Food for Thought #Gr8Recipes #SaveTheChildren

Childhood malnutrition across the developing world is a HUGE problem.

How big a problem? 165 million children who are chronically undernourished across the world.

That's about the same as the seventh most populous nation in the world, only instead of the 7th most populous country in the world, it's 165 million children.

But I imagine that number doesn't really mean a lot to anybody. After all, how could it? Even one million is too big for most people to really comprehend.

Here- this is a book my kids are pretty fond of:



That's how much ONE million is.

One million children the same age as my twins, standing on of each other's shoulders, would get a more than a third of the way to the moon.

Now imagine 165 columns of children, reaching literally into the stars.

Here's the thing, though. They wouldn't reach that high. They couldn't.

Because malnutrition stunts growth, so you certainly couldn't count on a three foot tall child. More than a third of these children have their growth stunted by their pervasive hunger.

They wouldn't know at all how to wrap their heads around a million, because almost 1 in 5 of these malnourished children are less likely to be able to read.

One hundred sixty five million children, who are every day losing the opportunity to thrive as adults because of their lack of accessible food.

So what can you do about it?

This month at the G8 summit, global leaders are coming together to talk about nutrition, and the need to access it.

You can contact President Obama- tweet him something like this:

@whitehouse let's make sure all kids get healthy food in their #next1000days so they can reach their full potential. #Nutrition4Growth

And you can ensure that your kids have access to the healthiest food options that you can.

Let them know that eating a well rounded diet is essential to their development as they grow, that it will help them learn, and play, and thrive.

In that spirit, here's an 8 ingredient meal that at least my kids are happy to eat every day of the week- Green Eggs with cantaloupe and orange juice.

DD and SI eating a whole half dozen eggs between the two of them

Grocery list:
1 zucchini
1 bunch spinach
1/2 dozen eggs
2 oz smoked gouda cheese (grated)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 oranges
water

1 cantaloupe

Heat the oil in a skillet. Grate zucchini, and chop spinach. Sautee until tender, but not brown.

Beat eggs, and add to vegetables.

Simply scramble the eggs with the greens, making green eggs. Top with smoked gouda when finished.

Squeeze the oranges into cups, or a pitcher. Add twice that amount of water. (Oranges are super sweet, and a little can go a long way.)

Cut up the cantaloupe, and seve with the eggs and juice.