I Thought About Titling This Post "Healthcare with a Heart", But I Am Not Cheesy So I Won't

From the Unity HealthCare website

Just today, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released the results of a physician's survey that showed doctors believe patients' social needs to be as important as their physical ones. Nine out of ten physicians of low-income patients in particular, believe that procuring healthy food, safe housing and adequate transportation have a strong effect on good health. The survey notes, however, that most doctors and healthcare centers do not have the time or the funds to help support these social needs. Short staffed already, they often cannot provide the wrap-around services essential to good health.

Unity Healthcare, here in Washington, DC, sees these gaps and works to address them. Started in 1985 to address the health needs of homeless individuals and those in emergency shelters, Unity has grown to encompass 29 health care centers and a mobile van that serve uninsured and underserved populations of Washington, DC. Many of their clients are recent immigrants. Almost all of their patients would encounter difficulties receiving medical services without them.

Unity also happens to be the first organization I began my classes with just over a year ago. Several of their clinics received resources through the NIH program We Can!  This is a program that aims to give parents, caregivers and children the abilities and knowledge to combat obesity. At Unity, this translates into a once a week clinic where families come in, meet with a doctor to talk about their health and nutritional habits, listen to programming on good nutrition, participate in an exercise program (everything from yoga to Zumba! to belly dancing) and, this is where I come in, learn how to make easy, affordable and healthy family meals.

The participants in the classes I have taught are fabulous. They already love to cook and, for the most part, are willing to sample whatever we make. Clients regularly come in and report dishes and cooking changes they've made at home as well. As a bonus, they allow me to practice my Spanish (which is fairly terrible...the other night I might have mentioned cooking my grandmother by mistake) without ridicule. The cooking classes are approached more as a discussion than a "me telling them" sort of thing meaning that I have learned so much as well. (Including a lot of Spanish translations you won't find in any dictionary!) We discuss how each recipe could be changed and adapted to retain nutritional quality, but still meet budgetary needs and culinary tastes. Because the entire family is in the class, it is also extremely beneficial for parents to see that their children will indeed eat spinach or whole wheat pasta or squash without complaining.

In the future, we are hoping to expand the classes to help participants have more access to a greater variety of fresh, nutritious foods. The Unity We Can! Clinic hopes to partner with Wholesome Wave and work with our classes to utilize their Fruit and Veggie Rx program. Providing more of the ingredients for the dishes we sample that clients can take home with them is another goal. And no matter, the wonderful doctors and nurses at Unity will continue to support participants in making small, steady changes. (In actuality, I frequently have the doctors and nurses tell me they're going to try some of the recipes, too!)

Good health encompasses so many things. I love working with an organization like Unity that recognizes a pill or a surgery isn't always the answer and that patients sometimes need more than a physical to make lifestyle changes.

What are healthcare organizations in your area doing to promote more comprehensive good health amongst patients?

Giving o' the Food

People love it when you feed them. I mean, *I* love it (LOVE IT) when people invite me over for a home cooked meal (incidentally, this never happens...just saying). So this weekend, I threw my annual holiday party. I change from year to year, but this year's was an Open House Cocktail Party. I allowed my friends to bring their children. In retrospect, now that my friends are beginning to have multiple children, this might not have been wise. A 300 square foot living room, lots of glass and alcohol doesn't really scream "toddler". Still, we all survived, celebrated and had some delicious food to boot! Here are two of my favorite recipes from the evening, both well suited to winter and good health.

EDAMAME HUMMUS
adapted from a Dec. 2011 Bon Appetit recipe

2 10-oz. packages shelled edamame, frozen (preferably organic)**
2 10-oz. packages peas, frozen **
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp (or 2-3 cloves) garlic (adjust to preference)
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
3/4 cup (give or take) extra-virgin olive oil (you will add this slowly and taste as you go)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1/4 cup fresh mint
salt/pepper

**You can also buy 1 16-oz bag of each (easier to find) and then adjust the other ingredients for taste/consistency. A lot of making hummus is going by feel anyways, so don't worry too much about exact amounts.

