Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.
More than 50 people came out to the Jefferson Senior Citizens Center on Monday, March 20, for a Produce Market and Nutrition Education program that included an information session, a cooking demonstration and time to select donated fruits and veggies to take home.
Helena Bazemore of Second Harvest presented the SNAP Education program that promoted regularly incorporating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables onto one's plate. The session began with time to brainstorm lists of foods of various colors: green, yellow/orange, red, blue/purple, white and others. Then Bazemore invited attendees to shout out foods they had listed in each color category, presenting nutrition facts for each color of the fruit/veggie rainbow.
Did you know that green foods lower you chance of getting cancer, keep your eyes healthy and keep your bones and teeth strong? Such foods include spinach, celery, green beans, broccoli, cabbage, bok choy, cucumbers, asparagus, kale, artichokes, honeydew, green grapes, green applies, limes and avocados.
Yellow and orange foods keep your heart and eyes healthy, lower your chance of getting cancer and keep you from catching colds. Some yellow/orange foods to try include carrots, sweet potatoes, yellow peppers, pumpkins, pineapple, papayas, cantaloupe, tangerines, mangoes, oranges, lemons and peaches. Yum!
Red foods keep your heart and bladder healthy, keep your memory strong and – yes, again – lower your chance of getting cancer. Foods like tomatoes, strawberries, red apples and watermelon might easily come to mind, but don't forget about giving red cabbage, cherries, red onion and beets a turn on your plate.
Blue and purple foods promote staying healthy as a person ages, keep memory strong, promote bladder health and yet again lower one's chance of getting cancer. Next time you're shopping, consider adding eggplant, purple cabbage, raisins, blueberries, blackberries and purple grapes to the basket.
Even white foods have their benefits: heart health, good cholesterol levels and lowering chance of cancer. Choices in this category might include onion, green onion, cauliflower, chives, mushrooms, ginger, garlic, jicama and fennel.
Bazemore pointed out that the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's MyPlate diagram shows half of one's plate filled with vegetables and fruits. About one fourth includes items from the grains food group and the final fourth includes items from the protein good group. Then Bazemore led a game of Food Group Bingo to reinforce thinking about the MyPlate proportions. In addition to resources from MyPlate.gov, the program used materials from Leah's Pantry Food Smarts.
To demonstrate how to fit a rainbow of veggies into one dish, Bazemore made a recipe of ratatouille. Assisted by Faith Cuillo, also of Second Harvest, Bazemore chopped eggplant, zucchini, onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomatoes and herbs, adding them to the tabletop cooker while Cuillo stirred. Ratatouille is a French-derived stew that includes purple, green, white, yellow and red ingredients – a rainbow in one pot. While the veggies cooked, senior center clients and guests had time to do some shopping down the hall, where Second Harvest had placed boxes of fresh produce, including citrus, apples, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, eggplant, onions and more. Then it was time for lunch!
For more information about the full calendar of programs offered at Jefferson Senior Citizens Center, contact Coordinator Annie McDuffie at (850) 342-0242.
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