Barilla Helps Families Believe in Meaningful Meals Again

BANNOCKBURN, Ill., June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Since 1877, Barilla has celebrated the importance of shared meals, as they are a source of sustenance for not only the body but for interpersonal relationships and growth.  Food fosters the conversations and experiences that bring us closer together.  This past year, the pasta company encouraged families to make the most of dinnertime with the introduction of "Share the Table: The Barilla Family Dinner Project."

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100602/NY12720LOGO)

In a renewal of the company's commitment to provide families with the tools needed to enhance mealtime, Barilla has redesigned its Share the Table online resource. Available at ShareTheTable.com, the new and improved page offers more than 700 recipes and expert tips, along with a host of interactive tools, giveaways and contests to improve the dinnertime experience.

JOINING THE MOVEMENT, ENJOYING THE MEAL

By simply visiting ShareTheTable.com and clicking on an icon, supporters of meaningful meals can join the Share the Table movement and gain access to tips, recipes, contests and tools and helps others enjoy more meaningful meals.

For each person who commits to enjoying meaningful meals with their family and friends, Barilla will donate $1 to Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA), up to $150,000, to support home delivered and congregate meal programs serving more than one million meals per day.

COOKING WITH CHEF MARIO BATALI

For a limited time, Barilla will not only donate $1 to Meals On Wheels Association of America for each visitor who clicks on a button to believe in meaningful meals,  but  will also offer those visitors an exclusive downloadable collection of delicious and easy-to-make recipes from renowned chef, Mario Batali.  

BARILLA PASTA FRIDAYS SWEEPSTAKES*

To help families kick off the summer right and more easily plan a family meal, Barilla is offering free pasta meals. By entering the sweepstakes online at ShareTheTable.com, pasta lovers can win coupons for Barilla Pasta and Barilla Sauce, along with great recipes and pairing suggestions. Five hundred lucky winners will be selected throughout the summer.

The sweepstakes will kick off on June 2, 2010 and last until September 10, 2010.

BARILLA'S MEALTIME MOMENTS CONTEST**

Families making the commitment to enhance mealtime have an opportunity to share their story with other families nationwide, online at ShareTheTable.com. Stories will feature how families connect around the table with successes and struggles highlighted. The winning dinnertime story will earn a month's worth of groceries to help keep the family meal tradition going strong!

The Mealtime Moments contest will start on June 2, 2010 and last until September 10, 2010.

To support meaningful meals and commit to Share the Table visit ShareTheTable.com.

Contest Rules and Regulations

*Pasta Fridays Sweepstakes - No purchase necessary. A purchase will not increase your chances of winning. Legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, 18 years and older at time of entry. Void where prohibited. Sweepstakes starts 6/2/10 and ends 9/10/10. For official rules, prize descriptions, odds disclosure, and to enter without purchase, visit http://www.ShareTheTable.com. Sponsor: Barilla America, Inc., 1200 Lakeside Drive, Bannockburn, IL 60015.

**Mealtime Moments Contest – No purchase necessary. A purchase will not increase your chances of winning. Legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, 18 years and older at time of entry who did not purchase any equipment for the purposes of entering this contest. Void where prohibited. Contest starts 6/2/10 and ends 9/10/10. To enter, and for official rules and prize descriptions, visit http://www.ShareTheTable.com. Sponsor: Barilla America, Inc., 1200 Lakeside Drive, Bannockburn, IL 60015.

About the Barilla Group

Barilla, originally established in 1877 as a bread and pasta shop in Parma, is today one of the top Italian food groups: a leader in the pasta business worldwide, in the pasta sauces business in continental Europe, in the bakery products business in Italy and in the crispbread business in Scandinavia.

Barilla owns 52 production facilities (13 in Italy and 39 outside Italy) and exports to more than 125 countries. Every year more than 2,700,000 tons of food products, with the brands Barilla, Mulino Bianco, Voiello, Pavesi, Wasa, Harry's (France, Spain and Russia), Lieken Urkorn, Golden Toast and Kamps (Germany), Alixir, Academia Barilla, Misko (Greece), Filiz (Turkey), Yemina and Vesta (Mexico), are featured on dining tables the world over.

By respecting its own traditional principles and values, which still feel current today, by considering employees a fundamental asset and by developing leading-edge production systems, Barilla has become one of the world's most esteemed food companies, and one that is recognized worldwide as a symbol of Italian know-how.  For more information: www.barillagroup.com / www.barillaus.com.

About Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA)

MOWAA is the oldest and largest organization in the United States representing those who provide meal services to people in need. MOWAA works toward the social, physical, nutritional, and economic betterment of vulnerable Americans. MOWAA provides the tools and information its programs need to make a difference in the lives of others.

MOWAA is a Member organization, and its Membership comprises of Senior Nutrition Programs in the United States.  MOWAA Member programs throughout the country provide nutritious meals and other nutrition services to men and women who are elderly, homebound, disabled, frail, or at risk. These services significantly improve the quality of life and health of the individuals they serve and postpone early institutionalization.

As a national organization, MOWAA focuses on those issues that can best assist its Member programs in achieving their individual missions of providing quality meals and nutrition services to as many vulnerable people as possible in the most efficient and effective manner, all "so no senior goes hungry"®.  To learn more visit: www.mowaa.org.

SOURCE Barilla