giving thanks

In 2007, two years before I entered the public health and nutrition world, I began what would become a tradition of working in a soup kitchen every Thanksgiving Day outside of New York City. While my experience has become more fulfilling each year for so many reasons, I am also thankful for the extra resources that I am able to bring each year besides simply my time as my studies grow. For example, this year I taught the kitchen directors’ husband the difference between Fructose sugar (in fruit) and Sucrose sugar (table sugar). I also advised him to lay lower on all the grape juice he confessed to consuming, and to try eating some fresh grapes more often instead. I explained how he is missing out on all the fiber grape skins have to offer. Plus, his grape juice is likely loaded with added sugars. It is in this community kitchen and food pantry that I help bread butter, cut pie slices, and my favorite responsibility: serve to hundreds of people. But I should admit my love for serving most likely has to do with how I love to talk, and how I have this strange thing with watching people eat…

I love watching people eat. It may be because in my brain I am picturing the biochemistry occur in your digestive track. I value the delicate system that is our body, and know just how unbelievably amazing we work; more specifically how amazing food is, and how it absorbs into our cells to help us perform all the right functions. It is a sensitive system, and relies so much on how we treat it. This makes me a jumping bean in a soup kitchen where I not only get to see people eat, but I know it is temporarily relieving a food insecurity that one in six American homes are currently facing.

While I take pride in being able to serve, I only had that responsibility in the morning. Somehow, I got drafted to the kitchen for the actual meal, where guess what? I was behind the Turkey. There I was in my apron, plastic gloves, and Oakland Athletics baseball cap using tongs to grab turkey and begin making the plates which would be served. Turkey parts drenched in gravy or not, I was a happy camper. (After everyone has eaten we make second plates and wrap them with foil for guests to take home).



There is one man I look forward to seeing every year. We will call him Mr. B*. He always greets me with “I knew you’d be here today!” I look at Mr B* who has corn bread on his plate. I am walking around with my trail mix and plastic spoon. I am competing with the pies, coffee cakes, and corn breads that were also being passed around with coffee in the hour leading up to lunch time. “Would you like some trail mix?” I ask him. He pauses and smiles at me as if he is thinking about it. I don’t give him a real chance to answer. “You know what? You’re going to have some. There are walnuts in here, which are good for your brain, (as I place walnuts on his plate) and almonds which can help you stay full. This trail mix is packed with goodness and we want you healthy”. He laughs and says “oh yea? OK”, and he eats it. His friend looks at me and says “You must be a vegan”. (This is typical, I say “healthy” and it is assumed I am one of those wacky vegan, organic, no meat, tofu loving, tree hugging people). Which, I suppose, I am not too far away from ;)
“Well, close, I am actually a vegetarian, I can’t give up cheese!” and I laugh at myself. He asks me about iron and protein among other common questions on this subject. Then he told me I looked like I needed a burger. He was joking, (right?) but really, they were great. We fed 238 people this day.

From a nutritional standpoint, as expected with most donated food it is more common to see the processed items (boxes of white pasta, instant mashed potatoes, “little Debbie” cakes, Entenmanns products, canned peas and carrots etc) get served. Donated food comes with a lot of “red tape”. Most kitchens want non perishable items which make people think of canned and boxed, which often come along with oober amounts of preservatives and ingredients that shy away from natural, and certainly aren't "whole". Also, the source is important to guarantee that no one will get sick, so it is not common to see homemade foods in these kitchens. There are so many factors that affect what kind of food is served, and why. If I have learned anything over the last 4 years in community nutrition, it has been to not become the ignorant nutrition student who asks “why can’t we make a vegan casserole for everyone today?” As an aside: if I go out to our guests and offer anything vegan, I would probably have mashed potatoes flung at me. (Community Nutrition Part One: Know your audience).