1. Cook frozen peas/edamame for 3-4 minutes in boiling water until tender. Drain and cool. (Can be done up to 3 days in advance.)
2. Place garlic, herbs, some edamame/peas and drizzle of olive oil/lemon juice in a food processor. Pulse until smooth and blended, adding spices as mixture becomes incorporated.
3. Pulse remaining edamame/peas in a food processor in batches. Drizzle olive oil, lemon juice while pulsing to aid in the process. Mix with original mixture in a bowl and adjust for consistency/taste with olive oil as needed.
4. Season with salt/pepper. Blend pulsed ingredients thoroughly with a spoon.
5. Keep in refrigerator for up to 4 or 5 days.

I like to serve with homemade pita chips. (Toast cut up pita bread drizzled with olive oil, salt and red pepper in the oven at 350 degrees until crispy. No need to flip.)

COCONUT-CARDAMOM CHEWS
Adapted from a Dec. 2010 Cooking Light recipe
Makes around one dozen cookies


2 large egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
scant 1/4 teaspoon salt
scant 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut (I used unsweetened, but the original recipe uses sweetened...you can decide on the amount of sugar, but I think they still taste great with less)

1. Place egg whites in a bowl and lightly whisk. 
2. Add sugar, vanilla, salt, cardamom and whisk until frothy.
3. Add coconut and toss to combine.
4. Place in small tablespoon-sized mounds on a parchment lined baking pan (very important! Macaroon type cookies burn easily).
5. Bake at 325 degrees F for about 23 minutes.
6. Allow to cool and harden on the tray before removing.

Giving and Getting: Purchases Optional

Marion Street Garden: City Blossoms

Ah, December! Consumer heaven. People rush to shop online, in malls, at department stores, all to snatch up  items that quite possibly will be discarded by this time next year. Although I am a firm believer in the magic of holidays, I can't quite get behind presents given just for the sake of giving. Personally, I'd much prefer a lovely handwritten note, a batch of fresh muffins (whole wheat, naturally) and some homemade jam or a donation to a charitable organization then a hastily purchased gift. Hell, I'd even prefer someone *telling* me how much I mean to them then another bottle of wine or knickknack. No purchase required.

Produce purchases at City Blossoms come in a lovely hand-decorated bag

In that spirit, I am embarking on a personal journey this month to try and engage in meaningful giving each and every day. Some gifts will be monetary, some tangible. Others will require an investment of time or energy. All will be gifts of spirit. The goal is for me to think consciously about others, about why I'm giving, how I'm giving and the ways my gift can have an impact on one person or many. Each day, I'd like to bring some joy into someone's life.

A bit of this gift-giving will give me the chance to write about some of the fabulous organizations I've visited, worked with and learned about on my food journeys.  For the first day of my project, my recipient was City Blossoms. Here's a little bit about them.

City Blossoms is a non-profit in Washington, DC that operates eight gardens around the city and uses these gardens as a jumping-off point for lessons on nutrition, science, environment and community. Founded in 2003 by Rebecca Lemos and Lola Bloom (yes, that's her real last name), the program serves as an after-school "center" for many DC children as well as a resource for schools looking to bring more produce education into their curriculum. Rebecca and Lola work with kids (and anyone else in the community who wants to join in!) in the gardens weeding, planting, doing artwork, putting together baskets for their herb CSA shares, cooking and sampling the produce and running a small market. They also go into local DC schools and teach lessons on everything from evaporation to solidification to seed growth to culinary skills. Both the City Blossoms ladies have been generous in giving me ideas on working with preschoolers to middle schoolers! Their expertise cuts a wide swath.

At the Marion Street Garden, herbs grow like, well, weeds. Super delicious and nutritious weeds, that is.

City Blossoms works with the seasons and instills in the children and teens they work with the value of planning. Not only do they rotate each garden through seasonal changes, they also make sure to utilize all that the garden provides. Besides selling CSA shares (mostly of herbs), they sell affordable produce to the communities the gardens are located in, use it for delicious samples of nutritious food (of course!) and donate any surplus to local food banks. Lola and Rebecca also teach young participants how to create sellable products from remaining garden items. Soaps, sea salts and lotions made with their herbs are all sold as fundraising efforts for the program.

