Del Monte foods is reportedly spending over $20 million to promote its “Fruit Undressed” line of refrigerated fruit products. One ad shows a freshly-peeled peach with the tagline “It’s better in the buff.” As nudists, we know this statement to be true but whoever thought we would see these sentiments applied to the food we eat? In the last couple of years, the public has seen print and online advertisements for Bear Naked trail mix, Naked Wine, Naked Pita Chips and Naked Chocolate, just to name a few. The list gets longer if you count products that refer to being naked but don’t include it in the product name, such as Pepsi Raw.

The Fruit Undressed advertisements state: “We strip our fruit to its juicy natural essence so you can enjoy its cool delicious flavor instantly.” Are food companies just jumping on the Naked bandwagon because it’s suddenly trendy or is it because companies recognize that the workd “naked” is synonymous with “natural”? And consumers are looking for products that are natural in the environmentally-concious world we’re moving toward.

The ads are fun and attention-getting and just may strip the word “naked” of its shock value for those who are predisposed to think that way. With grocery shelves lined with “Naked” foods, might the thought that naked equals natural become ingrained in our collective mainstream culture and spill over to all things naked being equated with being natural? So that in the near future when someone who is not a nudist hears the word “naked,” their first subconcious thought won’t be of some starlet’s photo or a Playboy centerfold but they just might think instead, “naked equals natural.”

In just a few short weeks, it will officially be summer. The kids will be out of school, and many people are wondering how they’re going to be able to afford a vacation this year. While the economy may be causing travelers to rethink their vacation plans, you simply can’t afford not to take a Nakation, a clothing-optional vacation away from home, at an American Association for Nude Recreation club or by visiting a nude beach. With apologies to David Letterman, here are the top 10 reasons you should consider a Nakation this summer:

10. With over 260 clubs and resorts across the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean, there is an AANR club in your area.

9. Nakationing close to home saves money on gas and airfare.

8. There are activities the whole family can enjoy from sports to sunbathing.

7. AANR clubs range from upscale resorts to rustic campgrounds and everywhere in between, depending on your taste.

6. Taking a clothing-optional vacation means packing next to nothing–and less laundry when you return.

5. On a Nakation, you won’t have to wrestle with a wet, sandy bathing suit.

4. Traveling July 6-11? Many AANR clubs waive grounds fees for first-time visitors during Nude Recreation Week, so newcomers can try nude recreation and find out what they’re missing.

3. Become a part of history as AANR clubs and legally sanctioned public lands across North America host The AANR World Record Skinny-Dip, a Guinness World Records™ event, on July 11.

2. You won’t need to spend money on beachwear or try to find a bathing suit that fits.

And the #1 reason to take a Nakation this summer?

1. You’ll find a week at an AANR club so relaxing, you’ll return home feeling like you’ve had a month-long vacation.

Google is sponsoring a contest called Doodle 4 Google featuring images kids have created. The entries are categorized by grades, and one finalist  in the Grades 10-12 category shows a family of skinny-dippers hanging up their combat gear on the Google logo as they peacefully walk toward the water’s edge.

Help select the national finalists from a group of 40 regional winners. You can see the entries and vote by clicking here.

The above  phrase is usually attributed to real estate but we’re excited to provide you with a list of locations for The AANR World Record Skinny-Dip, happening on Saturday, July 11 at 3:00 p.m. EST.

Find more information about the event or find a location near you at The AANR World Record Skinny-Dip page.

Air New Zealand employees wear nothing but body paint to demonstrate that there are no hidden charges when flying Air New Zealand.

Serendipity Park, an American Association for Nude Recreation club in north Georgia made the Asheville Citizen-Times today as one of the locations participating in The AANR World Record Skinny-Dip.

Click here to read more.

Exactly two months from today, on July 11 at 3 p.m. EST, a record number of nudists will participate in The AANR World Record Skinny-Dip, a Guinness World Records event. Today is the deadline date for clubs and other legally sanctioned nudist locations to let us know they plan to participate in the event . A list will be posted at aanr.com later this week on The AANR World Record Skinny-Dip page. In the meantime, connect with other skinny-dippers on Facebook by searching for AANR-World Record Skinny Dip.

On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered a lower court to reconsider its previous decision to toss out a $500,000 fine against the CBS network for Janet Jackson’s exposed breast for nine-sixteenths of a second during the halftime show at Super Bowl 2004. The case that coined the term “wardrobe malfunction” was sent back to the appeals court due to a high court decision last week that upheld the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) right to fine networks for airing even a single expletive.

From a social standpoint, one has to wonder, where’s the harm? The American Association for Nude Recreation advocates for the right to enjoy non-sexual social family nudism in appropriate settings. While a Super Bowl halftime show is not your usual appropriate setting, the Jackson case seems to be part of a bigger issue. A disturbing trend against harmless nudity has included nude statues being draped by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft so they wouldn’t be visible to the public during a speech. Women have been vilified for breastfeeding in public. Classical nude art has not been allowed to be displayed in art shows around the country, and a teacher was reprimanded for putting a single nude photo of himself and his wife at a nude beach during a family vacation on his personal website.

None of the above instances involve anything that could be misconstrued as inappropriate, just as the Jackson incident has been blown way out of proportion. Here’s hoping the appeals court once again refuses to find merit in the case and the five-year case can be put to rest. Yet the discussion regarding the wholesome naturalness of the human body deserves to be continued.