So, in the tradition of your Thanksgiving table, holiday feast and Easter eggs … why not an Earth Dinner? It’s simple, just make your meal on Earth Day a table comprised of local, seasonal, sustainable and/or organic dishes. The concept was created by Theresa Marquez, Earth Dinner founder and chief marketing executive for Organic Valley, the nation’s largest organic farmers cooperative.

“We started Earth Dinners three years ago to honor Earth Day with its own special meal filled with deeper conversations about food,” said Marquez. “Many Americans today are detached from what they eat and the tremendous impact of their food choices. Earth Dinners are a perfect way to bridge that gap, a time to slow down and reflect on each aspect of the food being served, how and where it was produced, the way it tastes and the stories behind it. It’s exciting to see more people than ever before embracing this movement.”

For ideas on menu plans, resources, party ideas and creative hosting ideas, check out Earth Dinner. And, given the global food issues, when you sit down to that “holiday” meal, it sure does take on a new meaning this year.

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, many families celebrate by having green food. While it may be tempting to artificially color your way to a green St. Paddy’s day dinner, health-conscious parents can achieve a better result by choosing locally grown green herbs and produce and throwing them into the mix.

My kids don’t like green foods, you say? Let’s take a step back and see why this might be. Just about all naturally green foods are vegetables. And a large number of vegetables happen to be green. That said, it can’t just be a vegetable’s green color that leaves so many kids sticking to their story that they just don’t like vegetables? Given the opportunity, very few kids will turn down green SweeTarts or Skittles, so we’re clearly not just dealing with shades of green. It must then boil down to the fact that vegetables - and green ones in particular - unintentionally (or intentionally) be given bad press by children’s most influential role models—their parents! Add to that the fact that green foods don’t get much love in television commercials or in casual conversation amongst friends and classmates—two other important influencers in children’s lives – and we seem to have identified the root of the problem. (Picky eater tips and St. Patrick’s Day menu after the jump).

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