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 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.
 

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?!
 

By Triada Stampas

Last week, the Food Bank kicked off the 18th year of our signature nutrition education program with a day-long conference, training teachers and educators to bring our CookShop program to students and parents in public schools throughout New York City.

USDA Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Kevin Concannon

A testament to the Food Bank’s continued commitment to nutrition education, CookShop will now be bringing the knowledge and tools to adopt a healthy diet on a limited budget to more than 135,000 low-income children, teens and adults through interactive workshops and peer-led social marketing.

This year, the Food Bank was proud to introduce important updates to CookShop. The CookShop Classroom for Elementary School curriculum, for example, now links nutrition education lessons directly to core subjects like math, language arts and science, and, importantly, to the school meals children have access to every day. CookShop for Families not only engages parents and guardians in workshops that complement the Classroom curriculum, it now also incorporates important skills like budgeting and meal planning.

United Federation of Teachers (UFT) President Mike Mulgrew

This year’s keynote speakers – USDA Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Kevin Concannon and United Federation of Teachers (UFT) President Mike Mulgrew – joined Food Bank President and CEO Margarette Purvis at the conference, showing their support and appreciation for the teachers, parent coordinators and school staff who make CookShop a reality.

“We live in challenging times, and teachers can play such a vital role, not only in ensuring that children won’t go hungry, but that they also eat healthy foods,” said Under Secretary Concannon.

Michael Mulgrew told us that he still makes the recipe he learned to prepare during his visit to a CookShop for Families workshop in the Bronx. The UFT President further praised the hands-on CookShop curriculum for making learning accessible to all students, including those in special education.

Teachers participated in hands-on workshops.

Perhaps best of all, the conference gives us a great opportunity to hear from the CookShop teachers and educators directly about what they most value in the program.

”This is an excellent idea - to link [the lessons] to math, science and language arts,” said six-year CookShop veteran Millie Peguero, referring to recent updates to the curricula she will be implementing in her Manhattan kindergarten class. “We’ve already noticed that the apple lesson, for example, coincided with a science lesson on fruits of the season, so we use that as the science lesson that day.”

By Zac Hall, 

For this school year, the Food Bank’s CookShop Classroom for Elementary School curriculum is getting a fresh new makeover!

We always strive to improve our CookShop nutrition education program so that the more than 30,000 participating New York City children, teens and adults get the best possible education about how to cook and eat healthfully.

Our new CookShop Classroom for Elementary School curriculum focuses on integrating nutrition and food exploration into everyday, routine activities for children – if kids talk and think about new foods and food choices on a daily basis, it gets easier to keep thinking about and making healthy choices.

First things first: Where does food come from? Our new curriculum starts at the farm, so that children know exactly where their food comes from before it lands in a supermarket aisle or their refrigerator. Students also discuss common food sources in New York City (like farmers markets, grocery stores and bodegas) so they can make healthful food choices anywhere they find food.

This year’s curriculum will also focus on school meals, using the foods that kids are already familiar with in the school setting as an extra learning tool. Students will identify the healthy foods on their breakfast and lunch plates, discuss their farm roots and learn about their nutritional benefits, so that their everyday food experiences become learning experiences.

Speaking of plates: Our new curriculum stars the USDA’s new nutrition icon, MyPlate. MyPlate encourages people to think about building a healthy plate at meal times. Each educational unit of CookShop features one MyPlate food group: fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes (and other plant proteins) and low-fat dairy products. The best part: after learning about these foods’ benefits, the kids prepare and taste delicious and nutritious recipes with them. Yum!

We are excited to start reaching a new wave of New Yorkers with our message of healthy cooking and eating! Check back throughout the year for first-hand stories from our students, teachers and Food Bank staff.

Zac Hall is the Food Bank's CookShop for Families Manager

by Matt Gustafson,

Just a couple weeks ago, in public elementary schools across New York City, approximately 28,000 students are celebrating their “graduation” from CookShop as the 2010-11 program came to a close.

The Food Bank’s hands-on nutrition education program, CookShop reaches low-income children, teens and families with skills and knowledge to help them eat healthy on a limited budget. At P.S. 76 in Queens, students marked the end of this year’s CookShop program with a special awards ceremony and celebration, which was a great time for the kids (and for me!).

