TORONTO, Nov. 30, 2012 /CNW/ - They say that you're not supposed to play with your food but celebrity chef Chuck Hughes begs to differ. Chuck was in Toronto breaking this and other conventional "food rules" with local kids as part of his work with the Hellmann's^® Real Food Grant Program. The Applegrove Community Complex was awarded a $7,000 Hellmann's Real Food Grant to help fund its after school program. The program helps kids connect to food through hands-on cooking lessons, trips to the market and education.

"It's really amazing how easy it is to get kids excited about real food when you let them get involved and try new things," says Chuck Hughes, celebrity chef and longtime champion of Hellmann's Real Food Movement. "We see how passionate kids can get about food through the programs we fund with Hellmann's Real Food Grants and the result is really powerful. They want to eat it, they get excited about it - it changes their whole perspective on eating."

Applegrove Community Complex offers weekly cooking classes and educational activities several times a week. Over 30 kids attend the after school activities where they develop a positive relationship with real food and encourage Canadian children to create a lasting connection to the food that they eat everyday.

"The skills that Applegrove teaches kids, allows them to develop a love and understanding of real, fresh, food and this is what the Real Food Movement is all about," said Stephanie Cox, Senior Brand Manager for Hellmann's Canada. "We continue to see the magic that comes from engaging kids in cooking through programs like Applegrove."

Backed by Research
The Hellmann's brand has supported 69 projects across the country with over $310,000 in funding since 2010. Through the Real Food Movement, the brand has seen that kids who get their hands on real food early in life, end up loving it.

Moreover, a recent study for the Hellmann's brand revealed that food education has an impact on the relationship that kids have with their food. The survey showed that almost a third (31%) of Canadian children are throwing out their lunches but students who receive food education are 67% less likely to do so.

"We know that food education matters but we were surprised at how it relates to lunchtime eating behaviours," said Stephanie Cox, Senior Brand Manager for Hellmann's Canada. "Our survey demonstrates a few of the positive ways food education can change children's attitudes towards food."

For easy school lunch ideas visit hellmanns.ca or join our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/HellmannsCanada for more tips, ideas and real food inspiration.

About the Real Food Movement
Hellmann's^® mayonnaise was founded on the principle of starting with real, simple ingredients - like eggs, oil and vinegar. This commitment to real ingredients is why Hellmann's^® launched the Real Food Movement - a mission to help get more real food on Canadian tables by inspiring families to smell, taste, touch and learn about the pleasure that comes from eating real food. Canadians can join the real food conversation and learn how to eat real at www.facebook.com/HellmannsCanada

About the Real Food Grant Program Recipients:

• St. Patrick's Elementary, Saint John, NB - awarded $15,000
• Markham Fair, Markham, ON - awarded $5,000
• Apple Grove Community Complex, Toronto, ON - awarded $7,000
• Kitchener Market, Kitchener, ON - awarded $2,500
• Niagara Federation of Agriculture, ON - awarded $2,500
• Project Chef, Vancouver, BC - awarded $10,000
• Boys and Girls Club of South Coast, Vancouver, BC - awarded $5,000
• Galbraith Elementary, Lethbridge, ON - awarded $4,400
• Geary Elementary, Geary, NB - awarded $2,500
• Quispamsis Elementary, Quispamsis, NB - awarded $1,000
• Nokomis Junior Chef, Nokomis, SK - awarded $400
• Barrie Farmers' Market, Barrie, ON - awarded $5,000
• North Columbia Environmental Society,Revelstoke, BC - awarded $4,700
• Jeune Pousse, Montreal, QC - awarded $2,500
• St. Jude Elementary, Deux-Montagnes, QC - awarded $5,000
• Clean Nova Scotia , Dartmouth, NS - awarded $5,000 grant
• The Greenstart Program, Calgary, AB - awarded $15,000 grant

About Unilever Canada
Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods with strong operations in more than 100 countries and sales in 190. With products that are used over two billion times a day around the world, we work to create a better future every day and help people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others. In Canada, the portfolio includes brand icons such as: Axe^®, Becel^®, Ben & Jerry's®, Breyers®, Clear®, Degree®, Dove® personal care products, Hellmann's®, Klondike®, Knorr®, Lipton®, Magnum®, Nexxus®, Popsicle®, Q-Tips®, Simple®, Skippy, St. Ives®, TRESemmé®, and Vaseline®. All of the preceding brand names are owned or used under license by Unilever Canada Inc. Dedicated to serving consumers and the communities where we live, work and play, Unilever employs more than 1,600 people across Canada. For more information, visit www.unilever.ca. 

Unilever's ambition is to double the size of our business, whilst reducing our overall environmental impact (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal). We are also committed to doing what we can to improve health, nutrition and hygiene, with a target to help more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, as well as sourcing all our agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020. All of these goals are itemised in around 60 time-based commitments in our Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.

About the Survey
From August 14 to August 17, 2012, an online survey was conducted among a randomly selected sample of 1331 Canadian parents/guardians of children aged 7 - 15 years, who are also Angus Reid Forum panelists, and 1331 youths, aged 7 - 15 years of age, who are the children of the same Angus Reid Forum panelists who were surveyed.  The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 2.7% (19 times out of 20) for both sample groups.  Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.

SOURCE Hellmanns

Image with caption: "Celebrity Chef Chuck Hughes visits Applegrove Community Centre and helps with their after school cooking classes . Hellmann's Canada is supporting the initiative with a $2,000-Real Food Grant to help Canadians eat more real food. (CNW Group/Hellmanns)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20121130_C5033_PHOTO_EN_21389.jpg