Day 114 - Mother Earth News "Building Community Food Security"

In an article from the April/May 2011 edition of Mother Nature News, Mary Lou Shaw writes about her experiences in connecting with a non-profit organization called Local Matters and their collaborative work on building community food security.

Local Matters is a non-profit food advocacy group that is based in Columbus, Ohio. It was founded in 2002, when "a collaboration among several local organizations created community gardens and a nutrition education program with a food security grant from the USDA". The group began by starting some of the gardens at Head Start schools ("Head Start is a nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families").

When asked about their success, Local Matters believes that success lies in listening to the communities about their wants and needs. For example, when one school asked for help in created green areas in the recess area of their school grounds, Local Matters helped them recruit "volunteers to plant green areas, add pathways through them and incorporate running water, small statues, and a small vegetable garden".  The school was then able to grow food in the gardens, serve some of the food in the cafeteria, teach the students about whole foods, and to start up classes for children and parents about sustainable living and eating healthy meals.

The executive director of Local Matters, Michael Jones, believes that educating people on food and nutrition begins with the education of children. By teaching them at young ages, we can "develop an audience that will be willing to eat healthier foods in the school cafeterias and make healthier food choices in general", he says. The Head Start program begins teaching children from the ages of 3-5, or in the second grade. "Volunteers and teachers spend one lively hour each week familiarizing children with the nutritional value of healthy foods that the students then help prepare and eat." Local Matters also offers classes on food ecology; on topics such as composting, water harvesting, and growing an organic school garden. They hope to empower these kids to find and grow their own local foods outside of school.

In order to help make local food more available, Local Matters has helped to create a new kind of grocery store: The Greener Grocer. These are local hubs for "farm-to-fork program[s], in which local farmers sell their produce at a price that supports their labors and farms". While these foods can often come at a higher price, "people who shop at The Greener Grocer know their money helps support nutrition programs in local schools". Additionally, the store also offers a "Weekly Fresh Market Bag", which mimics a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program by providing inexpensive produce when it is most in season and most abundant. The group has also worked with community partners to help encourage store owners to include fresh, local produce in their stores.

Local Matters has claimed that their success long-term is twofold: because they listen to the community needs and they synergistically weave residents into their efforts. Local Matters says, "It is our job to build honest, long-term relationships, work with others, and have complete respect for them and their knowledge of their community. We work with communities who invite us to work with them to build healthy food systems." While you may have big ideas on changes you would like to make to your own community, it is important to remember that it is difficult to do alone - you will need the help and support of your local community. However, Shaw reminds us that "If you listen to what the community wants, you'll find that nutrition and wellness can become the driving force behind many positive changes."

Before concluding this blog about Shaw's article, here are some tips she gives us on how to best do something in your community:

1. Ask teachers and school leaders how they think food education, cooking, gardening or farm-to-fork lunch programs could best be incorporated into local schools.
2. Ask parents what school programs they'd most like to see their children participate in, and ask how the parents themselves would like to be involved.
3. Check whether children in the community could visit a local farm to learn about food production firsthand.
4. Locate local organizations that work with children to see whether food-system goals could be incorporated into their existing programs.
5. Ask market and convenience store managers to consider adding locally grown produce to their selections. Try to foster connections between stores and farmers in the community, and set up a CSA program if one doesn't already exist.
6. Encourage chefs and restaurants to use more produce, meat and dairy products from local farmers, and support the businesses that support the local food system.

For more information on Local Matters, please visit the Local Matters Official Website.

For more information on Head Start, please visit the National Head Start Association Official Website.

Exercise: I started out this morning with another early morning run… lasting about 20 minutes and going about 1.5 miles, plus stretching. Then this afternoon I did my usual swim workout. Here's the workout:

300 warm up freestyle (100 swim, 100 kick, 100 swim)

6x25 drill (2xfingertip drag, 2xcatch-up arms, 2xevery three breathing)

1x100

2x50

1x200

2x100

1x400

2x200

14x25 (alternate easy-fast)

200 cool down (easy)

TOTAL: 2400 meters (1.5 miles)

Eat: When buying bagels at the bakery, there are a lot of healthy choices but the bagels generally do not come with nutrition information. If this is the case, here are two things to look for: First, check the ingredients list. The first ingredient should be whole grains. Other ingredients that are good in bagels are seeds, flax, and wheat germ. They may make the bagel higher in calories, but they will also increase the vitamins, minerals, fiber, and healthy fats. If your bakery does not have ingredients lists, just ask the baker! Also, watch out for portion size… bakery bagels can sometimes be supersized! While you are shopping for your bagels, some flavored bagels (cinnamon, raisin, blueberry, poppy seed, etc) can be nutritious too. Just be sure to watch the sugar content when buying these bagels. (One more thing on bagels tomorrow!)

Relax: When I got home from my morning run, I was able to sit down and read a chapter of Food Inc. while eating my breakfast. Since it was so gloomy outside, I just felt incredibly sleepy. SO… I ended up taking a bit of a nap. I need some sunny weather to get here already!!