Despite budget restrictions, food safety concerns, and the “appeal” of junk foods to most American people, I still believe strongly in pushing for nutrition education and making even small changes to food programs for the better. And if I may step away from my own personal viewpoint for a moment, I would like to point out in an unbiased manner that the working poor and low income populations who are obese and diabetic (or at risk for being so) are the same population groups who are most likely not insured. When they are sick, they rely on federal programs to get better. It is economically wise to protect this population group, regardless of where you stand politically, where you feel our congress should be slashing funds, or how you feel about fruits and vegetables. It is
economically wise to protect all population groups for that matter, since healthy adults are productive and contribute more to society in the long run as opposed to those who are sick, and/or out of work. Healthy children do better in school, and grow up to be healthy, smart, and successful adults. And since our nation has federally funded emergency food systems across the country, congress absolutely has the power to choose the path that is “good” here. Above and beyond economic decisions, it is also morally correct. Humans are good, and we have good nature within us to, when we are aware of the better outcome, do what we can to make that the reality.




If you would like to donate food to your local food pantry or community kitchen, here are a couple of suggestions:
1.Find out if they have freezer space, and if they do then donate frozen vegetables instead of canned. Frozen vegetables are picked when they are ripe, and flash frozen on the spot. There isn’t any sodium like there is in canned foods, and they can be in a freezer for many months. Also, vitamin content remains intact so your eaters will be getting nutritious vegetables.

2.Most kitchens do not accept, but if yours takes homemade food; consider making something fresh to bring.

We live in a world where there is an abundance of food at the same time as massive shortages. We live in a country where the wealthiest live a short number of miles away from the poorest. There are discrepancies everywhere as the gaps widen, and the numbers show that these gaps are affecting our mental and physical health. Above all of this, in our shakey economic state; it is important to remember that it does not matter which side of the table you are on whether you are serving or eating that day. We are all the same, and everyone deserves food that makes them healthy and feel good.

my love for organics (and pancakes)

On any given Sunday walking the streets of New York City you are bound to find yourself among the dominating sub population group known as “the brunchers”. Whether it’s at 2pm with sunglasses on drinking a bloody mary to cure last nights hangover, or at 11am wearing ballet flats and pearls; it is a tradition for all walks of life. Fortunately for me, one of my friends celebrated her birthday last week and birthday brunches are a popular reason for the pancake indulging I took part in. I love to brunch. And while I am not one of those people yet who has the “same place every week with the same friends” ritual, I go when I can and quite frankly I do well at it. I went for the whole grain blueberry pancakes. Fresh blueberries were in the batter so there was no blueberry compote (that looks- like-blueberry-jelly syrup that pretends to make your pancakes blueberry but is really just sugar and most likely artificial). I had them with strawberry butter, a mimosa, and a cup of coffee. I am caffeine free but the coffee was organic, and if you have never tasted organic coffee I insist you run out and grab a cup. There is a noticeable difference in taste. For a special celebration and in the name of organics, I enjoyed a cup (and that mimosa).

Organic food has to fight hard for its approval with the average consumer since it is so often affiliated with being overpriced. Others think organic means it is a “health food” so that it probably tastes different, or cardboard like. Not many people simply know the truth about organics. When you buy organic food it means that no pesticides, herbicides or other chemical fertilizers were used on the soil or in any part of the production process. The company adheres to strict national guidelines that the USDA has set in regards to the production, processing and handling of the food, and they are inspected routinely to make sure they are consistent in these practices. Also, organic food cannot be genetically modified. There is no doubt that organic food is better for our planet, better for our bodies, and better for our food system, but you’re right: they are more expensive. Even though the organic business is growing every year, there are still substantially less organic farmers in America then there are conventional. The less supply but growing demand is one cause for the price mark up, but it is the extra labor and not as popular farming methods that take more time and care that round out the reasons. A ton of paperwork goes into becoming certified organic as well, and it is expensive for farmers to obtain the certification. This means two things: 1. There are a lot of farmers out there practicing organic who cannot afford the certification therefore potentially losing business from consumers who only trust the label. And 2. There are many “big agriculture” companies who can always afford certification for some of their products, but it does not mean the company as a whole practices organic throughout. An example of this would be the Kashi company.