Wearing homemade construction and tissue paper chef hats, all the students in CookShop Classroom for Elementary School filed into the auditorium. After a short introduction by teachers, the festivities began.

First, the performances. Three classes took the stage and sang “Parts of a Plant,” to the tune of “Wheels on the Bus.” A staple in the CookShop curriculum, the song helps students learn and remember — as the title hints — the parts of a plant. Next they belted out “Grow Your Plants,” set to the music of “Row Your Boat,” describing all the things plants need to grow. The performances rounded out with a play about the life cycle of plants, with students acting out the various components of plant growth: soil, sun and water. (Our curriculum also includes a very adorable dance to illustrate the plant life cycle.)

After each student received his or her certificate for completing CookShop, it was time for the grand finale: a game show in which students from each class showed off all their CookShop nutrition knowledge to their fellow classmates.

Principal Mary Schafenburg told me CookShop has had such a profound effect on the school that when it came time for P.S. 76 to become a magnet school this year, CookShop helped inspire their decision to focus on nutrition and wellness. The school’s theme, “From Seed to Plate,” educates students that food doesn’t come from the grocery store but from the earth (a lesson CookShop emphasizes, too).

As part of their new health focus, the school has a partnership with Brooklyn Grange, a rooftop garden students can visit and work in. The school is also in the process of building a greenhouse nearby. And most recently, they created a walking day in which all the students were given pedometers to chart how far they walk each day and promote activity and healthy exercise.

All in all, it was wonderful to see the kids at P.S. 76 have such a blast and take pride in their CookShop learning, their cooking skills and their excitement about their future pursuits in healthy living and eating.

By Josh Wessler,

This week, in a joint venture with the Mario Batali Foundation, the Food Bank is launching an exciting new nutrition and health education program, Community CookShop, at food pantries and soup kitchens across the city.

The Community CookShop pilot program breaks new ground for the Food Bank. For the first time, our nutrition workshops will pair parents and caregivers with their children to learn and cook together. Also a first, the workshops will be available at several of our member programs — food pantries and soup kitchens — in all five boroughs. And finally, it is our first time partnering with the Mario Batali Foundation.

The Food Bank and the Mario Batali Foundation share a belief in the power of hands-on learning to equip families for a healthier future. Based on that belief, Community CookShop engages whole families in practicing strategies to get the most food at the best quality for the lowest cost. Community CookShop is modeled on the Food Bank’s successful CookShop program, the largest provider of nutrition education in New York City public schools. Like CookShop, the new Community program will use hands-on activities to enhance participants’ skills for maximizing their food budgets, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and preparing tasty recipes.

All recipes for Community CookShop have been crafted by internationally-renowned chef, author and restaurateur, Mario Batali, who is also a dedicated member of Food Bank’s Board of Directors, the chair of our Culinary Council and an active proponent of child nutrition. All of Mario's CookShop recipes use nutritious, affordable ingredients that are available in local stores and food pantries throughout the city.

"Having been on the board and working with Food Bank for over 10 years, I feel honored and privileged to partner with them on this important step towards improving nutrition education,” said Mario Batali. “The Food Bank's strong ties in the community will undoubtedly make huge strides for many deserving families in NYC and hopefully help lead the way for the entire nation.”

Lucy Cabrera, President and CEO of the Food Bank, said, “We are thrilled to partner with the Mario Batali Foundation on this important nutrition initiative. Thanks to the Foundation’s generous support, we will now be reaching even more families, in their own communities, providing them with lifelong skills to create and sustain a healthier future.”

The Food Bank’s integrated services — food distribution, income support and nutrition education — help New York City families keep healthful food on the table through the toughest times.

Josh Wessler is CookShop Classroom Associate at the Food Bank. For more information about Community CookShop or to get involved, email cookshop@foodbanknyc.org.

By Carly Rothman Siditsky,

Like anyone dealing with a sudden loss of income, this winter and spring the Food Bank faced tough choices to ensure the survival of our CookShop program in the midst of federal budget cuts for nutrition education.

The cut resulted from federal legislation that capped SNAP-Ed (the federal program that funds nutrition education for low-income populations) and applied a funding formula particularly detrimental to New York State.

