Grab your favorite grocery cart and go for a spin this week to celebrate Food Check Out Week with Farm Bureau.

The official theme this year is “Stretching Your Grocery Dollar With Healthy, Nutritious Food,” reflecting the economic realities of American life that have meant dining out less often and preparing more meals at home. “During this week, we are focusing on providing consumers with information on stretching their grocery dollars with healthy, nutritious food. Tips for better nutrition on a stretched budget, making sense of food labels and understanding USDA’s MyPyramid are among the topics Farm Bureau members will be talking about with consumers, at supermarket demonstration stations and other venues,” said Terry Gilbert, a Kentucky farmer and chair of the American Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee.

Terry is pictured here (far right) with other members of the committee shopping for groceries to benefit the Wichita Ronald McDonald House Charities. On behalf of the American Farm Bureau, Gilbert and the committee donated the food and $2,500 food to the charity. The Food Check-Out Week connection between Farm Bureau and Ronald McDonald House Charities began more than a decade ago. Since the program was initiated in the mid-1990s, Farm Bureau members have donated around $3 million in food and monetary contributions to Ronald McDonald Houses and other worthwhile charities during Food Check-Out Week.

New this year, AFBF and the Soybean Checkoff launched a joint Facebook fan page to promote Food Check-Out Week. They will donate $1 to the Galveston (Texas) Ronald McDonald House for every person who becomes a fan of the page by the end of February, up to $5,000. The house sustained major structural damage during Hurricane Ike. So far, they have about 2500 fans – so go sign up today!