Day 113 - Local Harvest

Local Harvest is America's #1 organic and local foods website. They provide a definitive and reliable network of local small farms, farmer's markets, and other local food sources. The purpose of the website is to help individuals locate products from family farms, to find local sources of sustainably grown foods, and to encourage contact with small farms in the local area.

The organization was founded in 1998 and is now the number one resource for information for the Buy Local Movement. Local Harvest was started by software engineer Guillermo Payet in order to create a way to generate positive social change through the internet. The organization encourages you to help out by encouraging your local farms, market managers, and restaurateurs to sign up on their website.

I encourage you to check out Local Harvest's Official Website to learn more about the organization as well as to find small farms in your area! When I searched for farms in my area, I was able to find producers of organic, free-range eggs as well as of beef. It is a great way to locate places to buy your food local in order to enjoy better products as well as help out the farms in your community! You can also find farms that allow you to sign up for CSA subscriptions (where you get a box of fresh veggies each week). These are a great way to get the freshest produce in the right seasons.

Exercise: This week I am starting out my days by waking up earlier (which also means I am going to bed earlier) so I can do a morning run outside. Since I don’t get outside a whole bunch right now, I figured this would be a nice way to wake up, get some fresh air, and get a warm up exercise in for the day. Today I did a quick mile run when I got up, around the neighborhood. Then I did some stretching and was ready to go for the day. Then tonight I went to my usual hour long yoga class. It was especially nice to get some deep stretching in after my morning run today.

Eat: Now I would like to go through different kinds of bread products and talk about them individually. Today is all about bagels. When buying bagels, remember to take a look at the calorie content. Large bagels should have about 250 calories or less per bagel, and mini's should have 75 calories or less. In terms of fiber, large bagels should have 5 or more grams of fiber, and minis should have 2 or more grams. (Remember, 1 mini bagel = 1 serving, 1 large bagel = 4 servings) While it is fine to buy and eat large bagels from the supermarket, it is important to remember that these count for more toward the daily recommendation of your grains - large bagels can count for 4 or 5 servings out of the recommended 5 to 8 per day. (More on bagels tomorrow)

Relax: After my morning run, I was happy to get outside before the rain came in order to read a chapter of my book while sitting on the back deck. I absolutely love reading outside!!

Day 109 - The Biggest Loser April Update

Episode 12

At the start of the episode, contestants are told that they will be split into four teams of three - blue, green, black, and red. Each team will have one trainer and they must chose a weight with a color on the bottom in order to be sorted into their teams. Their turn to choose is based in order of the highest percentage weight loss. The new teams are:

Red - Courtney, Justin, Jennifer

Blue - Olivia, Moses, Irene

Black - Rulon and Hannah

Green - Austin, Ken, Kaylee

Rulon and Olivia are given the opportunity to bring one eliminated player back to participate on their black team. In the meantime, Bob takes his team member to his Crunch biking program so they can get into the community and find other people who are also making changes in their every day life to be more healthy. Jillian invites Rulon and Hannah to her beach house for a good workout by the water and for some heart-to-heart conversations. Brett takes his team member on a hike and tells them to take a moment to turn inward and see the progress and the changes they've made to themselves. Justin is especially emotional because he is proud of who he is. Cara takes her team to Trinity Boxing where her team members can finally get some practice fighting in a ring for real!

At the challenge, the black team reveals their decision to bring back Jay. They are also informed that Jay's weight loss will not count for their team this week. The challenge this week is to all hold onto ropes for their individual teams with a weight put up in the air, weighing the combination of their teams weight loss. The prize: video chats with their families. Even though the black team wins, they give their video chat opportunities to the blue team, who all really want to speak to their families back home.

At the weigh in, Kaylee announces that she feels she is ready to go home and therefore has asked her team to throw the weigh in. When the green team finally weighs in, Kaylee is devastated to learn that Ken did not throw the weigh in as she asked. She will be able to stay another week if she decides to stay. Kaylee is very upset but decides to stay on the ranch.

At the elimination, Justin asks his team members to do the right thing and keep Courtney at the ranch while he goes home. The players comply with his request and send him home.

Episode 13

After kicking off the episode with a statement from Kaylee, Allison has a surprise for the contestants: video footage of the moment they were told they were going to be on the Biggest Loser show. She then asks the group if they ever wondered what happened to the 12th team. Today she brings them onto the show and allows them an opportunity to win a spot on the show - if they have lost enough weight at home. Unfortunately, they both do not lose enough and cannot come onto the show. They do, however, leave inspired to continue on their journey of weight loss and will be at the finale.

For this week's challenge, the contestants are told to balance two balls on a flat board with a hole in the middle while walking over to a bucket and then dropping the balls into the bucket through the hole. The first to 10 balls wins. The green team wins the challenge, followed by the black, then the blue, and then the red. The green winners are given a 1 minute advantage at the weeks big challenge and the red team is sent packing off of the ranch for the week. The red team is given a "menu" where they are given a certain amount of dollars and different choices that cost different amounts; such as trainer for a day, massages, night out, gym memberships, etc. Amazingly, they choose to go without Brett for the week. The girls then learn they will be staying in a gorgeous, luxury house in California.

