Price Chopper will host its third annual “Family Mealtimes Matter” outreach on Saturday, Oct. 22 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at its New York State stores. The in-store event features registered dietitians and nutrition educators from Price Chopper, Cornell Cooperative Extension and Eat Smart New York, who will provide information on the importance of family meals, how to shop for healthy foods even on a budget, and accessing community food assistance programs.

Price Chopper is encouraging families to pledge to increase the number of meals they share – any meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner. Families will be given an educational toolkit developed collaboratively by Price Chopper, Cornell Cooperative Extension and Eat Smart New York that will offer shortcuts, recipes and ideas to make family meals easy, healthy and delicious.

“We know that children who eat with their families do better in school, learn better eating habits and are less likely to develop eating disorders and so we’re doing all we can to help make it easy and fun for families to share mealtime,” said Mona Golub, said Mona Golub, vice president of public relations and consumer & marketing services.

The Family Mealtimes Matter challenge encourages families to spend the next four weeks making mealtimes better together and to set a goal of increasing the number of meals they have together as a family. To help alleviate the stress that often comes with planning family meals, Price Chopper offers the following tips:

Keep a list. Write down some quick, easy family meals and have the ingredients on hand.

Plan it out. Who will be home when? Which meals will need to be quick?

Cook once, eat twice. Cut up fruits and vegetables for snacks and meals when preparing a meal. Cook doubles on the weekend to use later that week or to freeze for another time.

Save time and energy. Use the crockpot, microwave and toaster oven to save time and energy costs on meal preparation.

Relax and enjoy. Focus on the meal and each other. Turn off the television and take phone calls later. Talk about fun things and don’t force a child to eat.

In 2010, Price Chopper’s Family Mealtimes Matter outreach event reached 12,000 family members.