I haven’t had a contest for far too long so I’ve decided to have THREE contests. Giving something away is gangs of fun and I’m overdue for gangs of fun. Life has been alternately frustrating, painful, maddening, overwhelming, and generally ticking me off. I could give you details (and you KNOW I will) but I’d rather give you gifts for now, especially bread. So that’s where we’ll start.
Bread is good therapy. When you smell it wafting through the air it makes you feel as though all is right with the world. Maybe I’ll start my own Bread Therapy Group. I bet it would catch on. We won’t talk about any problems - we’ll just eat bread until we’re stupefied and then we’ll wander off into the night. And I’ll charge people for this. Yes, I feel I have entrepreneur written all over me. But at least I’ll actually FEED them with THE most delicious bread ever created. I know this to be true. I’m there nearly every Saturday. “THERE” is Great Harvest Bread Company.
They make warm and squishy and delectable things like this:
And this (which lasted for four seconds after this photo was shot):
Here’s one of their bakeries:
If you’ve been hanging around here very long, you know that I believe in REAL FOOD. I define that as food made from real ingredients, organic if possible, unprocessed or lightly processed, knowing the people who grow your food, buying locally, and buying fresh. It’s being in touch with what you eat.
Great Harvest Bread Company exemplifies the values that are important to me. They do business with small farmers, many of whom they’ve known and worked with for many years. Bread is made fresh daily, wheat is being ground into flour regularly, and customers are treated to samples that are generous.
But here’s something that’s really important to know:
They truly care about our communities. Kate Ord, Director of Marketing states, “At the core of our mission statement is ‘give generously to others.’ We donate more than 4 tons of whole grain bread to children and families in need.” They also take part in life-changing projects like this Habitat For Humanity home:
They get to know their customers with a Farmers’ Market presence in selected locales:
And they know what they’re buying and what they feed us. It matters. It’s at the heart of everything they do.
The company was recently named “Best Place To Work” by Outside Magazine and “Most Democratic Workplace” by Worldblu. They’ve also recently started a blog you can link to HERE.
I so love this company that I contacted them to find out more about who they are. I was fortunate enough to meet the lovely Ms. Kate Ord. We became fast friends and when I told her I wanted to introduce my blogging buds to Great Harvest, she did what they do: jumped in to help. And this is where our contest begins.
Great Harvest has offered to give one lucky winner a $50 certificate for your choice of fresh, lovely, squishy, delicious bread products from a bakery near you. And just in case you don’t yet have one of these wonderful places, they will send you a basket of mixes to create your own fresh-baked treats in your kitchen. (Fresh bread wouldn’t be all that fresh by the time they shipped it to you so making your own is the next best thing!) And here’s the kicker: They’ll send this basket to you WHEREVER you are. That means my international friends can enter, too! I’m officially jazzed.
This contest will be for my BLOGGING FRIENDS. You will be entered if you follow me and BLOG about the contest. It can be as simple as, “Hey, Robynn’s Ravings is having a contest for these items (and then list them). Go see her at http://www.robynnsravings.blogspot.com/ !! Or you can write a book, but whichever you choose, click the follow button to the right with all the photos and then leave me a comment with your blog link and I’ll head on over to your place.
The next items are for ANY followers and you tell me which contest you want to be entered into. One is from Chipotle. You may remember Chipotle from me blogging about them or you may have seen them featured on “Nightline.” Chipotle is a fantastic restaurant that makes every effort to purchase its meat and food from growers who raise their animals and grow their crops in healthy, sustainable ways. And the flavor of their food is proof positive. If you already follow me (or decide to) and you want “Burritos For Two including gourmet burritos, fresh chips with guacamole, and drinks,” then leave me a comment and include the words “Following” and “Chipotle” somewhere in the comment.
However, not everyone lives within a convenient distance of this food paradise so you may want to select an alternate prize. Therefore, I offer you this:
A brand spankin’ new DVD of the most fascinating look at why it’s important to eat REAL FOOD. This could change your life, your health, and your mind. I think everyone should see it. And my kids even loved it though I included a trip to see it in their homeschooling curriculum.
Again, just click that “follow” icon over there on the right. (If you’re following me on a feed or through a reader, please click anyway just so I know about you!) Then type in “following” and “Food, Inc.” somewhere in your comment and I’ll put you in for this one.
So there you have it. Lots o’ loot and fabulous reasons to eat good food and REAL FOOD! I hope this brings you out of the woodwork if you’ve been lurking and I hope it spreads the word about GREAT HARVEST BREAD COMPANY! This is the first time I’ve featured them.
The contest will end at midnight PST, Monday, May 10, 2010. Winners will be announced Tuesday. Good luck!
©Copyright 2010 – Photos Courtesy of Great Harvest Bread Company and internet sources unless otherwise marked.
