Despite the fact that my mother and father were both lawyers and often worked long hours with minimal free time, neither one of them ever really embraced the concept of “convenience food.” I think it was partly a result of my mom being born in Europe and raised with a more European upbringing and partly the result of my parents both genuinely enjoying food and cooking, but whatever the reason for their preferences, I was almost exclusively raised on meals made from scratch with real ingredients.

Today, as the world has become busier and convenience options have become even more widely available and affordable, there are many people that don’t even know how to start making the switch from processed convenience options to meals made with real, wholesome ingredients and that, in turn, has created a generation of children that don’t really understand the importance of real food. Empowering children to be “food smart” was what inspired chef Jamie Oliver to start Food Revolution Day, and this year Sobeys has partnered with Jamie Oliver to help spread the message of Food Revolution Day on May 16, 2014 by hosting Canada’s biggest potluck party!

So how can you take part? Just pledge to take the Potluck Challenge by registering at www.BetterFoodForAll.com and pledging to host your own potluck on or before May 16, 2014. You can get tips on hosting the perfect potluck and use the online Potluck Planner to organize all the details. Then share photos and posts about your potluck on Instagram and Twitter using the hashtags #FRD2014 and #PotluckChallenge! For every hashtag mention, Sobeys will donate $1 to the Children’s Aid Foundation’s Cooking Toward Independence project, up to a maximum of $25,000! Wondering how to get started? Here are my top five tips for hosting a successful potluck: [Read more…]