Eating for Health gaining momentum

[Oshyan Greene]

Hello everyone! It's hard to believe it's been 6 months since I last posted a news update here. As you can imagine a lot has been going on.

First and foremost, we have just completed our spring enrollment period and, despite the troubled economy, we have managed to exceed our previous spring student numbers. It's so gratifying to see that the importance of eating well and teaching the world about better nutrition is still valued, even in these difficult times. So a big welcome goes to all our incoming Spring students!

Speaking of economic woes, it seems like everyone is cutting down, scaling back, "tightening their belts", and too often that seems to include buying lower quality food too. Well it's a common myth that eating well costs more - it doesn't have to! Thanks to our outstanding forum community, we've got information and resources aplenty for keeping the food on your table fresh, organic, local, and seasonal. BC Alumni Amanda Loudin started a fantastic discussion on Eating for Health on a Budget that resulted in more than 7 pages of discussion that's still ongoing, and includes a wealth of valuable advice and experience: http://www.baumancollege.org/forum/index.php/topic,2508.0.html

I also happened to be reading the Organic Consumer's Association newsletter today and they mentioned a rather timely article on this very subject. They linked to Mother Nature Network, which has a nice little summary article with a few additional links, but the original story finally led back to Salon, where Siobhan Phillips contributed a great story on eating "SOLE" (sustainable, organic, local, ethical) on a food stamp budget.

Amazingly, some people have to survive on even less than a food stamp budget. If we are truly to bring better health to the world, we have to enable everyone to eat well. While we train people to provide the tremendous value of nutrition education and consultation to a wide audience, not everyone can afford these services. That's where our community outreach efforts come in.

Over the past few years we have steadily increased our involvement in our local communities. We have run a number of successful independent programs, working with low-income children in Santa Cruz schools, providing nutrition education to local homeless populations, and reaching out to many other groups in all areas of our communities. Now in 2009 we are beginning to focus on more significant, long-term efforts, including built-in program evaluation and testing, with the eventual goal of gaining grant funding support and really making a difference. As we build these programs, we'll be needing volunteer support, so keep an eye out for more information in the future. Getting into these community settings is a great way to flex your nutrition education and consultant skills!

Working in our local communities is inspiring and gratifying, but we also need to do more to reach the world. Ed Bauman, Executive Director, is taking our message to Washington! In early May he participated in a conference on the legislative process and health care reform in our nation's capital, and he has also written a number of recent articles directly addressing our national health care issues. Check out Restoring America's Health by Ed Bauman and join us in supporting progressive healthcare reform!

Last but not least, I'm pleased to welcome 2 new staff members to our team here in our central Penngrove office. Steve Hayter joins us as our new Technical Coordinator, previously of Sonoma National Bank and the multi-national computer graphics giant Autodesk. Steve is a veteran of the IT industry, and with his help we're already making great strides forward in our technology services. Flavien Charles is also new to the team. He is a Masters Candidate in the IT field, here in the US in a study abroad program, and he joins us as our Technical Intern for the next 6 months. With the combined knowledge and experience of these two technology experts, Bauman College is poised to make some great improvements over the next 6-12 months. Many of these changes will be in our back-end systems, increasing reliability and data integrity, but you will also see improvements in online student services and more coming this year.

We are blessed to be able to connect with so many wonderful people, every day, year after year. For that we are eternally grateful, and we thank you for joining us. Together we are making the future brighter, better, tastier, healthier.

- Oshyan

[PatriceK]

Thank you for this report.  I'm very interested in the reference to the article by Siobhan Phillips about eating "SOLE".  In her article, she mentioned the More With Less Cookbook, which I've been using for about 35 years.  I'd like to let readers know about a more recent book, also published by Herald Press, titled Simply in Season.  The inside cover of the book states that it was "Commissioned by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) to promote the understanding of how the food choices we make affect our lives and the lives of those who produce the food."  The book encourages the use of fresh, local, in-season ingredients and has recipes using foods that are commonly available in each season.  I've made several of the recipes, and they are really good, and fun to try.  Many of the recipes are derived from other countries.  On nearly every page there is a brief narrative about someone's experience with sustainable, healthy food, or their reflections on food issues.

It is a challenge to eat healthy foods when working with limited income, but I'm encouraged and inspired when people share stories of how they have done it. 

Thank you again for passing on this reference.

- Patrice

[AnnaL]

Hello,

I loved Ed Bauman's article 'Restoring America's Health Program'.  This program is an outstanding idea and I would like to know how to stay updated on how it is progressing, and how to become involved.  Sounds like it could be a real opportunity for NE's to use skills to educate consumers on Eating for Health and a whole approach to wellness.

Kind regards,
Missy Leathers