Breakfast Battle Celebrates National Food Check-Out Week

Some of you may know that last week, February 17-23, was National Food Check-Out Week.  National Food Check-Out Week represents the short time-frame that it takes for the average American family to pay for their groceries in a year.  I am the PR chair for my local Franklin County Farm Bureau and this year we recognized Food Check-Out Week by hosting the 2nd Annual Breakfast Battle at our local Fareway grocery store in Hampton, Iowa on February 27 (It was originally on February 22 but due to snow got postponed to this past Wednesday).

This event not only raised knowledge of National Food Check-Out Week, it also increased awareness of finding solutions to eating healthy on a stretched budget by having twelve teams race around the grocery store finding breakfast, dinner and supper for a family of four between $45 and $50.

Members of the Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce and
First National Bank teams racing in the dairy and frozen sections

The Breakfast Battle included two races; the first was a competition between nine businesses and the second was a battle between two Tall Corn FFA chapter teams and a Fareway team.  Teams consisted of three members each.  Team members drew menus for breakfast, dinner and supper Wednesday morning and then raced around the grocery store getting all their recipe ingredients, plus adding in optional food and drinks for a day’s worth of meals to get their cart total between $45 and $50.  Teams were timed from the moment they left the cart area till they reached the checkout lane.  Time bonuses were given to those that answered agriculture and Farm Bureau trivia questions correctly before the race and there was a time bonus for the team having the most votes on the Franklin County Farm Bureau’s Facebook “Fan Favorite” team poll.  Time penalties were given for every dollar over or under the $45 to $50 cart total range.  Following the race, twelve Franklin County families that utilize the Franklin County Food Pantry in Hampton and the Immanuel UCC Food Pantry in Latimer received the bags of groceries, which included both perishable and non-perishable items.  Donations were also collected for both food pantries.

“We feel like everyone was a winner!” said Brook Boehmler, Executive Director of the Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, who had a team in the business race.  “All nine teams (in the business race) are Chamber members and the food collected in the battle went to families who need it.  All the teams had a good time, and we really look forward to being a part of it next year.”

Members and Supporters of the
1st Place Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce team

In the business battle, the Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce came in first place with a final time of 2:55.  Second place went to CellTech with a final time of 3:32 and third place went to Franklin County Extension with a final time of 3:36.  Other business teams that competed were Latham Hi-Tech Seeds, First National Bank, ABCM/Rehabilitation Center of Hampton, Farm Bureau Al Menning Insurance, United Bank & Trust and Immanuel UCC.

I had so much fun being a part of this event.  Did you celebrate National Food Check-Out Week?  If so, what did you do in your community?

Farm Friday

Today is a very exciting day for us on the farm.

#1 - LP turned one year old today!  What fun and exciting things does LP see in his future?  

• His birthday party with family on Sunday.  (I'm planning on posting some photos from that afterwards.)
• His first haircut.
• His first happy meal.

Rise and Shine!  I am now 1 year old!

#2 - I helped plan and lead our county Farm Bureau's National Food Checkout Week event this morning.  In the past our county went to our local grocery store gave people back the farmer's share of their grocery bill.  This was a nice event and made people aware that only 12 cents out of every dollar of food was earned by farmers.  But we decided it was time to try something new, create more awareness for National Food Checkout Week and help those less fortunate than others.  So we had our first annual "Breakfast Battle - Taking a Morning Break to Provide Meals for Franklin County Families."

We had 10 business teams and 3 FFA chapter teams of three members each race around the store to find breakfast, dinner and supper for a family ranging between $45 and $50 in the fastest amount of time.  Each team created their own menu and when they got to the checkout if they had over $50 worth of groceries, they had to take something out of their cart.  And vice versa, if they didn't have $45 worth of groceries, they had to go back into the store and collect something more to go with their menu.  Teams were given a chance to take 10 seconds off their time by answering Food Check-Out Week trivia correctly or by being our Facebook poll "Fan Favorite" winner.  We worked with the two food pantries in the county and had all 13 day's worth of meals delivered to families in the need that morning, that way the teams could get perishable items such as dairy, meat and produce.

The event was a lot of fun and created a lot of awareness for National Food Check-Out Week, as well as the need that our food pantries have all year long.  Our county Farm Bureau also collected food and monetary donations throughout the week for the food pantries.  We had a great time this morning at the event and look forward to making this an annual event.  Can't wait for the 2nd Annual Breakfast Battle in 2013!  If you want to check out more about the Franklin County Farm Bureau's Breakfast Battle check out our Facebook page or read the article in the Mason City Globe Gazette.