By Russell Gee,         

As you know if you have been reading this blog over the spring, the Food Bank’s EATWISE nutrition education interns completed a project to raise awareness for healthy breakfasts at our high schools this year — with in-class presentations, marketing materials, social media efforts and more. We wanted this project to make a real difference on our peers’ health and diets, but how would we define success and know that we were actually influencing our peers? 

To me, if my peers could demonstrate that they learned something and thought the information was useful, this would be a successful spring project. I realized the spring project made a difference when I talked to my friend Ryan. He was excited to try and make one of the healthful breakfast recipes we presented. My other friend, Kaitlin, even told me that she was eating breakfast more often and was careful to make healthier breakfast choices. To see my friends actually learn something and make changes to how they eat because of what we presented was very rewarding.

The presentation itself was also an interesting experience for me. It was different than just presenting a paper. Our EATWISE breakfast project included full-fledged presentations — with scripts, a slideshow, games and information used to educate others about breakfast. The experience itself was like viewing a kaleidoscope, as I was able to experience what it is like to be a teacher, having to expect that anything could occur. 

Russell Gee, one of the Food Bank's EATWISE interns, was part of the breakfast campaign marketing group.

For me, one of the most memorable parts of the presentation was when we informed a class that skipping breakfast could actually cause you to gain weight rather than lose weight. (That’s because your body enters a ‘survival mode’ and you don’t process food as efficiently.) Seeing the surprise and intrigue on their faces was priceless. Overall, being able to reach more than 900 of our peers, through in-class presentations, school announcements, marketing materials and social media content — all of which we created ourselves — gives me and my fellow interns a great sense of accomplishment. Our project showed how one can change their perspective so slightly and get something worthwhile in exchange.

 

By Patrycja Dziedzic, Mariama Camara, Ivette Paulino and Deyla Sabio, 

Not only are the EATWISE nutrition education interns doing in-class presentationsabout healthy breakfasts — we are bringing our message beyond the classroom and onto the big screen: THE INTERNET!

As the social media group for our breakfast project, we decided to set up Twitter and Tumblr accounts because they were all the hype this year at our schools. On our accounts, you can find delicious recipes, pictures we took of our breakfasts and quick nutrition facts that relate to issues teens care about, such as having clear skin and a fit body.

We accomplished a great deal on Twitter and Tumblr because we collected a lot of information that we know teens will find useful. It’s important for teens to be able to view this information in places they spend a lot of their time, like the internet. The topics we chose to display on our channels were picked by us because we know what teens like and what will catch their eye. For instance, we want quick and easy recipes to fill our breakfast plates!

Teens are constantly checking their Twitter feed and blogging on their Tumblrs no matter where they are. This gives them easy access to our healthy messages. We enjoyed putting the content together – especially the recipes, since we tried them all ourselves — and brainstorming how social media can impact our peers.

Being a part of the social media group was a lot of fun because we had the chance to create the content for accounts we would use ourselves! Not many teens get the opportunity to do something like this, and we hope our viewers enjoy our social media accounts just as much as we do!

By Russell Gee, Kamilah Newton, Elif Ajredini and Aditi Rai,

As our friends in the deliverables group wrote a couple weeks ago, the Food Bank’s EATWISE nutrition education interns are running a project to educate our peers on the importance of eating a balanced breakfast. Changing just one thing in your diet can make a big difference and is super simple. We’ve done it and they can do it too — and when our project reminds our peers that eating breakfast can have a real impact on their energy, productivity and overall focus, we’ll be working hard to make sure they listen up! 

As the marketing group, we want to capture our peers’ attention and connect breakfast to situations that teens actually experience, like studying for a test. We’ve produced our own flyers, with fun fonts and great images, and even a marketing script for our peers to use when conducting classroom announcements to promote our Twitter and Tumblr pages. At the very end of our presentations our peers will make a pledge to Change One Thing in their diet, and we will create a pledge wall with all of their responses. This will definitely be exciting and we can’t wait until we can share it with all of you!

Kamilah Newton of the EATWISE marketing group, left, talks with Mariama Camara of the social media group about marketing plans for the breakfast campaign

We want our peers to have fun learning! If they ask a lot of questions, then we’ll know they’re engaged, fully captivated and want to learn more! We want to convince them to Change One Thing and let them know that it’s not hard to make minor changes to their eating habits. No change is too small!