City Blossoms sea salts, soaps and lotion soap (my personal favorite)

Where does my "gift" come in? Yesterday, the generous FreshFarm Markets (check out my Zomppa piece on them and all the great work they do here) lent City Blossoms a spot in their Thursday farmer's market at Penn Quarter to sell some of their bath products. I stopped by and bought a few of each of their items (ok, I bought a TON of the lotion soap...it's pretty amazing). I can't wait to use it as gifts for friends and family. The money raised from these products will be used to support the gardens, but even better, it will be used to pay for a special celebration for the kids who have worked so hard all year long. Lola said they raised just shy of $200 total through their market sales, and the kids particularly loved being positioned at the market right next to the Dolcezza gelato samples. (Kids of all ages love Dolcezza. Just saying.) These young gardeners' seasonal celebration often involves dining at a nice restaurant (that utilizes fresh,seasonal produce, of course)- something many of them have never had the chance to do. Plus, they've learned valuable lessons about economics by marketing their products. These kids know how to SELL. Happily, they also know the nutrients in a tomato, how to grow a wickedly delicious cilantro and what a healthy, unprocessed meal looks like. And that's a gift worth giving to.

To learn more about City Blossoms, please visit here. To make a contribution to this organization, visit here.

How many 4th graders do you know that can identify "swiss chard"? Go get it, City Blossoms!

One Pot Wonder

Today, I bring to you...really terrible pictures and a recipe. This week's classes are all about soup. It's affordable, filling and quick (depending on how you make it). Plus, it only has one pot (plus maybe a cutting board and a knife). As my classes know, I despise those cooking shows where they say you can make a meal in ___ minutes (20, 30, whatever) and then they generate tons of dishes. I don't know about you, but there aren't magical elves in my kitchen cleaning up after me as I go. When I say a fast dinner, I mean the whole shebang.

This particular gem takes about 20 minutes total to make (including clean up). My classes asked for seconds and seemed to really like it. We also had a good discussion about other possibilities for quick and easy soups.

The cost per serving of this one pot wonder (using the broth, spinach and whole wheat pasta) is about $2.25/person. Substituting frozen spinach or a different vegetable or using water in place of broth will decrease the cost.

One Pot Meal: Bean Soup

Serves about 4

Salt/Pepper

Olive or Vegetable Oil

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 qt chicken stock, vegetable stock or water

1 bunch leafy greens, chopped (or frozen, but decrease liquid in soup to compensate)

1 15 oz. can of beans, drained (I use white beans, but kidney could work, too)

1 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes (or stewed) - try to find "no salt added"

1 cup pasta, dried (preferably whole wheat)

shredded cheese for topping, optional

1. Heat about 1 tbsp. olive oil over medium-high heat in a soup pot. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
2. Add stock/water, beans, tomatoes and seasoning (salt/pepper and other seasonings you desire).
3. Bring to a boil. Add pasta and simmer about 8 minutes. Add greens just before removing to wilt.
4. Sprinkle with cheese to serve.

Optional, for meat lovers: In step one, add some crumbled sausage or ground beef (about 1/2 lb to 1 lb) and cook until brown before adding onion.

Brevity Has Never Been My Strong Suit

Friday was a lovely day in the San Francisco Bay. Crystal clear skies that were heartbreakingly blue, temperatures hovering around 60 (this is good when you are huffing and puffing up and down the hills of the city) and that fuzzy Friday feeling of people about to enjoy a lovely weekend. I had the morning free, so I seized it to do touristy things I never really got the chance to when I lived here. I walked through Chinatown (live chickens squawking from open doorways, color everywhere) to North Beach (full of Italian flags and the wafting scent of garlic and fresh bread) to Coit Tower where I swallowed hard (slightly claustrophobic and mildly afraid of heights) and rode the elevator to the top for some spectacular views. A walk along the Embarcadero and a quick lunch at the Ferry Building ended my morning of sightseeing.

A quick BART ride under the Bay (just don't think about it) to Oakland, and I was ready to begin my conference schedule. Yesterday's workshop was conducted by Ingrid Daffner Krasnow from Berkeley Media Studies Group and was entitled, "Introduction to Media Advocacy: Shaping the Public Debate". I might re-title it, "Learning to Keep Your Mouth Shut and Get Your Organization's Message Out". Condensing, articulating and specifically addressing your audience were the big takeaways.

