Stonyfield Lunch

Last Thursday, I attended a luncheon at Fork hosted by Stonyfield featuring Robyn O'Brien.   I am not sure how to tell you how excited I was when Jo-Lynne sent me the invite and I received confirmation I was added to the list of attendees.   We are totally a Stonyfield family and not only because our babes love their yogurt, but we do too.   I knew the discussion would be about food -- not just organics, the food industry as a whole which is important to me.   Since 2003, I have been committed to having better food choices for my family.   At that time, it was just me and my bub.   Our first change came with milk.   I switched to Soy and felt an almost immediate change in my digestive system.   Knowing I was not lactose intolerant, I quickly started drinking organic milk and still felt great.   Little by little, I made additional organic changes -- meats/poultry came next, all dairy, and finally fruits and veggies.  Then our family grew and my desire to know more about the foods we were eating became even more important.   I started reading every labels and oh what I found.   Even the "all natural" peanut butters and ketchups had the yucky stuff in them.   I started taking  a serious look at how the animal I was cooking was treated and found troubling news.  I began seeking out food stores (examples:here and here) and food brands (example: here) that would take an active approach to offer healthy foods options and without compromising the treatment of animals.    However, I knew Thursdays lunch would be more about what's in our food and how it is affecting ALL of us!  I just didn't know what more of a change I needed to make and the stats on why were overwhelming to say the least.


Here is my recap on the afternoon...


The Host ~ Stonyfield


Spend some time on their website in the "about us" section.  What you will find is a company dedicated to offering their customers the highest quality yogurts with truly organic ingredients.   A company dedicated to supporting organic farmers and making sure their stories are told.  The company's mission (straight from the cows mouth!!) - "We’re committed to healthy food, healthy people, healthy business and a healthy planet."  Stonyfield is engaging their customers in a fun way.   They are asking for you to share "your organic moment".  So take a moment, share your story and you never know you may win some great prizes or encourage another to make an important change in their daily diet!


Follow Stonyfield on Facebook and Twitter!!


The Menu

First Course

Baby greens with pea shoots, blood oranges, herb yogurt dressing

Made with Oikos Greek Yogurt

Second Course

Yogurt marinated grilled chicken, tandori style with quinoa, cucumbers, shaved fennel

Made with Stonyfield Whole Milk Yogurt

Dessert

Yogurt Panna Cotta

Made with Oikos Greek Yogurt

Lunch was absolutely delicious.   I ate every last bite!  Fork has been a favorite place for years.  Actually, my bub and I went on one of our first dates there!  That was almost eleven years ago!!!

The Speaker - Robyn O'Brien


I was honored to hear Robyn speak and her ability to connect with every women in the room was amazing.   As she told her story (and if you have not seen her video - check it out NOW!), she made tears fill up in my eyes.   I saw a passion in her that inspires me to stand firm when other's question me about my choices in food or where I choose to spend my grocery budget.  And truths were told that convinced me that I still have so far to go in making a lasting, healthy change in our family's diet!  She armed us with troublesome statistics.   And when I heard what I or others maybe feeding my children could lead to hyperactivity, I took note.   When cancer, girls reaching puberty at age 7, ADHD, etc... were discussed, I got scared.   But than I started to calm down when Robyn spoke candidly about her 80/20 rule (80% of the time her and her family are eating the best they can) and how starting out small and working through your food journey slowly is most realistic.


Here our some steps that were discussed during lunch

• If you are thinking organics and changing up your family's diet, start small - Milk, first! (its what kids ingest the most, right?)
• Move towards the 80/20 rule.  Lets be honest, our children aren't always with us and if I am being honest - sometimes I just want a package of Twizzlers!
• Talk to your spouse about how a change to organics will effect the food budget, why you think its important, and what other expenses can change to support the financial move to a more healthier diet.
• Speak in facts, but with compassion when talking to others about the reasons for your change.  For example - when you are explaining why you would prefer your children be given organic milk at grandma and grandpa's house, arm them with the stats that made you change your mind! 

More about Robyn:

Book: The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It

Twitter

Facebook

...Oh and one last thing, I was able to enjoy the lunch, the inspiring discussion, and other fabulous bloggers -- because they provided child care right there at the restaurant!  Double L was at school, but Little L had so much fun and was so well taken care of!!


Disclosure:While attending the luncheon, I was given a gift bag and copy of Robyn's book!