Personally, I’ve learned a lot about teamwork, and the power of consideration. Our group has open discussions and we all share our opinions. We’re not always on the same page, but we make compromises and our work looks great because we’re working together. It feels good knowing that everyone has contributed to the project and we are producing something that makes us proud!

 

 

By Rachael Cusick, Serena Rivera, Celin Concepcion and Nafisatou Cisse,

Do you ever wonder what people really know or think about nutrition? So do we! As part of the Food Bank's EATWISE nutrition education internship, we kicked off this school year by designing a survey to find out exactly what our peers know, or want to know, about nutrition. After reviewing student feedback from the nine participating high schools our EATWISE team members attend, we noticed that a high number of teens don't know enough about what types of food to eat in the morning. Based on that information, it was clear to everyone in EATWISE that our Spring 2012 school outreach project should be to raise awareness about the benefits of eating a healthful breakfast, with a focus on the importance of portion sizes.

Two of our EATWISE authors, Rachael Cusick and Celin Concepcion

To conquer our goal, we divided into four groups: Social Media, Presentation, Marketing and — our group — Deliverables. Our group's role is to put together nutrition materials that students at our high schools can take home with them. So far, we have developed a Breakfast in Your Pocket recipe book and a guide to fruit food route to provide our peers with an easy way to access healthful, quick, and super tasty recipes. Just a few of the exciting things the other groups are working on are writing and delivering morning announcements in our schools, building social networking pages and designing fun, interactive classroom activities like MyPlate relay races...By the end of March, we will have put the final touches on our project and will get the chance to present it in our schools throughout New York City.

We're really excited to show off all of our hard work and promote our healthful breakfast campaign to other teens — and even teachers. To keep up with our progress, watch out for the blog entries we will be posting every other week!

By Triada Stampas,

Right now, Congress is considering legislation that would cut off a critical source of support provided by the Child Tax Credit to our most vulnerable working families.

At a time when one in five children relies on soup kitchens and food pantries in NYC, this legislation would deny cash refunds that the Child Tax Credit provides to working immigrants who file taxes with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) instead of Social Security Numbers. Cutting the credit means increasing taxes on millions of struggling, working families across the country.

Cash refunds received by tax-paying immigrants through the Child Tax Credit help some of our most vulnerable families keep food no the table. Act now >

More than half of low-income households with children in New York City struggle to afford food. Last year, ITIN filers who accessed the Food Bank’s Free Income Tax Services had an average household income of $10,800 and received, on average, $1,160 in Child Tax Credits — a significant boost for low-income working people struggling to raise children in New York City.

Simply put, the Child Tax Credit helps keep food on the table for working families. The decision is now in the hands of a Congressional “conference committee” of House and Senate members — and their decision is expected soon! 

Tell Congress: Protect the Child Tax Credit. Protect our most vulnerable children.

By Kyle Smith,

Although this is only Daisy Carusillo’s second year implementing the Food Bank’s CookShop Classroom curriculum at PS 24 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, she handles the job like an old pro.

I recently had the pleasure of seeing Daisy in action as she instructed a roomful of new CookShop teachers at a training session one evening this fall.  After a full day in their own classrooms, the teachers had arrived looking a little weary. But as Daisy led a mock Chef Lesson (a cooking activity in which students help prepare nutritious, kid-friendly recipes) it was clear that these lessons are her favorite part of the curriculum – and it was impossible for the tired teachers to resist Daisy’s infectious energy and humorous anecdotes! Plus, it didn’t hurt that the tangy batch of Peachy Orange Salsa they were preparing smelled so great.  

“This is where nutrition education takes on a whole new life,” Daisy said. “The actual handling of the produce, the chopping, the dicing, mixing, the smells…does so much for the building of community.” 

CookShop Chef Lessons give elementary-school children an opportunity to try healthy food, such as fruits and vegetables, in a learning environment, Daisy said, while the Explorer and Discovery Lessons reinforce other academic areas such as reading, math and science skills.

"One of my favorite [Chef Lesson] memories is when a student was so proud of her dish – it looked so colorful, and it was so flavorful – she wanted to take some to the principal so she could taste it,” Daisy said.

But like all learning experiences, some can be a little jarring at first. When Daisy’s students were told carrots comprised the root of a plant, “they were so shocked, they weren’t sure if they wanted to continue eating [the Carrot Raisin Salad].”