The session started with a video presentation by Parent Earth, a group that makes videos about food issues to engage and involve families in the dialogue. After viewing a smattering of their work. the speaker encourage us to thinking about using more video to really capture our audience. Films, she said, get people talking and "spice up" what can sometimes be dry topics. She mentioned that if we were intimidated by making our own videos to try reaching out to other media companies that had already produced them. (In addition to Parent Earth, she named mediamattersfest.org and media rights as entities to find video and then contact the filmmaker about using.)

Ingrid's interactive presentation (we often stopped to discuss or try out various strategies/activities) began after a short break. The next 3 hours were a serious lesson in formulating a message succinctly, precisely and engagingly for your organization. Here are some of my key take-aways:

• Media advocacy is a bit different than social marketing in that social marketing doesn't attempt policy change (in fact, it might focus more on individual change). Media advocacy is a strategic endeavor to push a particular policy agenda.
• Organizations MUST define their issue, problem, solution and audience before they begin addressing the media (this included giving interviews, writing letters to the editor, pitching stories).
• As humans, our default is to place responsibility for change on the individual. Media campaigns  must work to encompass the whole story and change people's perceptions to be successful.
• Placement (as in a particular newspaper section) and outlet (as in a particular news source) need to reflect who is your target audience for policy change.
• Here is a BIG and IMPORTANT take-away (yes, I am shouting at you): You cannot be both strategic *and* comprehensive. As advocates, we are passion about about causes and want everyone to know as much as we do. However, this is not effective in a media campaign. (Message needs to be short and sweet.) Instead, think about where you want your audience to end up. Then, move them there. They don't have to follow the same route as you to get there.
• Break down your media goals piece-by-piece. Think about changing the conversation, not trying to change an individual/system/policy immediately.

All of this really hit home for me since I am incredibly verbose 99% of the time (the other 1%, I'm sick). In fact, I'm pretty sure I talked way too much during the session, and I was actually *restraining* myself from asking half the questions in my mind. To address an agenda, I have to learn to be more succinct.

After the session, we had the opportunity to mill about and talk to the other participants. Really, there were so many interesting people there, I wish I could have met them all. The few I did have time to speak with I might have lingered with a bit too long. After all, I'm still learning to keep my mouth shut.

Today's workshop: Planning Successful Community-Based Food Initiatives. I'm already doodling "talk less, message more" in my journal.

Use your words wisely, people. Happy weekend.

One last tidbit. Someone in the workshop recommended a nifty little blog with lots of helpful advice for non-profits. Check it out: http://www.bethkanter.org/

Back to the Bay

From the CFSC website

Last night, I arrived in San Francisco for the Community Food Security Coalition conference, taking place in Oakland. The CFSC is an organization whose mission is defined as "to catalyze food systems that are healthy, sustainable, just, and democratic by building community voice and capacity for change". (www.foodsecurity.org, 11/3/11) The coalition works across North America by providing networking opportunities and training, and advocating for policy change. Besides the annual conference, CFSC maintains a listserv to link members and those interested in their mission, assists with grant writing and implementation, offers support for establishing food policy councils, helps run both the National Farm to School program and a network of Healthy Corner Stores, and publishes many papers, newsletters and research reports on topics related to their goals.


I'm here for the entire conference, including a few pre-workshops today and tomorrow. Today's workshop is on "Introduction to Media Advocacy: Shaping the Public Debate" and tomorrow's is "Planning Successful Community-Based Food Initiatives". Sunday-Tuesday's conference schedule involves workshops, forum/networking sessions and a couple of public addresses. I'm both excited to take part (these things always inspire me) and nervous (since many of the people who attend are established food activists in their communities).


However, right now, the only thing I'm thinking about is getting outside for a run (still on East Coast time and just waiting for the sun to come up!). I briefly thought I might not make it here yesterday, because, as I've mentioned, my dog is crazy. Although she's done great for the past few FF trips, she really freaked out about my leaving yesterday. And, if you've read my Zomppa posts (link 1) on it (follow-up story), she can be very, *very* destructive. Luckily, my dog sitter is A-mazing, and I was able to hop on my flight. I was lucky enough to score a middle seat with a guy on one side who itched his whole body while playing Sudoku the entire flight, a guy on the other side who snored tremendously while scratching and grabbing his crotch (how is this even possible??) and a guy in front of me who practically reclined into my lap the whole flight, farting. And the movie they showed was Rise of the Planet of the Apes which just made me feel bad about the dog and cry. (I mean, I didn't openly *weep* on the plane, but I wish they'd shown more episodes of 30Rock instead). It was a loooong day.


