Today is national Dine In Day, a nationwide campaign started by the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences that is intended to encourage families to eat a healthy meal together at home. Many families are so busy these days that they rarely have the chance to sit down to dinner together. Eating family meals at home has several benefits:

• Cooking at home is typically less expensive than eating out, thus helping families save money.
• When you prepare meals at home, you can control how much salt and sugar go into your food and so home-cooked meals can be healthier than those you eat in restaurants.
• When families eat a meal together they get the chance to re-connect, talk about their days, and enjoy each other’s company.

You can commit to dining in today by taking the pledge at this web site: http://www.aafcs.org/FCSday/commitment.html. If you need healthy recipe ideas, contact staff at the Arlington Virginia Cooperative Extension office: http://offices.ext.vt.edu/arlington.

AAFCS Chief Executive Officer Carolyn Jackson promotes Dine In Day at the Arlington Farmers Market