CookShop faced losing up to 65 percent of its current-year funding, forcing us to place major program components temporarily on hold. But thanks to an outpouring of support from hundreds of CookShop participants and implementers, elected officials, partners including the United Federation of Teachers and supporters like you, the Food Bank received a fair-share allocation for CookShop, reflecting the overall state funding cut of 42 percent.

The best possible outcome under the circumstances, our fair-share allocation allowed us to ensure all the nearly 30,000 participating CookShop students across the city could complete the program this year, and that the program could continue next year. This month, we proudly watched as they celebrated their “graduation” from the CookShop program.

The letters, phone calls and feedback that we have received from parents, teachers, principals and students all highlight the strides that have been made to increase knowledge, awareness, preference for and consumption of healthy food. 

For example, Alison Brendel, a teacher at P.S. 62Q, wrote in a letter that “Since beginning CookShop, my students have learned to make better decisions of what to eat. I have seen a difference in their snack choices,” adding she has also “found them using new vocabulary.”

Joanne Vitiello, assistant principal at P.S. 19R, noted CookShop creates vital opportunities for children in low-income neighborhoods — areas where rates of childhood obesity and diet-related disease are particularly high.

“Most of our children are at a high poverty level and getting them involved and knowledgeable about food, food sources and healthy eating is so very important to their futures,” she wrote.

At a time when millions of New Yorkers struggle to afford food, CookShop helps people maintain a nutritious diet, even on a limited budget. We are proud to be able to continue offering this essential program to New York’s most vulnerable students and families.

Carly Rothman Siditsky is the Food Bank's Public Education Manager.

By Katy Mitchell-Gilroy, 

Last week, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released an updated food guide called MyPlate.

MyPlate replaces MyPyramid (introduced in 2005) as the USDA’s visual guide to healthy eating. MyPyramid and it’s earlier incarnation, The Food Guide Pyramid, were perceived

The USDA's MyPlate

From the American Diabetes Association

The New American Plate from the American Institute of Cancer Research

as a useful teaching tool, but too complicated for the average person to use as a guide for healthy eating on a daily basis. The new MyPlate guide provides a familiar image — a plate — along with easy-to-understand messages designed to be clear and helpful to the average person as they try to make healthy decisions about their diet.

Why a plate in particular? A plate is something that most people will relate with. Presuming that pretty much anyone glancing at this image will be able to relate the image they see to their daily experience serving and eating meals, the viewer will also get a quick idea of how their own plates should look.

One major change that was made in the shift from MyPyramid to MyPlate is that the “fat” group, which includes added fats such as oils, butter and margarine, has been eliminated. While fat is an important part of the diet, most Americans get enough of these without trying, and their exclusion on MyPlate may help encourage people to reduce the fat in their diet. In fact, the new Dietary Guidelines specifically highlights the need to decrease intake of solid fat, which is any fat that is solid at room temperature (butter, margarine, lard).

MyPlate goes hand in hand with the nutrition advice offered as part of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which are developed every five years by the USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services and represent some of the strongest research- and evidenced-based nutrition information available. Their newest recommendations for all Americans aged 2 and older are:

Balancing Calories

• Enjoy your food, but eat less.
• Avoid oversized portions.

Foods to Increase

• Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.
• Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk.

Foods to Reduce

• Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread and frozen meals — and choose the foods with lower numbers.
• Drink water instead of sugary drinks.

MyPlate’s visual representation embodies all of these principles without the guesswork of the confusing MyPyramid graphic. And better yet, MyPlate doesn’t just stop with the visual. With its interactive website, you can rate your plate, log your physical activity or look up thousands of food items in the USDA nutrient database. You can even get nutrition tweets!

The Food Bank for one is excited about this new guide and is planning changes based on MyPlate to our CookShop nutrition-education lesson plans, and I am busy preparing new nutrition lessons for our food assistance network. Stay tuned for more on how the Food Bank is working with MyPlate to help make a healthier New York!

Several other well-respected health organizations currently use plates to model a healthful diet. Check out a couple examples to your right, and click here for a slideshow of other plates. Let us know what you think of these plates in the comments!