Welcome to our annual edition

of Nutrition News! The 2011-2012 school year has been busy with gar-den and cooking-based nutrition education classes and the Family

Nutrition Program classes. Our participating sites this year included: Franklin Preschool, Hopkins Preschool, King Child Develop-ment Center, Emerson, John Muir, LeConte, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Thousand Oaks, Washington, Longfellow, Willard, B-Tech and Berkeley High School. In addition, our Family Nutrition Program has held nutrition education and cooking classes for parents throughout the district.

Some highlights of the year included: King CDC students visiting the farmers’ market, making smoothies with a bike blender at Emerson, making healthy pizzas at Willard, and science students at B-Tech planting radish seeds as part of a class sci-ence experiment.

Two new staff members joined our team: Adam Edell is the Garden Instructor at Berkeley High School, and I came on as the Program Supervisor last summer.

As part of the district’s School Lunch Initiative (SLI), our program continues to col-laborate with Nutrition Services. We hope that you enjoyed the recipes from our Cooking Instructors in this year’s school lunch menu. Look for more tasty recipes to make at home in next year’s school lunch menu too!

We look forward to continuing to provide nutrition education and innovative programming in the garden and cooking classrooms in the 2012-2013 school year. We are always in need of volunteers to assist in our classes. If you are interested, please contact the Berkeley School Volun-teers for more information (www.bpef-on-line.org/volunteer).

I hope you enjoy the bounty of fruits and vegetables that are available during the summertime – through local grocery stores, the farmers’ market, or even in your own garden!

Leah SokolofskiProgram Supervisor, BUSD Cooking

and Garden Nutrition Program

Published by the Berkeley Unified School District Cooking and Garden Nutrition Program Volume 7, Issue 5 / 2011-2012

Network for a Healthy california, Berkeley Unified School District 1720 Oregon St, Berkeley, CA 94703Program Staff Program Supervisor: Leah Sokolofski

Program Coordinator: Mia Villanueva, Administrative Coordinator: Miriam Feiner

Suggestions or comments about this newsletter? Email us at: nutritionnews@berkeley.netFor CalFresh information, call 1-877-847-3663. Funded by USDA SNAP, an equal opportunity provider and

employer. Visit www.cachampionsforchange.net for healthy tips.

Word-of-Mouth Kitchen MedicineVEgan what? One tablespoon of

olive oil, avocado, cashews, garlic, sea salt and water followed by a dash of cayenne, black pepper and — don’t forget the lemon zing, tossed into a blender yields some of the most mouth watering salad dressing around.

According to the 80 parents who participated in the family nutrition cook-ing classes this year, the caesar salad recipe won out!

“I’ve already made it at home three times!” announced Jennifer Gomez-Manuel, mother of 10-year-old Isabelle at LeConte Elementary School in the second week of class. “I was really impressed that it was vegan and really tasty,” she added. “The olive oil and cashews made it really creamy and Isa-

belle loved it which is such a bonus.” Now a veteran of the cooking

classes and repeat participant from last year, Sarah Kim-Lee, mother of Joni, a 5th grader at LeConte, has taken her food preparation skills to a new level. Not only does she vouch for this dish, she’s a convert. “To me, Caesar Salad was always heavy,” she shrugged. “I love this one because it’s water-based.” She added, “I never buy salad dressing anymore — I always make it.”

Still some were torn between this and other recipes. Said Babalwa Kwanele, mother of Mahmood, a sec-ond grader at Malcolm X: “I’d choose the Caesar Salad because it was so

continued on page 2

tasty and simple to do,” she confessed. “But—it was a toss up between that and the [vegetarian] 3-bean chili.”

Parents fine-tune their palates with kids in tow. Now in its fifth year of ex-istence, the Family Nutrition Program continues to boast its ever-growing extension — the Kids Nutrition Club! This is a place where kids ages 4 to 11 come to cook and play physical activity games while parents are in the cooking class across the hall. Once the young ones have sharpened their skills over a 4-week period, parents and kids con-verge for the last and 5th class of each series to share time, space and food with their families in the Willard cooking room where all the magic happens.

One parent speaks of the Kids Club with nostalgia. According to Leslie Zeitler, mother of 5-year-old River, one of some 100 kids who participated in the Kids Club this year, her most mem-orable moment was an exchange with her daughter solidifying how much she had retained over the 5-week series. “I told River we needed to eat a little of every color of the rainbow each day,” replied Leslie. “And, she said — ‘I know mommy, we learned that too!’”

Babalwa remembers the kids’ heartfelt contribution. “I saw how much my son was enjoying it,” she recalled.

“When the kids came down with their homemade spring rolls [to share], they looked so proud.

Sarah feels good about the wisdom of the program and how it’s helping to change her daughter’s taste buds. “Joni will not choose to eat packaged things,” she states in a matter of fact manner. “She’ll choose a carrot over junk food because she has it in her now.”