Back at the gym, Moses feels in a funk because he really misses boxing while doing his cardio workouts. Proud of him, Jillian turns off his treadmill and tells him to grab some boxing gloves. Moses feels great knowing that he is excited to be working out again with boxing and feels like he has made a breakthrough with his trainer and his ability to listen to his wants.

For this week's challenge, the teams are told they will be going on the mother of all Easter egg hunts. Each team must find and return at least 600 eggs (400 for the red team). In addition to the normal colored eggs, there is also a very special golden egg hiding out in the field with a very special prize. The green team wins the egg hunt, and Olivia finds the golden egg. When she opens it, she finds her "prize": so long as her team does not lose the weigh in, she will have the only vote.

At the weigh in, Jillian lays into Rulon for going rogue and not sticking to his healthy diet. He admits that he snacks on chips and junk food as rewards and Jillian reminds him that it's not good for him. In order to not lose the weigh in, the red team must lost 5 lbs. When Courtney loses only 2 lbs, Jen believes that she has the win in the bag. She is shocked to learn that she did not lose any weight at all! Jen is immediately eliminated from the show and leaves learning a big lesson about her need of a personal trainer at this stage in her weight-loss journey. She will continue on it at home.

Episode 14

With Jen and Justin gone, Brett is 100% focused on Courtney this week. He has to keep her on the ranch in order for him to stay as well. Allison then presents this weeks challenge to the contestants. Each team is given a flag and told to walk and place their flag as close to one mile as possible. The winning team is given the opportunity to have a night out Hollywood style, while the losing teams must completely clean the house and the gym at the ranch. The black team wins this challenge.

After last week's call out, Jillian makes a special visit with Rulon where they talk about the importance of staying on a good, healthy diet. She tells him that the rewards he is giving himself is his health and happiness, not junk foods. Hannah then talks about how excited she is to have a night out on the town where she can dress up and wear fancy heals for the first time in her life. She can finally admit to herself that she is beautiful and deserving of attention.

At the last chance workout, Courtney works her butt off and Brett claims she has the focus and determination that could win the whole show. At the weigh in, Allison lets Courtney know that it is do or die, if she loses the weigh in she will be automatically eliminated. All the teams are getting pretty good weight loss number, but most amazing is Irene who loses a whopping 6 pounds, putting her into the 160's! When Courtney weighs in, everyone is devastated to learn she has only lost one pound. Amongst shedding tears, Courtney tells everyone that it is meant to be and that she will be fine, and continuing at home. She tells her girls to finish out strong. In addition to Courtney leaving the ranch today, Brett also must leave since he does not have anyone left to train. Emotions run high as two well loved people must go home.

Episode 15

At the outset of this episode, Allison lets the contestants know that they will be spending the next two weeks in New Zealand. Kaylee and Moses are especially excited about going because New Zealand is close to the island of Tonga, where their family comes from. After answering a quick trivia question, Austin wins his way into a first class seat.

The contestants first challenge in New Zealand is to clime the 1,027 stairs to the top of the Sky Tower. Once at the top, they have two choices on how to get down - to go back down the stairs or to bungee jump off the tower. All can participate except for Moses and Rulon, who are too large to participate. Ken, who is terrified of heights, decides to jump off the tower when Bob agrees to do the same. They both face their fears together. They all make it down and are all proud of themselves.

New Zealand is full of all kinds of adventure for all the participants; including sailing a hybrid racing yacht, completing a 5K run across the mountainous terrain for a challenge, and Moses and Kaylee flying over the countryside in a helicopter. However, ever week still has its elimination and this week wasn't so great on the weight loss. Unfortunately the blue team loses the weigh in and Moses is sent home.

Episode 16

This weeks begins with Allison letting the contestants know they have made it to singles. There will no longer be teams AND Brett is back to help train them all. This week, still in New Zealand, is still full of lots of adventure; including cliff jumping, a river boating race challenge (which Olivia wins), cliff climbing, bungee jumping, and more.

At the end of the week, the contestants all go to their final weigh-in in New Zealand. The contestants all pull good numbers this week, however the vote for elimination comes down to Ken and Hannah. Ken ends up being sent home this week.

Exercise: Today my sister and I did a morning workout together. We got up and did a 20 minute run outside (before all the rain started up), running around our neighborhood. Then we came back and did another 30 minute workout using her Wii Fit game. It was fun and nice for the company.

Eat: So now we know what to look for when we are buying our bread products, but what do we need to watch out for? Cooking Light gives us three things to really be careful of when buying bread products. The first is to watch out for the phrase "made with whole grains". According to Cooking Light, "when a package reads "made with whole grains", it means the bread is made with a blend of whole-wheat flour and some other kind - most likely a less nutritious flour." While it is still a better choice than white bread, it is not the most nutritional bang for your buck.

Relax: Tonight my family all sat down together, after eating a delicious dinner Aaron made for my family, and watched two movies. Its always nice to get that family time in!