Today is bound to be much, much better!

Felonies, Bikes and City Living

After approximately 4 weeks of practicing justification for procrastination, I was forced to commit to a trip to DCPS headquarters today for another round of fingerprinting and completion of  my paperwork to become an "official" school volunteer. In my continuing quest to extend my environmental awareness beyond just food (really, I love things like A/C and paper towels and clothing-that-might -possibly-be-made-by-children-in-factories, so I'm honestly trying to expand my horizons and enlighten myself), I decide to Capital Bikeshare over there. Capital Bikeshare is totally awesome and easy to use. I even borrowed a helmet so my brains don't end up on the pavement (coordination is not my strong suit). Now that the weather is cooler and I won't arrive at destinations with a sweat stain on my butt and a stinky shirt, I'm determined to use it more often. This trip was perfect as it's a straight shot across the Capitol to arrive at the DCPS building. Very little traffic, almost no turns (I can never get those biking hand signals right). Suffice it to say, I arrived alive. Whew.

Back to DCPS. Although I used to teach in the system, I am not gifted with some sort of free pass on criminal investigation. Since I am going to be the guest "chef" at a local elementary school, DCPS needed to once again confirm I am TB and felony free. I visited my school back in September, and it has taken me this long to find a doctor, secure the test and then deliver the appropriate documents to the right people. I'm not proud of this, but this is what happens when you freelance at a dozen different agencies while traveling around the country on a research/writing assignment.

Meanwhile, my school patiently waits for me to begin. I was hooked up with them through Michelle Obama's "Chefs Move to School", a branch of the larger "Let's Move" campaign. This hookup took over a year.

I registered my information with "Chefs Move to School" over a year ago online (they have this nifty little map with little markers all over it proclaiming the happy marriages of chefs and schools all over the U.S.). I was really excited to work at a school since I figured my experience teaching, coupled with my culinary degree, would be a great fit. Unfortunately, beyond taking your information and making it available on their website, not much action happens (generic emails, maybe once a month). I briefly tried being proactive and contacting a couple of DC schools who were supposedly looking to be paired with a chef, but the information on the site was outdated. So, I basically moved on with other things and waited. This September, I received a very lovely letter from a preschool teacher at a school in Northwest DC asking if I would consider working with them.  She was so sweet and excited, I had to say yes. (I didn't mention she was my only suitor.)

So, what is the "Chefs Move to School"(CMTS) program exactly? Well, that's a very good question. It seems to mostly be an idea. An encouragement, if you will. It promotes adopting a school and working with school personnel to envision ways to spread the message of better nutrition through education. There's a CMTS handbook with facts on childhood obesity and school lunches. It includes a template for starting a school program. Could you do all these things on your own without CMTS? Sure. But, as I stated, I think the program basically is to exist as a linking module. And, hey!, now I have a school, so I guess it works in that respect.

It seems there are a lot of organizations trying to use chefs as a tool in schools right now. Besides the CMTS umbrella, there's also the nationwide Farm to School program, and various other entities (such as the American Institute of Food&Wine's "Days of Taste" event) trying to recruit chefs to teach kids about food, for most on a one or two time basis...for a few, more regularly and long term. What do you think of this approach? Is it just a stop gap measure? Does it make actual inroads in helping kids and families eat better? Would these organizations' resources (both time and money) be better spent finding long term programs and participants to commit to schools? Or possibly helping schools to create jobs to bring on nutrition teachers and specialists more permanently? Or training existing teachers to implement food curriculums (see previous blog)? Maybe the chefs are just a jumping off point- to excite kids and inspire schools to start a more comprehensive program once they see the children's interest?

I start at my school this month. I'll be going on a monthly basis to teach lessons for 3 and 4-year olds exploring food (particularly fruits and vegetables) using the 5 senses. We'll be squeezing, smelling, slurping, seeing and squishing all sorts of local products. I can only hope that it creates some excitement in the kids and gets them comfortable with the foods I hope they'll eat for a lifetime.


In other news, I am gushing over Philabundance again over at Zomppa. Check out my semi-stalker status and article here.