Tuesday, May 2nd is Teacher Appreciation Day, while May 8th-12th is Teacher Appreciation Week. I want to thank all of our instructors and our assistant instructors for their enormous commitment and passion. THANK YOU to each and every one of you for caring and for all the hard work you do to help improve lives and get our important message out into the world.
As our spring term comes to a close and we commence our summer programs, please consider a donation in honor of our instructors, who go way above and beyond on a daily basis. Without their dedication, many of our students may never otherwise learn about healthy cooking. Every gift is significant and you'll be helping us to reach even more kids who are yet to learn how healthy cooking can shape their lifelong health. Your support means everything.
THANK YOU!
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Warm wishes,
Lara Rajninger
Executive Director
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May is Mental Health Awareness Month |
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May is not only set aside for appreciating teachers, it's also Mental Health Awareness Month, with May 7th designated as National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day.
In 2019, 8.94% of children in the nine Bay Area counties lived in food insecure households. Children in food insecure households display elevated risks of mood disorder, anxiety disorder, and potential poor mental and general health, as well as low life satisfaction compared to those in food secure households.
It’s important to address the complex needs of people facing hunger, by creating and adopting a range of strategies that support increased access to nutritious food and improved health and well-being at a grass roots, local and federal level.
This is where we come in. Seemingly contradictory, food scarcity and childhood obesity are linked, and rates are rising. We partner with organizations that promote urban farming and campaign for healthy foods in communities where it’s scarce. Our approach is to teach children about the life-changing importance of good food choices and to provide easy recipes with simple ingredients that are nutritious, affordable, and satiating. Alleviating the problem of food scarcity takes a collective effort and we strive to be a part of the solution.
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Kids Eat More Fruit & Veg if Mealtime is Extended... |
A recent German study has revealed that if family meals are extended, children often eat significantly more fresh fruits and vegetables.
The scientists compared what various children, (accompanied by a parent), ate at a 20 minute and a 30 minute long meal. The meal consisted of bread, cold cuts and cheeses alongside bite-sized portions of fruit and vegetables. With the extended mealtime, the children ate around seven more pieces of fruits and vegetables, (about one daily recommended portion) but no extra bread, cheese or cold cuts. They ate more vegetables at the start of the meal and more fruit at the end. Offering the produce bite-sized seems to have helped.
The scientists reported that more leisurely family meals were associated with slower eating, an increased sense of fullness, and a lower risk of obesity, likely because these habits increase satiety and decrease the need to snack between meals. They advised that including the children in the meal planning was helpful in encouraging interest at meal times.
This ties in with our emphasis on mindfulness when preparing, presenting and eating a meal. You can read more about this here:
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Continued Collaboration With Kaiser |
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We’re excited to be partnering with Kaiser Permanente who is also generously sponsoring two four-week online healthy cooking sessions in May and June. The lessons include the family as active participants, because the students are often young. This way, caregivers learn new nutritional and healthy cooking tips and tricks as well. Lessons are tailored to our students' ages and health concerns and are based on our ‘Cooking Around the World’ theme, with emphasis on heart healthy and anti-inflammatory recipes.
All the ingredients are delivered to each participant, and students are exposed to all aspects of food prep, including knife skills, as well as nutrition and how to read labels. Students also learn to connect dietary choices with health consequences, such as the risk of obesity and diabetes from excess sugar consumption and more.
Past Kaiser students have been very enthusiastic and excited to learn and we’re looking forward to our upcoming session.
THANK YOU Kaiser Permanente for being a part of the solution.
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Meet Our Instructor - Sandra Fiz |
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Sandra was born in Spain and lived in London for almost 10 years before moving to the Bay Area. Her first career was in engineering until a series of health crises in her family led her to look into nutrition and its power to heal. Appreciating the impact of lifestyle and nutrition on health, Sandra began to study functional nutrition and launched a private practice where she helps people struggling with digestive issues, autoimmune conditions, and more. Due to her daughter's challenges, she is particularly interested in helping children thrive by equipping them with tools for life, including healthy, wholesome food. |
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Recipe - Double Chocolate White Bean Brownies |
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How about gifting your teacher with some homemade brownies as a token of your appreciation this week?
Sweetened only with honey and dark chocolate chips, and containing a can of cannellini beans, you’d never guess these brownies were a healthy alternative to the sugar and white flour laden store-bought versions.
No wonder our students go crazy for these. What a delicious and healthy way to say THANK YOU!
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“Having seconds of this quesadilla with pico de gallo and mango salsa was the best decision I ever made in my whole life.”
Student at Sassarini Elementary School, Sonoma.
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