Get Fresh! – The Fresh 20

Increase in Food Allergies
This past week food allergies was the main topic of conversation for me. We were getting ready for Easter and one of my nephews has a severe peanut allergy and is also allergic to 6 of the top 8 common allergens. Since Easter means candy that means concern for parents of children with food allergies. The last of the candy trifecta of holidays, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and Easter. We used this website to help us choose allergy free candy to put in the Easter eggs. She still had to keep an eye on him, as any good mama would, but was saved the trouble of having to pry dangerous candy from the steely grip of a determined little toddler.

I also posted about the Easter themed fruit bowl I made for Noah’s class last week. This prompted discussion on Facebook how many people are only allowed to bring store bought food to school functions. This was totally news to me! While I know most people would be very careful to prevent cross contamination while preparing food, the same can not be said for everyone so it is necessary to have these rules. I’m sure this day will come for me, and I am going to be really bummed because I love making things and being creative, but safety should always be our first priority. This conversation inevitably leads to the rising number of children with food allergies and sensitivities. Doing some quick research I have found the following to be the most popular theories as to why.

  • We Are Too Clean
  • We Need To Eat Common Allergens Earlier
  • To Many Genetically Modified Foods
  • We Have Imbalanced Diets – Low Levels of Good Gut Bacteria

The Fresh 20The last two on that list jumped out at me. I am starting to really watch what I eat and where it comes from. I used to make all of our meals from a box. It was easy and I thought cheaper. Now, not so much. I recently found The Fresh 20, and I am so in love. This is not a solution for families with food allergies, although they do have a gluten free menu, but rather a way to easily feed your family healthier food. In an effort to save time (my time) below is an excerpt from their website about what they do. Also, this is not a sponsored post, I just wanted to share.

The Fresh 20 is an alternative to food as products.

It’s about buying less and making more. It’s about loading your dinner table with delicious, preservative free food.

It’s about saving that takeout money for something more rewarding than takeout!

What is the Fresh 20?

We are a meal planning service.  Our meal plans rely on simple, healthy and homemade dinners using just 20 fresh, seasonal ingredients per week.  No more grocery lists with 80 items that will eventually go to waste.  Our meal plans are carefully created to utilize everything on the list so you can stop throwing money down the drain. We don’t just grab 5 random recipes and call it a meal plan.  The Fresh 20 mixes and matches a small list of ingredients to create 5 balanced dinners that play off each other.

We include detailed guides to meal prep, original recipes everyone will enjoy (even picky eaters) and motivation to help you stay the course on busy weeknights.

We are lucky that Noah only has a minor intolerance to dairy and I hope to keep it that way by feeding my kids healthy food. For the most part anyways. They still get some junk food, my husband and have always been junk food junkies, but this is helping me learn to like to eat better. I’m sure that there are many factors that affect the rising number of food allergies, but feeding my family healthy food and know what’s in it is a great start in the right direction.

What do you feel is the reason for the rise in food allergies?