Class in Session: Healthy Eating and Biz 101

Is it possible to teach kids healthy habits, a little business sense and let them have fun at the same time? 

That’s the goal with Recipe for Success’ Eat This! Summer Camp. The nonprofit’s weeklong camp for students ages 8 to 11 aims to educate young people on what goes into their food and how to make better choices when picking what they eat. But it also has a business angle. For the fourth year in a row, RFS has partnered with Revival Market to help the kids in the camp develop and market a shelf-stable, healthy food product. The kids compete in teams and the winning product is actually sold at Revival during the month of August. 

Popcorn Fire Balls are available at Revival through August 31. The packaging was designed by the kids who developed the product. 

“It’s so important to educate kids about what’s in their food, that just doesn’t happen enough these days,” says Ryan Pera, co-owner of Revival Market and a board member of RFS. “I love that our team is able to help these students learn a few things and support the work of this great nonprofit at the same time.” 

This year’s winners created Popcorn Fire Balls, a sweet and savory popcorn snack that is now on the shelves at Revvial for $5 each through the end of the month. Two dollars from each purchase goes back to the Recipe for Success Foundation.

The camp curriculum covers not just healthy eating but also how food is marketed to people, making the kids hyper aware of promotion and marketing vs product facts. Revival GM Layne Cruz and Sean Nerf on her team talked to this year’s students about what the store looks for in products and actually had the teams present to them “Shark Tank” style with a verbal presentation and a commercial. That’s how Popcorn Fire Balls was chosen.  

Check out the commercial the kids produced to sell Popcorn Fire Balls below and visit Revival to pick some up before the end of the month!