Daisy said the students were more willing to taste the Three-Bean Salad and Apple Dipper recipes, but, she said, all CookShop lessons help serve a child’s personal development.

“Children who develop adequate cooking skills and nutritional knowledge are more likely to make healthier food choices later in life,” Daisy said.

And it’s that kind of insight – rather than the number of years’ experience -- that makes Daisy Carusillo an expert CookShop teacher.
 

The Food Bank released its annual research report this week, NYC Hunger Experience 2011: Support and Sacrifice, which revealed a startling increase in the number of middle-income and college-educated New Yorkers struggling to afford food. “The fact that education is no longer a buffer against poverty and hunger is antithetical to conventional wisdom and a blow to everything we’ve ever been told,” Food Bank President and CEO Margarette Purvis said. In other news, the mayor and the governor disagreed on finger-imaging of food stamp applicants and the NYC Health Department launched a new campaign to warn New Yorkers against super-sized portions.

More College-Educated NYers Struggle To Afford Food, Report Finds, NY1, 1/11
The Food Bank's NYC Hunger Experience 2011 report finds that between 2010 and 2011 the number of college-educated New Yorkers concerned about affording food or needing assistance getting food increased by 25 percent. The Food Bank says the study shows that higher levels of education don't always provide a safety net against hunger.

NY Gov. Cuomo sets aggressive agenda for 2nd year, Associated Press, 1/5
While outlining an aggressive agenda to boost New York's economy during his second year in office, Gov. Andrew Cuomo advocated several measures to help the poor and dispossessed, such as better access to food stamps. He said 30 percent of New Yorkers eligible for food stamps, about 1.4 million people, don't get them — leaving more than $1 billion in federal funds unclaimed annually. The state should help remove barriers and stigma and end fingerprinting as a requirement, he said.

Bloomberg Says He Will Fight for Fingerprinting Rule, New York Times, City Room, 1/5
A day after Gov. Andrew Cuomo vowed to end New York City’s policy of requiring food stamp applicants to be electronically fingerprinted, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg defended the policy and said he would try to convince the governor to keep it in place.

In New Ads, Health Department Offers Super-Sized Warnings, New York Times, City Room, 1/10
In a new set of posters in English and Spanish, the health department depicts the steady increase in sizes of soda cups and French fry sleeves against backdrops of unhealthy people, including a diabetic man who is missing most of one leg. The ads, which began appearing in the subway system on Monday, warn that obesity and diabetes have become more common as the average size of food servings has risen.

Break‘fat’ club, New York Post, 1/8
A study led by Department of Health official Gretchen Van Wye compared kids who ate breakfast in class with kids in control schools where breakfast is served only in the cafeteria. It found that about one in five kids who ate in class were eating breakfast twice. “Special care should be taken to ensure that children are not inadvertently taking in excess calories by eating in multiple locations,” she writes in the research paper. Some of her colleagues fear that the controversial study could lay the groundwork for scrapping part or all of city’s free breakfast program.

By Triada Stampas,

This past Wednesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo delivered his second State of the State address. After a year when critical anti-hunger programs have been under threat at the national level, I was overjoyed to hear the governor highlight child hunger and speak out forcefully for expanding access to the food stamp program (SNAP) by removing barriers to participation and eliminating stigma — including ending the practice of finger-imaging.

In New York City, 76 percent of all households with children struggle to afford food.

Since I couldn’t say it better myself, here is what the governor said:

“For all of our progress, there are still basic wrongs to right. There is never an excuse for letting any child in New York go to bed hungry. Statewide, 1 in 6 children live in homes without enough food on the table. Yet 30 percent of New Yorkers eligible for food stamps — over 1.4 million people — do not receive them, leaving over $1 billion in federal funds unclaimed every year.

“We must increase participation in the food stamp program, remove barriers to participation and eliminate the stigma associated with this program. And we must stop fingerprinting for food. No child should go hungry in the great State of New York and we will do all that we can to prevent it.”

In addition, Governor Cuomo called for a number of other initiatives that will help those we serve, including:

• improving food access in food deserts;
• foreclosure relief and tenant protection;
• setting up a health insurance exchange to provide more New Yorkers with insurance and lessen healthcare costs; and
• reducing (or, for some, eliminating) the state income tax burden on low-income New Yorkers.

