Launched by CASA in 2001,
Family Day is a national movement to remind
parents that dinner makes a difference and encourages parents to eat dinner with
their families and thereby stay more involved in their kids’ lives. More than a
decade of CASA’s research has shown that the more often kids eat dinner with
their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs.
“Dinner is a crucial time for families to connect, communicate and
create special memories. And, thanks to the research from CASA, we now know it
also can go a long way to keeping kids away from potentially dangerous
influences,” said Rachel Marler, director for Tyson Convenience Meats. “As a
proud sponsor of CASA’s
Family Day, meals made with
Tyson® Heat ‘N Eat Dinner Meats help to reinforce this
message by making it easy for families to enjoy quality time around the dinner
table, even when life is at its busiest.”
According to CASA’s
The
Importance of Family Dinners IV report, compared to teens who have five to
seven family dinners a week, those who dine with their families fewer than three
nights a week are less likely to abuse prescription drugs and engage in alcohol,
cigarette and marijuana use.
“America's drug problem is not going to be
solved in courtrooms or legislative hearing rooms by judges and politicians. It
will be solved in living rooms and dining rooms and across kitchen tables - by
parents and families,” says Joseph A. Califano, Jr., CASA’s chairman and
president and the former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.
“Family dinners and the communication that occurs over the course of a meal are
critical in building a relationship with your children and to understanding the
world in which they live.”
To help emphasize the importance of family
dinners, Tyson Foods will be supplying
Tyson Heat N’ Eat meals to CASA
Family Day events around the country. At these events and online, Tyson
will ask Americans to share how they embrace dinner with their own families. In
addition, Tyson offers a complete Embrace Dinner™ Web site, featuring tips for
families to embrace dinner every night of the week. It can be found at
www.embracedinner.com.
About Tyson Heat N’ Eat Dinner Meats:
Tyson Heat ‘N
Eat Dinner Meats is committed to strengthening families and has convenient meal
solutions to support increasingly time-constrained families. Through its
Family Day sponsorship, Tyson Foods is helping to create awareness of
the importance of eating dinner as a family to provide children and teens with
an open and communicative environment.
Tyson Foods, Inc. is the world’s
largest protein provider with fresh service foods and fully cooked solutions for
families.
About CASA:
CASA is the only national organization that brings together
under one roof all the professional disciplines needed to study and combat all
types of substance abuse as they affect all aspects of society. CASA has issued
66 reports and white papers, published one book, conducted demonstration
projects focused on children, families and schools at 220 sites in 86 cities and
counties in 34 states plus Washington, DC and a Native American tribal
reservation, and has been evaluating the effectiveness of drug and alcohol
treatment in a variety of programs and drug courts. In May of 2007, CASA
Chairman Joseph A. Califano, Jr. called for a fundamental shift in the nation’s
attitude about substance abuse and addiction with the publication of his book,
HIGH SOCIETY: How Substance Abuse Ravages America and What to Do About
It. For more information, visit
www.casacolumbia.org.
For
additional information on
Family Day, visit
www.CASAFamilyDay.org. For additional
information on Tyson’s Embrace Dinner program, visit
EmbraceDinner.com!
*The National Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse at Columbia University is neither affiliated with, nor sponsored
by, the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (also known as
"CASA”) or any of its member organizations, or any other organizations with the
name of "CASA".