Each class series runs a total of five weeks and is designed to create aware-ness around nutrition and healthy living. Participants also learn ways to nourish themselves and their families by using healthy alternatives to standard recipes and become savvy shoppers as they learn to read ingredient labels.

Jennifer was drawn to the class not only by word-of-mouth—but, also due to a family history of high blood pres-sure impacted by a daily diet of cultur-ally rich foods. “My grandmother is a diabetic with high blood pressure and brother - 30 years old and already on meds for it,” she revealed. “I wanted to learn how to cook healthier dishes for the kids.”

Jamaica Moon, mother of 4-year-old Kyree Daniels of Hopkins CDC, who has a similar family history, was struck by our discussion around sodium. “I had no idea how much salt was in a particular product until we read ingredi-ent labels,” she expressed. “Without

Special thanks!

We would like to thank those who have helped make our program a success!

Network for a Healthy California

Center for Ecoliteracy

Berkeley Farmers’ Market farmers and staff

Berkeley Bowl

Berkeley Community Garden Collaborative

Berkeley Food Policy Council

Berkeley Public Education Foundation

Berkeley Public Health Department

Berkeley School Volunteers

Ecology Center

Edible Schoolyard

Sprouts Cooking Club

Whole Foods Inc.

YMCA, Downtown Berkeley

Jessica Lin our incredible intern, and all the 2011-12 interns and volunteers!

this class, I don’t think I would have been as aware as to why certain things should not be a part of our diets.”

An inside look at product labels has turned more heads than one. Leslie swears that learning there’s 4 grams of sugar in a teaspoon has forever changed her outlook on sugar con-sumption. And, Babalwa feels the same about fat.

“I hadn’t paid much attention to serving size,” confesses Babalwa. “I didn’t realize that if someone ate an en-tire package it could be for 3 people!”

Now, she’s considering becoming a vegan or at least — adding more vegan options to her diet. “That’s a big one for me, because I actually used to make fun of vegans!” she adds.

By Tanya Henderson,Family Nutrition Program

Cooking Instructor

Kitchen Medicine from page 1

LaSt SUMMEr, the USDA replaced it’s dietary guideline icon, MyPyra-

mid, with the new and improved My-Plate. MyPlate illustrates the five food groups that are the building blocks for a healthy diet using a familiar image—a place setting for a meal. The primary reason for the switch was to provide Americans with a clearer and simpler message when making food choices. In addition, the MyPlate website offers tools and advice to get you and your family on the right track. Below are 10 tips to make food choices for a healthy lifestyle. Use the ideas in this list to balance your calories, to choose foods to eat more often, and to cut back on foods to eat less often.

1 BalancE caloriES Find out how many calories YOU need for

a day as a first step in managing your weight. Go to www.ChooseMyPlate.gov to find your calorie level. Being physically active also helps you balance calories.

2 Enjoy yoUr fooD, BUt Eat lESS Take the time to fully

enjoy your food as you eat it. Eating too fast or when your attention is elsewhere may lead to eating too many calories. Pay attention to hunger and fullness cues before, during, and after meals. Use them to recognize when to eat and when you’ve had enough.

3 avoiD ovErSizED PortionS Use a smaller plate, bowl, and glass.

Portion out foods before you eat. When eating out, choose a smaller size option, share a dish, or take home part of your meal.

4 fooDS to Eat MorE oftEn Eat more vegetables, fruits, whole

grains, and fat-free or 1% milk and dairy products. These foods have the nutri-ents you need for health — including potassium, calcium, vitamin D, and fiber. Make them the basis for meals and snacks.

5 MaKE half yoUr PlatE frUitS anD

vEgEtaBlES Choose red, orange, and dark-green veg-etables like tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and broccoli, along with other vegetables for your meals. Add fruit to meals as part of main or side dishes or as dessert.

6 Switch to fat-frEE or low-fat (1%) MilK

They have the same amount of calcium and other essential nu-trients as whole milk, but fewer calories and less saturated fat.

7 MaKE half yoUr grainS wholE grainS

To eat more whole grains, sub-stitute a whole-grain product for a refined product—such as eating whole wheat bread instead of white bread or brown rice instead of white rice.

8 fooDS to Eat lESS oftEn Cut back on foods

high in solid fats, added sugars, and salt. They include cakes, cookies, ice cream, candies,

sweetened drinks, pizza, and fatty meats like ribs, sausages, bacon, and hot dogs. Use these foods as occasional treats, not everyday foods.

9 coMParE SoDiUM in fooDS Use the Nutrition Facts label to

choose lower sodium versions of foods like soup, bread, and frozen meals. Se-lect canned foods labeled “low sodium,” ”reduced sodium,” or “no salt added.”

10 DrinK watEr inStEaD of SUgary DrinKS Cut calories

by drinking water or unsweetened bev-erages. Soda, energy drinks, and sports drinks are a major source of added sugar, and calories, in American diets.

Choose MyPlate: 10 Tips to a Great Plate

for more information, visit:

www.chooseMyPlate.gov