It will take a lot of work to make all of this happen. But the fact that these issues all made it into this year’s address means that these are the items Governor Cuomo has pledged to prioritize and devote resources to seeing done.

We don’t see this happen every day, and we will be doing everything we can in the coming months and year to help make sure that true progress is made.

By Matthew Gustafson, 

One of my greatest pleasures in visiting the schools that run our CookShop Classroom program is observing how creative teachers can be when connecting our program's nutrition education messages to the other subjects they’re teaching.

Of course, CookShop’s curriculum is built to facilitate these kinds of connections.

From top: Photo by Miriam Araya; Photo by Ritamarie Pepe

I’ve seen teachers relate CookShop to math — measuring ingredients is a handy lesson in fractions, addition and multiplication. Other teachers highlight geography through discussions of farming and geographical landscapes. And I’ve seen CookShop help develop reading and writing skills, as teachers ask their students to use descriptive words to articulate and write about the way foods look, feel, smell, sound and taste.

I’m always impressed by teachers’ imagination in bringing their lessons to life, so I was especially excited to see CookShop take on a whole new educational aspect at P.S. 112 in Brooklyn!

Fourth grade photography students, inspired by the foods a younger class had used in a CookShop lesson, grabbed their cameras and set up a fresh veggie photo shoot. I’ve seen a lot of CookShop creativity, but I never expected this transformation of food into art!

“We used our imagination to create a new world with vegetables,” wrote student Susan He in a letter explaining her photos.

Whoever said you shouldn’t play with your food?!
 

This week, Food Bank CEO Margarette Purvis talked about our city's childhood obesity problem in the Huffington Post, census data showed a record high percentage of Americans are now living in poverty, and President Obama continues to strategize passing his jobs proposals — all while the deficit “supercommittee” in Washington attempts to resolve our nation’s budget deficit. Under the threat of federal funding cuts, local organizations like Food Bank network member Project Hospitality in Staten Island are already struggling to keep pantry shelves full for neighbors in need. One bright spot, however: nutrition education programs like the Food Bank’s CookShop are empowering low-income children and families in New York City to make healthy food choices.

Beyond the Grocery Store...Teaching Children Where Their Food Comes From, The Huffington Post, 11/1
It's no secret that New York City has a major problem with childhood obesity. On the national stage, Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative, Rachael Ray's Yum-o! and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation are all shining a light on the nation's alarmingly high rates of childhood obesity while advocating for nutrition education as a way to empowering kids to make healthier choices. And right here in New York City, nutrition education programs like the Food Bank's CookShop and Hunger Solutions New York are taking the fight locally.

Poorest poor in US hits new record: 1 in 15 people, Associated Press, 11/3
The ranks of America's poorest poor have climbed to a record high — 1 in 15 people — spread widely across metropolitan areas as the housing bust pushed many inner-city poor into suburbs and other outlying places and shriveled jobs and income. New census data paint a stark portrait of the nation's haves and have-nots at a time when unemployment remains persistently high.

Deficit Committee Could Seek More Time, a Top Democrat Says, The New York Times, 11/2
A top House Democrat said Wednesday that a bipartisan committee seeking ways to slash the budget deficit could seek an extension if it was unable to meet its deadline, just three weeks away.
With no visible signs of progress, 6 of the 12 committee members have begun meeting privately in hopes of overcoming what appears to be the biggest obstacle to agreement: a deadlock over whether tax increases should be part of a deficit-reduction deal.

Obama, Top Democrats Meet to Plot Jobs Strategy, Reuters, 11/1
President Barack Obama will meet top Democrats from the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday to plot strategy on how to advance his jobs proposals that are stalled in Congress amid Republican resistance. The White House talks follow a series of unilateral steps by Obama over the past week aimed at seizing the initiative from his Republican foes and showing voters he is serious about tackling high unemployment and a sluggish economy.

The cupboard is bare at Staten Island's food pantries, Staten Island Live, 11/4
Indeed, there is a crisis at the Project Hospitality Food Pantry, at its main location on Bay Street and the 21 mobile food pantries in churches and other sites the not-for-profit serves in every part of the borough: Donations from food drives and private individuals that usually pour in at this time of year have virtually dried up. Add in cuts in the federal, state and city food assistance programs serving the hungry and the result is chilling insecurity for the borough's thousands of hungry families.