Viridiana Gonzalez-Huizar and Alondra Sarmiento, with the help of CSU Extension and One Morgan County, have created a 6-week nutrition program. The purpose of this nutrition program is to raise awareness and provide free nutrition education classes to low-income families through a series of six seminars. Each seminar focuses on one to three nutritional concepts. Seminars are family inclusive and offered in English and Spanish. Seminars can also be catered to specific communities and age groups.

Grocery tours

Through Alondra and Viridiana’s practicum at the Kendall Reagan Nutrition Center, they experienced the impact grocery tours have on students. They decided to bring this valuable resource to Fort Morgan and provide participants with valuable skills easily applicable during their weekly grocery shopping. The focus was on emphasizing the importance of in-season produce, frozen produce, organic vs. non-organic, animal proteins and pricing, whole grains, oils, and dairy products. Implementing the concepts learned from the first class, MyPlate, and reading a food label, to the local classroom, Wal-Mart, reinforces lessons learned. It’s important to note the importance of treating a grocery store like a classroom. There is always a learning opportunity in every counter.

Nutrition education

For every seminar the program implements basic nutrition education in forms of concepts. There are four onsite classes and one grocery tour at a local store. The last class is structured to be a potluck where participants present their food and apply something they learned throughout the seminars.

Cooking classes

Through the programs’ seminars, culturally appropriate cooking classes are offered to reflect the interest of the participants. Modifications are made regularly using Latinx recipes and creating an interactive cooking class where the participants get to prepare, cook, and eat in a family style setting. Through the cooking classes key ingredients are referenced and emphasis placed on their food group, nutrients, and proper portion size. The goal of showcasing these recipes is to encourage participants to change one or two ingredients to improve their nutrient intake while still keeping costs low.

The concept of healthy fats in animal protein based foods by emphasizing omega 3 fatty acids found in fish was presented. The class was delivered on February 20th as February is National Heart Awareness Month.

For more information: https://carmen101893.wixsite.com/nutritionseminarfm