Miss America Touts Produce at Publix

To aid the June 2 launch of the Produce for Kids (PFK) 2011 “Get Healthy, Give Hope “campaign in all Publix Super Markets stores, Miss America 2011, Teresa Scanlan, visited the grocer’s Alpharetta, Ga., location on May 24 for a special cooking event, for which she was joined by children from area Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and local members of the community at the in-store Publix Cooking School.

Under Scanlan’s guidance, the kids made and tasted easy dishes such as Garden Vegetable Pasta from PFK’s collection of healthy Ideal Meals recipes. Free Ideal Meal cards, available in the produce sections at participating retailers or online at www.produceforkids.org , feature chef-created, nutritionist-approved options for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks that show families how to cook and eat healthfully. Right after the cooking demonstration session, Scanlan met with shoppers, took photos and signed autographs.

Besides Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix, supermarkets taking part in the Get Healthy, Give Hope campaign to help raise money for Children’s Miracle Network-affiliated hospitals include Acme Markets; Kroger’s Southwest and King Soopers divisions; Price Chopper, Ahold’s Giant-Carlisle, Martin’s Food Stores, Giant-Landover, and Stop & Shop divisions; Meijer; and Associated Wholesale Grocers’ Major Savings, Advantage, Independent, Country Mart, Homeland and United divisions.

Under the program, from May through July, participating fresh fruit and vegetable companies will donate to local children’s hospitals based on sales of their fresh produce items at participating grocery stores. The grocery stores involved in the promotion will also feature the Ideal Meals program from Orlando, Fla.-based PFK.

The Miss America Organization has been a key supporter of Children's Miracle Network for a quarter of a century. Scanlan, an 18-year-old Nebraska native, has a personal platform to help fight childhood obesity through the promotion of healthy eating and exercise.