Positive feedback
"Overall Rainbow Food was easy to incorporate into my program.
Regardelss of the outcomes each and every child had the
opportunity to learn that thereare healthy, tasty choices available."
R.P. Tweed Heads N.S.W.

"Dear Denise, all my famlies welcomed your lovely book. some of them had
heard of the program and were pleased that their children were taking part.
The children were very receptive to the ideas. The activities were a hit for
all age groups, the twirling woman was a favourite. I would like to say that
the book and associated program will help change not only our generation but
help all of us to see what we can do as adults to help our children and
ourselves live a better kind of life. Well done and thank you for nvolving
my small group. You WILL make a difference."
E.M Registered carer Tweed Valley Region, N.S.W.

" I found the Rainbow Food technique very rewarding. The parents of the
children I look after were also as impressed. I asked everyone to bring in a
certain fruit and the children cut it up and put it on a platter. This
proved to be very successful as most of the children got to try a fruit they
wouldn't normally eat and now are packed regularly in their lunch box.
Another great success was the basic juicer. Not one of my parents owned a
juicer so it was interesting to see the children react to fruit turning inot
yummy juice. All the children drank a variety and enjoyed it. Now if you
look in the all the kids lunch boxes there is more colours and healthier
eating than before. Thank you for opening my eyes to such an easy way of
healthy eating, not only for my day care children but for my own family.
Everyone has truly benefitted! "
Tweed Head Family Day Care.

"An overall fantastic concept. A really brilliant way to introduce food to
the young child. I love the Rainbow Food chart and have it on my fridge. I
now enjoy making Rainbow platters and put all the food on the table for my
husband and son to serve themselves. Rainbow Food as a text given out to
families invoked conversation and all families now are increasing the
variety of foods in their children's lunchboxes."
Tweed Valley registered family day carer.

“Rainbow Food is a wonderful guide to the wonder and value of natural foods. It is not dry or didactic like many other food guides. I expect the whole family will find it very useful. As a general practitioner I am aware of many families who could benefit from this kind of guidance.”
Dr J. Barker, General Practitioner, Australia.

“As a primary teacher I look forward to using Rainbow Food across several KLA within the curriculum: Science, design, creative and practical arts, PDHPE. The book’s narrative and appealing presentation will be an inspiration to classroom learning as well as providing a welcome focus for family discussion and interaction.”
Leonie Malcolm, Primary School Teacher, NSW Australia.

“Rainbow Food is a fabulous and easily understood concept, and produced in such a visually pleasing format - congratulations! GPs and Allied Health Professionals alike will find it a delightful adjuvant in their care of people with disordered eating. We support your continued efforts to demystify this condition in practical yet entertaining ways.”
Dr Sue Page, GP Executive Manager, Northern Rivers Division of General Practice.

“I find the notion of ‘taste recovery,’ contained in this wonderful book, very exciting. As a psychologist, experienced in treating drug and food addictions, I welcome this kind of preventative work for children. Drug addictions and eating behaviours are often closely linked. The earlier children learn to make the connection between their health and what they put into their bodies, the greater chance there is to reduce self inflicted abuse, such as drug and dieting abuse.”
Radha Nicholson Psychologist, Byron Bay, NSW, member of the Australian Psychological Society.

Herald Sun, Edition 1 - FIRST
THU 16 OCT 2003, Page 30
FOOD COLOURING
By: Fay Burstin

From sunny yellow bananas to bright red tomatoes and iridescent green capsicums, most supermarkets' fresh produce sections are awash with colour.

Behold nature's ancient kaleidoscopic marketing strategy. Alluringly coloured and fragrant fruit hanging off vines was precisely how our early ancestors understood what was safe and nutritious. But according to psychologist and author Denise Greenaway, our highly-evolved natural instinct for food colour has been thrown off the scent.

Artificial food colouring and bright packaging have tricked modern humans into eating junk food -- and problems like childhood obesity are the result.

``When you look at natural food, the colours are psychedelic,'' Ms Greenaway said.
``And the manufacturers of processed food understand this very well.''

As part of programs on self-esteem and body image for young girls with
eating disorders, the Byron Bay-based clinical psychologist provided a feast of healthy fresh food.

``I gave the girls instruction to eat something from every colour and to try a new food they'd never tried before,'' Ms Greenaway said. ``And I got some amazing feedback from parents saying their kids now want to eat more green or blue food.''

So she came up with the idea of a ``rainbow food'' program to teach small children about healthy food. The methodology is simple: children are encouraged to think of food in colours and to eat as many colours as possible every day, at every meal. The technique instantly boosts every meal's nutritional value and balance and hopefully leads to lifelong healthy food choices. Ms Greenaway said children's senses such as taste, smell, touch and observation were their most powerful learning tools.

``Until contaminated by sugar, salt and preservatives, children have a natural eye for good food, and at pre-school age there is every chance they will eat anything,'' she said.
``The problem is what is put before them.'' Greenaway's program Rainbow Food: Eating by Colour includes a workbook with stories, exercises, games, a video and even a model for a kitchen garden to teach children about how fruit and vegetables grow.

``Involving children in the process of preparing, presenting and delivering food empowers them and makes it more fun,'' she said. The Federal Government is funding a trial of the program with 1000 families in childcare centres in northern NSW. Eearly results are very promising, showing a 50-100 per cent improvement in the variety of natural food being supplied by parents and childcare centres.

The $20 workbook was also a useful guide for parents at home, Ms Greenaway said. Parents were by far the greatest influence on children's eating habits, she said. ``Many adults in the normal population have had a damaging relationship with food,'' she said.

``Many have poor body image after struggling with diets and these attitudes can easily affect children in their care.'' For more information, visit www.rainbowfood.com.au or call (02) 6680 1681.