What once was small and occupying little shelf space in food stores, Kashi has grown to one of the leading brands I see in my wholefoods market. They have 24 different types of cold cereal alone, in addition to the crackers, cereal bars, oatmeals, cookies, pizzas, frozen dinners, and frozen waffles they make. They market themselves as a health food company focused on whole, natural ingredients that are better for you and the earth. Kashi has been around for a long time, and eventually was bought by Kellogg. All the big companies are buying up the small organic ones because they are noticing the trend early: organic is in, and if we want to survive then we need stock in this. You wouldn’t know it by looking at a box of their cereal, but Kellogg owns Kashi now. Kashi cinnamon harvest cereal has the USDA Certified Organic label which means that they by law are producing this cereal under the organic guidelines that have been set. However, Kellogg is not a company dedicated entirely to organic farming practices. Other kashi cereals you will notice now such as berry blossoms, and honey puffs cereal do not have the label. They are not being processed under the same standards that the cinnamon harvest cereal is. If you have known of Kashi all this time it would be easy for you to not be aware of who their new boss is, and perhaps not think twice about picking up any box of cereal from them. After all, they are a healthy company. If you are not looking for that organic label it may be easy to assume any product of theirs is OK, but that is just not the case. If you want organic, you need to look for that label.

If you have the purchasing power to buy organic all the time, then there is really no good reason not to. However, if you are finding yourself wanting desperately to switch to organic purchases, but on a dollar menu budget; there are ways to prioritize. There are the foods I would suggest to always go organic with, and then there are the foods that we can spare. The “always” foods? Milk and dairy products. I would never consume milk or yogurt that is not organic. My reasons including unsanitary factory farms, my disagreeing of the conventional corn feed our cows are given, and of course Recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST ): the artificial growth hormone given to cows to increase milk production. I want my foods as close to nature as possible, and cows make BST on their own. The rBST is the synthesized man made version of the hormone that is given to up production. I find this unnatural, potentially unsafe, and in my opinion just kind of gross. If I ate meat, I would only eat organic, grass fed meat for similar and additional reasons. Dairy and meat to me is just too darn important to continue eating these groups conventionally. If affording organic meat all the time is too expensive, my advice is to simply eat less of it.

After dairy and meat I turn to fruits and vegetables with thin skins, or outsides that we consume. Examples include grapes, apples, tomatoes, celery, carrots and lettuce. We want these foods especially pesticides free because we eat them as they are and easily consume what lies on the surface of them. Foods with thick skins that we do not eat: avocado, eggplant, mango, watermelon, oranges and bananas would be on my list of foods we can spare. The skin of a banana is thick, and we throw it away before eating. Pesticides on a banana are not making it into our body as easily as pesticides on our lettuce. Finally, one last place you can go conventional is your seafood. Start thinking like a savvy consumer: how does anyone know if your fish is organic? Fish and seafood come from the ocean where there is no real way to track what they have encountered: pesticides, chemicals, floating garbage, whatever. So while buying fish, don’t waste your money on the package promising anything “extra”. There are no set guidelines for organic seafood because the government understands there is no possible way to guarantee it. However, I do suggest wild over farmed fish any day of the week.

If you want a diet that is chemical free, care about the sustainability of our soil, or both: then you should be eating organic. The concept is growing as more people begin to understand what it means, and this may mean eventually one day organic food can be the “norm” and not cost as much to supply. Every purchase matters, so make the switch where you can.

the touch screen world

(photo from takepart.com)
On Wednesday I rode the subway for an hour and a half to a preschool which is run out of a church in Queens. I am currently working for a small research project which has me traveling across the 5 boroughs a few days a week. Not only am I part of a physical activity and nutrition project for children, (which to say the least is “right up my alley”), but I get to spend about 8 hours a day in the presence of three year olds, and that my friends can be quite entertaining. I have been practically everywhere in the 5 boroughs, expanding on my familiarity with the city I love so much. From West Harlem to Central Brooklyn to Far Rockaway, I am there with my enthusiasm for whole grains and 30 minutes of recess each day.

