ALEXANDRIA, MN - Tastefully Simple Inc., a direct-sales gourmet food company, is the recipient of the Minnesota Governor's Award for Excellence in Waste and Pollution Prevention - an award that honors programs benefiting the environment through waste/pollutant reduction and elimination at the source.

Tastefully Simple's Green Team, an employee committee dedicated to environmental activism, received the award for its numerous programs and projects that encourage prevention, spurring others to reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink.

"We are very proud to receive this award," says Jill Blashack Strahan, Tastefully Simple founder and CEO. "Protecting and nurturing the environment is something we take seriously and consider our corporate responsibility. It is amazing the difference one company, or one person for that matter, can make through simply thinking and acting a little differently."

The Green Team creates environmental awareness through projects such as the inclusion of an environmental news column in its employee newsletter, hosting the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance's first Office Paper Reduction Program, and the placement of the Legacy of the Lakes billboards statewide to educate the public about preserving lakes and waterways.

Tastefully Simple's Green Team also puts into action programs that facilitate environmental preservation, including the use of electronic files instead of printed pieces, the reuse of office items through a materials exchange station, and the implementation of area shut-downs and motion sensors for low-used areas.

Tastefully Simple is the 16th company to earn the Governor's Award for Excellence in Waste and Pollution Prevention honoring superior environmental achievement and recognizing leaders at the highest level of environmental consciousness and involvement. This puts Tastefully Simple in a league with past winners including General Mills, Honeywell and Target.

About Tastefully Simple
Tastefully Simple is the original national home taste-testing company featuring easy-to-prepare gourmet foods. The company's unique, high-quality products are offered through independent business consultants across the United States. For more information about Tastefully Simple products, taste-testing parties or the business opportunity, contact Tastefully Simple at 866.448.6446 or visit www.tastefullysimple.com.