PickNIC (Pick Nutritious Ingredients Cost-Effectively): The top 100 "Best 4-U" brown-bag lunch food samples and health tips from Ingrid Kohlstadt MD, MPH.

My patients have asked me for this for years: “What can I pack for lunch that tastes amazing, is nutritious and doesn’t cost a fortune?”  After decades of making a difference in the lives of my patients, I am now going to make a difference in your life.  Now there is the PickNIC. 

In drawing on my experiences from working with two regulatory agencies that oversee our food and nutrition industry’s products (i.e. what we’re putting into our brown-bag lunches), I've never looked at packaging the same way. You might say I have an “inside view” of these products.  All of the PickNIC foods will help make you a savvy consumer based on the true health story of each food and nutrition product.

What I want to offer my patients and everyone who becomes a PickNIC “backer” through Fundable.com is an exciting selection of the foods with a big “Tasty Yum Factor" that are good for you too! Selecting foods that are prepared safely, with a thoughtful balance of quality ingredients and reasonable prices is my commitment to you.

Are you looking for amazing brown-bag lunch ideas that are:

• Nutritious
• Cost-effective
• Fun
• Tasty
• Fast
• Easy to put together

We got it, you get it!

(Above: Projected examples of Dr. Kohlstadt's "Best 4-U" Brown-Bag lunch picks)

What is PickNIC? The PickNIC list will be 100 healthful brown-bag foods chosen for popularity, taste and reasonable pricing. These 100 chosen foods will include food safety tips, how to use food as medicine or just to feel better, and fun facts about how the foods were discovered.

My team and I are both creative and expeditious. Now that I’ve practiced medicine on all seven continents, including station doctor in Antarctica, I’ve researched foods from around the globe including some of the newest food inventions.  Additionally my teammates represent 5 very different sets of taste buds and opinions. They are students from around the world attending Johns Hopkins health professions colleges (School of Medicine, School of Nursing, and School of Public Health), preschool parents, youth from around the U.S., nutrition doctors, and explorers such as those who winter in Antarctica.

We at PickNIC are sampling unique food items from around the world, carefully selecting companies and innovative food products. This will help bring the latest and newest foods, some of which might not yet have arrived on the shelves. We encourage these companies to help us identify their brown-bag bests (for more about this, please refer to Reward Option #3).

Our goal is to provide our Fundable.com supporters with nutritious brown-bag foods, web-links, leads, and cost-saving tips to show that tasty and healthful can also be affordable. Packaging labels such as natural, organic and low fat have more to do with product pricing than health benefit.  Our team of savvy shoppers will scout out the best prices. They'll even share their cost-saving leads.

Once PickNIC successfully completes our financial goal of $7,800 through Fundable.com, we are ready to go into action using your support dollars to implement the following reward options.  

Here's how your PickNIC support brings our PickNIC to your home:

Option #1: e-PickNIC With Us 

Sign up for $1 to receive an e-copy of the PickNIC list of top 100 items. You'll receive cost-saving tips on your purchase of PickNIC items and opportunities to sign up for Metabolism Matters a bimonthly health tips newsletter by Dr. Kohlstadt.
(Note: This special deal is for the first 100 backers, then the price goes up to $2)
*Estimated delivery: March 2014 

Option #2: Sample Brown-Bag Lunch and Book 

Sign up for $20 to receive a sample PickNIC lunch containing 5 or more of the top 100 list. Also in the lunch bag will be an autographed PickNIC booklet approximately 50 pages. The $20 pricing deal is limited to the first 100 backers given our hard costs. These costs are: PickNIC contents: $5.15; PickNIC bag mailer: $1.05; Ship in US: approx $3.25; Handling $0.35; Book printing for 200 copies $4.45.
(Note: An unlimited number of registrants can sign up for $25 after the first 100 backers sign up for our $20 special rate)
*Estimated delivery: Mar 2014, and ships within the US only.

Option #3: Promote Your Food On PickNIC with Endorsement from Dr. Kohlstadt

Pledge $100 or more Limited reward (5 backers)
Snack Food Manufacturers: The first 5 backers for Option #3 get this special $100 pricing deal. Do some bragging about your brown-bagging! Send us up to 2 of your company’s brown-bag lunch items that you think should be on the PickNIC list. Whether or not they are selected for the PickNIC list, Dr. Ingrid Kohlstadt will provide you with an expert opinion on the health benefits of your food product, which you may choose to use for testimonials and promotional purposes. If selected, your company and your submission will receive recognition in select PickNIC on-line and printed promotions. Your products can be mailed to: Dr. Ingrid Kohlstadt; 198 Prince George St.; Annapolis, MD 21401.
(Note: After the first five backers sign up, the price will be increased to $150)
*Estimated e-delivery: Mar 2014

Option #4: Dr. Kohlstadt Consults with You
Pledge $1,000 or more (Limited to 10 backers)

Dr. Kohlstadt can help you be the best you can be, and for your $1,000 pledge you will receive Reward #1 and Reward #2 PLUS two hours of one-on- one consultation with Dr. Kohlstadt.

This reward must be used in 2014. Dr. Kohlstadt will speak with you by your choice of telephone, Facetime, or Skype video-conference call to personalize your PickNIC, apply the latest advances in nutritional medicine, discuss your health goals, and fine- tune your metabolism (Please note: It is the Backer’s responsibility to direct personal medical questions to their primary care provider, since this reward provides no medical consultation. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition).
*Estimated delivery: March 2014

When we achieve our $7,800 (or more) goal, our anticipated timeframe is to send the PickNIC list, booklets and samples for your brown-bag PickNIC in March. Email updates also will be sent periodically as new foods and new pricing arrive for those who elect to receive it.

Thank you for backing PickNIC!
-Ingrid Kohlstadt MD, MPH

Copyright 2014 INGRIDients, Inc., Annapolis MD, All Rights Reserved. INGRIDients and NutriBee are registered Service Marks (SM). PickNIC is a pending registered Service Mark (SM).

Ingrid Kohlstadt  MD, MPH
Faculty Associate, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Department of International Health / Center for Human Nutrition
Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine
Fellow of the American College of Nutrition

198 Prince George Street
Annapolis, MD    21401
Phone:           (410) 858-4989
Fax:                (410) 280-4886
Email:             ikohlsta@JHSPH.edu

• Faculty Associate, Johns Hopkins University, Department of International Health, Center for Human Nutrition
• Editor of Advancing Medicine with Food and Nutrients 2nd Edition (CRC Press 2012)
  
  
   
• Editor of Food and Nutrients in Disease Management (CRC Press 2009)
  Reviewed in JAMA (Journal of the Amereican Medical Assoiciaton), Hopkins Medicine Magazine, and other publications
• Editor of Scientific Evidence for Musculoskeletal, Bariatric and Sports Nutrition (CRC Press 2006)
• Executive Director of NutriBee National Nutrition Competition
• Nutrition Doctor Ingrid Kohlstadt's personal website is: www.INGRIDients.com (she is the President of INGRIDients, Inc.)
   

Please see our Team Profile to learn more about nutrition doctor Ingrid Kohlstadt MD, MPH or visit her personal website at http://www.INGRIDients.com