Ripe 'n Ready Times - Spring 2011

  

 

 

 

 
 
Kids love to play with their food, as demonstrated by the entries in the Pacific Northwest Canned Pear Service (PNCPS) 2010 Play With Your Pears contest. Looking to repeat the success of last year's contest, the PNCPS re-teamed with SmileMakers®, Inc. to sponsor the popular kids' art contest using canned pears as their primary medium.  The name of this year's contest, Pearcasso, encouraged kids and their schools to create imaginative canned pear art pieces to win individual or group awards for art and school supplies.

 

To enter the competition, kids submitted realistic or fanciful artworks incorporating U.S. canned pears (or the pear graphic posted on the contest site).  Entrants decorated their pears according to the whims of their inner Pearcasso, then photographed the finished work and posted it on the Eat Canned Pears Facebook page. The contest was open to all kids in two age categories - 5-12 and 13-18 - and in individual and group entries.

 

The judges announced the winners on January 12, 2012. The winning entries are posted on www.eatcannedpears.com and the Eat Canned Pears Facebook page.  Group prizes - first ($500), second ($250) and third ($100) - and individual prizes - first ($100), second ($50) and third ($25) - were awarded in each of the four age categories, with the prize winners taking home SmileMakers, Inc. gift certificates for art and school supplies.

 

Pearcasso First Place Winners (clockwise from top left): Individuals - Ages 5-12 "Birds of Pearadise" by Karna (age 11); Individuals - Ages 13-18 "Life of a Seahorse" by Whitney (age 14); Groups - Ages 5-12, Mitchell Boys & Girls Club, Milwaukee, WI; Groups - Ages 13-18, King's Academy, Period B, Sunnyvale, CA  

 

If your kids are online, give them a new destination for fun.  The eatcannedpears.com kids page offers a range of activities:

  • easy-to-make, kid-friendly recipes from our family collection-like Pear Yogurt Pops and Pacific Northwest Pitas
  • mind-bending puzzles 
  • coloring sheets featuring our awesome Super Pear and the exciting Tour de Canned Pears.

Check it out!

 

 

Naturally sweet and delicious, Pacific Northwest canned Bartlett pears are a wholesome and convenient food. Bartlett pears are processed and packed at the peak of ripeness to preserve their goodness, nutritional value and flavor.

Pacific Northwest Canned Pears are fat-free and sodium-free. One serving (1/2 cup) of canned pears is a handy, tasty, satisfying snack for less than 100 calories.*  To view nutrition labels for pears in a variety of packing mediums, visit the eatcannedpears.com nutrition page.  For USDA recommendations for a healthy diet, visit www.choosemyplate.gov.

 

* Claims made in accordance with FDA Food Labeling Guide, Appendix F, for canned pear RCAA (140g).

Follow the Pacific Northwest Canned Pear Service on Facebook!

 

Every week, we post new recipes and update you on contests and promotions.  Up next: Get out your spatulas and prepare to enter the Great Canned Pear Recipe Contest.