Feed Hungry Children: Take the Rice and Bean Challenge

While visiting my 1st grader son for lunch I noticed his friend stuffing food into her pockets. When I inquired I learned she was taking food home for dinner--of course it had to be hidden because food isn't allowed in the hall or class or bus! As I explored the issue more I discovered how this contraband was to be shared with her little sister who wasn't old enough to go to school and eat. Immediately the wasted food in my house comes to mind: guilty. This girl lives about a mile from my home.

It's been a family tradition of ours to have "Rice and Beans" night monthly at our home: we eat rice and beans for dinner and share the saved money with a local food pantry. This tradition has allowed us to involve our children in sharing with children who are dependent on resources outside of their family to eat. A rice and beans meal will feed my family of six for less than $2. Typically I budget $10-$12 dollars to feed my family dinner each night, sometimes I splurge and spend $15. Our local food pantry, Kokomo Urban Outreach, can feed a child on the weekends throughout the school year for $130 by issuing "Buddy Bags". You do the math.

As a yoga and fitness instructor, I am extremely conscious of the nutritional value in foods. My 1st grade son has a Metabolic Genetic Disease that requires proper nutrition for his medical stability. We are a healthy family. All of the essential proteins are found in the staple meal of rice and beans. Somehow the amino acids in rice and beans recombine to create a complete profile. Additional nutrients and vitamins are recommended, however people have known for thousands of years that humanity can survive on rice and beans.

Recently my mom called excited about a video cooking contest she thought we could win (this is not normal behavior). Hearing about the $30,000 cash prize for your school to makeover the cafeteria, I was compelled to say YES! One problem, despite out regular healthy meals at home, I'm not a gourmet cook, just a healthy efficient cook. As if it were meant to be, our rice and bean tradition came to mind and the "Rice and Bean Challenge Recipe" was born. Somehow I managed to set aside a week of my life to interview the school, and edit video. I learned that 86% of the children who go to school with my 1st grader live at or below the poverty level. Nearly all of the children eat 2 meals a day at school. No wonder this girl was smuggling food.

Knowing the sacred nature of family mealtime, it became evident to me how schools provide this for children without dinner tables at home. Uncle Ben's Rice who is sponsoring the contest finds value in the dinner table tradition and school cafeteria as well.  

As life and fate always surprises us, my son Andrew is in a video cooking contest encouraging other families to take the "Rice and Bean Challenge". Watching this child grow and develop is an overwhelming joy to me as he has not always been a healthy, medically stable child. Andrew lives with a disease he was born with and requires medication throughout the day in order to function. I now believe he was "Made Perfectly" and have always admired his courage with his team of doctors. Going through this ordeal to help Andrew become medically stable taught me how God lives within and moved me to start my business. (See my youtube video testimony here or visit my website at www.yogathea.com).

I hope to see the children of Elwood Haynes receive a cafeteria makeover, I know it would be so exciting for them because school is home and where their dinner table sits. More importantly, I hope you will take the "Rice and Bean Challenge" and give to your local food pantry. It's easy and you might just brighten up a kids weekend!

 You may view and vote for our cooking video through today at this link: http://bit.ly/1pum7ZX.