June but is making time to help us make this event awesome!

Margarita Ibbott – Will be presenting and talking about Organizing your Kitchen! She is also an amazing Social Media trainer and if you are looking to make sure your company is doing this right with Linked In, Pinterst, Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter give her a call!

I will write another blog shortly talking about the rest of my amazing volunteers but for today I will leave you with the link to the register for free events in London!

https://gidsy.com/activities/london/7517/food-revolution-day-london-ontario

for more information about the global movement go to www.foodrevolutionday.com!