“Toto we’re not in Kansas anymore” would be a perfect one line description of my job these days. What I see, and what I hear sometimes amazes me, sometimes concerns me, but most of the time makes me laugh. There was the center that was taught primarily in Spanish; at 8 am that day I was greeted with 14 “hola”s as each kid walked into the classroom. In another school I was asked to play a game with a little boy on the playground who told me we were guarding our castle (the jungle gym) against Vashti. When I asked who this person was, the response I got was “she’s a bad guy! She makes you work on shabbos!” (This was a school run by orthodox Jewish women). Then there was the Russian school, where one beautiful little girl with a blonde braid all the way down her back approached me and spoke in her teeny voice in Russian, words I could not understand. “I’m sorry, in English please?” I asked. She looked at me as if she needed a minute, and then spoke slowly: “what’s your name?” These children danced to instrumental music with scarves before nap time, and the music sounded exactly like the music that used to play in my ballet classes. I sat there in awe, wishing I could be back in a pair of pink tights with my hair in a bun. It was also at this school that I was told by the director “our kids are fed well, but of course most of them are taken care of by their grandparents who are old school in their beliefs and give them pancakes every morning for breakfast! (she starts chuckling in her thick Russian accent) “you know! Oh eat eat! You are too skinny! Have cakes! That’s what the grandparents want”. And nothing beats a day in the life for me than when a child says “is lunch soon? I am going to eat all of my vegetables first! Watch!”

This Wednesday though I had the pleasure of enjoying lunch with the other teachers in the school. When I ran to get my purse for money for the lunch order, my cell phone fell out of my sweater and smashed on the floor. Oh blackberry, we had a good run. I sat at the lunch table trying to revive my phone, but the white screen and buzzing noises of text messages coming through that I would never be able to read was making it clear that I needed to say goodbye. “You should go fix the phone now while you can! I’m sure there is an At&t store around here” said one of the teachers. “Oh there’s no way” I said, “I can’t leave and possibly miss part of the school day”. “Oh, we won’t tell anyone you left” one giggled, and continued: “you must be thinking my goodness these Christian Women and look at what they are telling me!” Everyone starts laughing. “Yes, we’re good Christian women! Now when you go to At&t don’t tell them you dropped it. Just say you took it off the charger and the screen went white on you” another teacher says. I was laughing pretty hard at this, and I joined in with a few of my own jokes, mostly about how I don't go to church, but would be way too scared to lie to at&t. Even though we laughed and made peaceful conversation about religion, what the women all really wanted from me it turns out was nutrition advice. Word got out before the a.m. snack time for the kids that I was in the food field and by lunch they had reported to the cafeteria with all of their questions. I don’t mind this stuff at all. In fact, as long as I have the answer to the question I enjoy it very much. One of the teachers has been diagnosed with pre diabetic blood sugar levels and she is concerned about becoming diabetic if she doesn’t better control her diet starting immediately. She had heard about the glycemic index, but was unsure of what it was, and was looking for the easiest way to know what was OK from it to eat, and what was not. Below is how I summed it up for her.

I think the glycemic index is great for anyone. It gives food and beverages a score (1-100) that is determined based on the blood glucose effect that food has on you. Foods high on the glycemic index such as white bread and baked potatoes (skinless) absorb quickly into our cells, requiring a fast and abundant amount of insulin. Foods low on the index like sweet potatoes and apples, digest and absorb more slowly. Gradual absorption means gradual breakdown and release of glucose into the bloodstream, and a more balanced insulin/uptake process into the cells. This is important for those with diabetes who need to manage their blood sugar levels, and are taught to “carb count” by spreading their carbohydrates evenly throughout the day to maintain energy without having any spiked levels of blood glucose. You do not need to be diabetic in order to eat based on the index. Some people believe the index can be used as a weight loss tool. As I always say about any diet tool, I use the index as more of a reference and not for any complicated “diet”. There are a lot of books out there that turn eating into a chemistry project, but I don’t believe it is always that complicated. Unless you have a medical condition you can use the index as a reference too. Turns out most of the time the healthier foods are on the lower end of the index, and higher in fiber, which most Americans are not getting enough of. Foods that are high in fiber (soluble fiber specifically) digest and absorb into our cells at a slower pace, which is why they will have lower scores on the index. Remember though, fiber itself never absorbs into our cells. We do not digest it, which is why fiber is not considered a nutrient. I told the teacher to stick to whole grains, oatmeal, apples and sweet potatoes, but to avoid white breads, white rice, sugary breakfast cereals and gatorades. Also, physical activity never hurt anyone in managing their diabetes.

PS: I ended up with an iphone after my visit to at&t that evening. I have entered the touch screen world, and I am awful at it. I have so much to learn still :)