on 03-07-2009 00:31

During the first of several free ‘Eating Healthy on a Budget' workshops for parents and students at the Nathanael Greene Elementary School in Pawtucket, on Wednesday night, Kids First Chef Leah Sarris, center, spoons out the black beans mixture over brown rice, as Kids First Chef Sandy Sepe, right, prepares to top the recipe with reduced fat extra sharp cheddar cheese.  Kids First Farm to School Specialist Kimberly Sporkmann, left, begins the next recipe Black Bean & Corn Cakes, using the other half of the black bean mixture.   Times photo/Butch Adams

By JON BAKER

PAWTUCKET -- In March 29, Elsa Wu's cousin is getting married, and she desperately wants to look fabulous in her new blue dress.

That, however, is not the only reason the Nathanael Greene Elementary School third-grader (she emphasized she's 8 ½, not "just" 8) plans on her mom, Jinyun, creating more nutritional meals for her and the rest of the family over the coming days.
The mother-daughter tandem, as well as numerous other parents and Greene students, attended a special "Eating Healthy on a Budget" workshop inside the school on Wednesday night, and they say they learned a great deal about nutrition.
"I think I need to eat healthier, and my mom does, too," Elsa said while chomping on oven potato fries snack low in calories (60), sodium, sugar, carbohydrates (eight grams) and high in Vitamin C and iron.
The event - sponsored and conducted by Kids First, Inc., the Pawtucket School District's Wellness Committee and Sodexo Food Services through a grant by Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Rhode Island - was designed to provide parents an interactive, hand-on demonstration as to how to shop for and prepare more healthy meals with Rhode Island-grown vegetables and fruits.
In the school library, approximately 30 parents and others sat down to view meal preparations made by chefs Kimberly Sporkmann and Leah Sarris, while their children (grades K-6) followed Greene physical education teacher Ray Pita to a small recreation room to take part in assorted activities.
"Back in February, we had a scheduled (school district) wellness sub-committee meeting, and we (previously) had been talking about going out into the schools to provide more education," said Joanne Bonollo, a Pawtucket School Committee member, who chairs the Wellness Committee. "The kids are extremely important to me personally, as I've still got two in school here. Then again, the way I look at it, all of the kids belong to me.
"One of the things that was forefront in my mind was the economic difficulty of the city's residents, with the unemployment suffered," she added. "There were certain topics we had shared concerning wellness, including physical, emotional, financial, spiritual and nutritional, and that's when I had a thought. When I walked into the meeting and told everyone I had found a topic, ‘Eating Healthy on a Budget,' they all loved it."
Karen Wetherill, associate director of Kids First, Inc., a non-profit organization which works with schools to improve children's health through nutrition and physical education, had heard Bonollo speak, then told the committee she had just received a grant from Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
"I knew we could create a program to fit the needs of Pawtucket residents and their schools, and we came up with this," she said. "In essence, we're encouraging people to purchase and eat healthy and inexpensive products from our local farmers and their stands."
Offered Solange Morrissette, general manager of Sodexo (the company that provides all city schools breakfasts and lunches): "(This) workshop is a very timely event that addresses two of the crises that are families are facing" The childhood obesity epidemic and difficult economic times. Our goal is to give the families in Pawtucket the tools and the knowledge they need to overcome these obstacles with one very easy-to-use tool."

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In this 90-minute demonstration, Sporkmann asked a woman to point out in a basket of food items one that could be used in a healthy fashion to coat a pan. When she chose a salad dressing, Sporkmann grinned, noting, "Actually, no, it would be this small cup of apple sauce, which would be great for desserts, because it's low-fat."
Another female asked what a good fiber-filled, low-sugar cereal would be to serve up at breakfast, and Sporkmann simply said, "Cheerios," then added that it contained whole grains, like brown rice, which fills one's stomach faster, meaning he or she would eat less.
Sporkmann actually created a "Mac and Peez" meal, filled with onion, celery, garlic cloves, chick peas (garbanzo beans), low-sodium chicken broth and small elbow macaroni (among the primary ingredients), then claimed it only had 270 calories per serving, with 39 grams of carbohydrates (raising energy) and 14 grams of protein.
Shortly thereafter, Sarris prepared a frittata, a potato/eggs dish that could be served atop a green salad. The caloric intake for that meal (per serving)? About 120, with total fat only eight grams.
Morrissette explained both of those meals will be served to Greene students next week as part of the Rhode Island Nutritional Requirements diet, which Sodexo -- as an independent food service institution doesn't have to abide by but chose to anyway.
They also left the audience with nutritional tips and facts: How to utilize locally-grown produce (go to a farmer's market or roadway stand); how to make healthy, low-cost meals; how to use leftovers, etc.
More importantly, the focus was on "Eating the Rainbow." Simply put, apples (red), carrots (orange), bananas or summer squash (yellow), lettuce, cucumbers or celery (green); cashews (brown) and egg plant (purple).
"That's an educational list that appeals to the kids to get as many colors on their plate as possible," said Jennifer Quigley-Harris, Kids First's Communications Specialist. "If you eat a lot of carrots, for instance, that's great, but it can't be the only color you're eating. You need them all to be really healthy."
As for the children on this night, Pita offered games involving physical activities, including playing with a parachute and circuit training. In the latter, four children stood at stations on a baseball-like diamond, and tossed foam dice. When a student won, he or she would lead the others in sit-ups, push-ups, toe touches, grab kicks or running in place, based on the dice number rolled.
"Honestly, they're using their bodies and their minds," Pita said. "I think this program is a great idea. It's teaching children good, inexpensive nutrition at an early age. Parents need to know what the children are being taught about the right things to eat can be a lot less expensive than McDonald's or another fast-food place."
This was the kickoff fete for this program, but won't be the last. These chef demos and workshop sessions will be held at Curvin-McCabe Elementary School on March 11, and at Potter-Burns on March 16 and at every other Pawtucket elementary, junior high and high school over the coming weeks.
"Wellness is more than just food and improved physical education guidelines," Bonollo stated. "Wellness is the total well-being of a person, and we'd like to help our students achieve that overall well-being in school and at home. We've decided to bring the workshop into all 16 schools and increase the number of families that might be helped."