We’re only half-way through Whole Grains Month but already we’re seeing lots of awareness of this annual September celebration, so we wanted to share some of these nationwide observances with you all.

Supermarkets

Many supermarkets are featuring whole grains in September. One of the best examples we’ve seen so far comes from David Calandro, Foodservice Director for Dierberg’s Markets, a 25-location supermarket chain in the St. Louis, MO, area, who wrote us a nice email detailing their whole grain promotions:

We operate our own Central Kitchen and have introduced several new salads and side dishes containing whole grains and recently introduced a line of fully cooked Recipe-Ready Grains sold in a pouch ready for the consumer to simply add to any recipe (attached are a few photos). We also publish four magazines a year, called Dierbergs Everybody Cooks with recipes and menu ideas. The fall edition contains 8 pages of whole grain recipes [see photo at left] and ideas on how to use our Recipe-Ready Grains in simple recipes by combining 3 to 4 items from our Deli or Seafood Departments. I enjoy receiving the Whole Grains Council newsletters and geting new ideas on how to use and promoted whole grains in our Prepared Foods Programs.

K-12 Schools

Starting from the top, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its Team Nutrition, which supports healthier school meals, is promoting Whole Grains Month, with links to our website for recommended resources.

Maybe that’s why lots of schools are highlighting Whole Grains Month in their September menus, to remind kids and their parents of the importance of whole grains. These menus from the Yonkers (NY) Public Schools and from the Charlotte (NC) Country Day School are typical. The Lawndale (CA) Elementary School District even posed a collection of great handouts on whole grains (based in part on info from our website), to help their schools celebrate Whole Grains Month with appropriate educational activities.

The Oklahoma State 4H goes a step further, urging schools to celebrate Whole Grains Month by planting winter wheat in a little plot in the schoolyard using seeds from the local Extension Office and lesson plans from their Ag in the Classroom program. They even have info on books about wheat and wheat-related art. Very cool.

Also aiming at elementary school kids, the OrganWise Guys – one of our longtime favorite nutrition programs – featured Whole Grains Month in their blog, and featured a great recipe for Whole Grain Pita Pizza another day. (Check out the OrganWise Guys. They teach kids to take care of their bodies with a series of very cute stuffed animals that represent the different organs of the body.)

Universities

At Georgetown University in the nation’s capital, Registered Dietitian Allison Marco blogged about whole grains and featured a Bulgur Salad to augment her dining hall’s regular offerings, which include brown rice, whole wheat pasta, quinoa, whole wheat bread, and oatmeal.

Duke University, in North Carolina, is clearly going all-out for Whole Grains Month as these postings from Duke Dining’s FaceBook page illustrate (and we’re only half-way through September!):

Bowling Green (KY) State University has a “Well Aware Grain Demo” planned for September 18, to celebrate National Whole Grains Month, according to Campus Dietitian Daia Blachowski-Dreyer.

TV, Radio and Bloggers

WBBM, a CBS Newsradio station in Chicago, features a daily feature from Sara Haas, RD. On September 2 she aired a nice short-and-sweet piece about the importance of whole grains (and the Whole Grain Stamp!) following up three days later on September 5 with a reminder that popcorn is a great whole grain snack.

WESH, an NBC TV affiliate in Orlando, FL, featured a lovely photo collection of “Tasty Treats for National Whole Grains Month” on its website.

West Hawaii Today, a newspaper in you-know-where, wrote a great feature on Whole Grains Month (but unfortunately did not fly us to the islands for an interview). The Tyler (TX) Morning Telegraph also urged its readers to enjoy more whole grains.

Blogger Elaine Hodges at Bad Domestic Goddess, created a Whole Grains Month photo collage. Bonnie Giller, RD, at BRG Dietetics & Nutrition, urged people to Make the Switch to whole grains.

Speaking of bloggers, the group of 16 bloggers who are working with us on our Make the Switch to Whole Grains contest are writing some wonderful blogs. Check them out at the links on our Whole Grains Month page.

Community Groups

The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe in Akwesasne, NY near the Quebec border, is promoting Whole Grains Month in the monthly newsletter of Tsitewatakari:tat (Let’s Get Healthy), their Diabetes Health Center. Using our “Make the Switch” logo, they encourage tribe members to slowly start switching refined grains for whole grains during September.

Get Healthy CT, an anti-obesity program in Connecticut, created a special packet of Go Whole Grain! resources this September using information in English and Spanish from the WGC website and other sources.

A senior care center in Katy, TX wrote about the importance of whole grains for keeping our seniors health, saying, “Isn’t that the way nature intended? … Doesn’t it make sense to leave in all the nutrients so our bodies can utilize all that they need?”

Also in Texas, Tiffany Batsakis, RD, wrote about Whole Grains Month and whole grains for Christian Senior Services in San Antonio, and included a recipe for barley salad.

Food Companies

We always love to see food companies promoting healthier products. We know they need to make a profit to stay in business, but our dream is always that the work of the WGC will help them sell the best parts of their product lines, convincing them that offering more healthy options is a win-win strategy. Here are a few examples of companies joining in the Whole Grains Month fun:

Pappardelle’s Pasta is celebrating Whole Grains Month with “Use Your Noodle” trivia on Facebook. Way Better Snacks explained the health benefits of whole grains. Post Cereals and Quaker worked with bloggers to promote whole grains.

Okay, they’re an appliance company, not a food company, but we like what Bosch Kitchen Centers has done to creatively highlight our “Make the Switch to Whole Grains” theme. They’re featuring a different grain and recipe each day as a way to connect cooks to their Nutrimill grain mills.

This collection of Whole Grains Month “sightings” is just the tip of the iceberg. If you’re aware of something else going on near you, email us and tell us all about it! (Cynthia)