My Food My Way: Getting students to think healthy

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Aug. 1, 2012) - My Food My Way gives the healthy option a brand new flavour. The campaign takes a fresh approach to student nutrition by actively engaging kids and emphasizing interactivity.

My Food My Way has been initiated as part of Healthy Living Healthy Learning, a nutritional education program spearheaded by Local 4400 of CUPE and the Toronto District School Board.

"Our approach is not to tell young people what to eat. We want to educate and empower them so that they can make healthy decisions on their own," said Local 4400 president, John Weatherup.

Breaking away from the conventional means of communication, My Food My Way uses Facebook as a primary platform and focuses on youth-generated content and campaigns to get students interested in the food they eat.

"Kids are smart. We want to give them the chance to voice their opinions and take an active role in this campaign," said Ahmad Ktaech, Managing Director of K&Co, the branding and marketing firm behind My Food My Way.

The campaign also aims to shed light on the factors that define the culture of food among students such as atmosphere, peer pressure, and cost, in addition to taste and nutrition.

"Rather than focusing on healthy food versus unhealthy food, it's all about changing the way kids experience food," said Marvin Greenberg, Chair of the campaign's board.

My Food My Way has already garnered the support of renowned chef and restaurateur, Susur Lee. As a father himself, Lee understands the importance of getting kids to eat healthy, saying, "I imagined my own kids thinking this was a cool idea."

As part of the My Food My Way campaign, Susur Lee will be leading teaching kitchens in Toronto schools and playing a role in an upcoming student cooking competition that will see winning dishes make their way onto school cafeteria menus.