- Author: Shannon Klisch
- Author: Katherine E Soule
After participating in 4-H SNAC programs, 95% of youth participants reported they learned how to be a better leader, supporting increased health outcomes in their communities.
The Issue
Youth in low-income communities of color face health inequities. While 14.6% of all California adolescents ages 12-17 are classified as obese, rates are much higher among Latino adolescents (20.2%) and highest among adolescents in very low-income households (20.4% vs. 12.7% among the highest income households). Further, according to a recent study, youth who feel more connected at school face a 48% - 66% reduction in risk of poor health outcomes in adulthood.
How UC Delivers
Over the course of the 2018/19 academic year UC staff from the CalFresh Healthy Living and 4-H programs in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties worked with 5th and 6th grade youth in two low-income, Latino communities through weekly after school 4-H Student Nutrition Advisory Councils (SNAC). 4-H SNAC members had the opportunity to learn and practice meeting facilitation skills, in-depth training on nutrition and physical activity education, and become leaders in health and nutrition education on their school campuses. In addition to the after school club meetings, 4-H SNAC members had the opportunity to participate in two 6-hour intensive trainings including the Leadership Academy and the Culinary Academy in partnership with their school district. The Leadership Academy included training in 4-H Officer positions, presentation skills, and included a mini career pathways fair where youth learned about their own interests in relation to different careers. All of the career pathways professionals were from the community and included a dentist, engineers, a health educator, a college professor, and firefighters.
The Impact
“Today I learned how to be a better presenter. I also learned about different jobs, what I want to be when I grow up, and how to be a better leader.” - 4-H SNAC Youth
A total of 32 youth attended at least one of the 6-hour academies. Of the 4-H SNAC members that participated in the Leadership Academy, almost all agreed that due to their participation they learned how to be a better leader (95%) and improved their presentation skills (95%). Qualitative data collected from the Leadership Academy show themes of improved recognition of career pathways, enhanced confidence and presentation skills, and increased confidence in being a leader. Of the 4-H SNAC members that participated in the Culinary Academy, a majority reported that they learned new culinary skills including how to chop vegetables with a knife (97%), how to prepare a healthy snack (97%), how to measure wet and dry ingredients (88%), and how to follow a recipe (91%) because of participating in the culinary academy. In addition, 79% agreed that they could teach others about cooking, and 84% considered themselves a good cook after the academy.
Positive youth development activities are specifically recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a step that schools can take to promote connectedness among youth and thus better health outcomes in adulthood. By creating programming focused on increasing youth confidence to lead, greater awareness of career pathways, and improved ability to teach others about cooking nutritious foods, UCCE is improving individual and community health and wellness, contributing to the public value of promoting healthy people and communities.
/h3>/h3>/span>/h3>/h3>- Author: Elizabeth Lopez
UC CalFresh launched the new and improved Eating Smart, Being Active nutrition classes in Madera county. The first stop was Virginia Lee Rose Elementary! To reach parents, UC CalFresh partnered with the Parent Resource Center. Parent Resource Centers are found at seven elementary schools within Madera Unified School District. Their goal is to provide resources that will help parents with their children's education while also encouraging parents to become involved in their children's school.
With the help of Parent Resource Center staff, UC CalFresh was able to host a nutrition series for Virginia Lee Rose parents from March to April. Parents who participated, learned proper knife skills, how to make meals healthy and be physically active, and so much more!
While some had experience following a recipe, for others, this was their first time following a recipe and measuring out ingredients. The five parents who participated in the class series expressed that they enjoyed the experience and the information learned.
- Author: Dustin Blakey
Page, Karen and Dornenburg, Andrew. The Flavor Bible. Little, Brown and Co., 2008.
Sercarz, Lior Lev. The Spice Companion: A Guide to the World of Spices. Clarkson Potter, 2016.
One of the best things* about working in Cooperative Extension is that there always seems to be plenty of interesting food to try at the office. Between staff and volunteers, we get to try all sorts of flavors on a daily basis. I'm not sure we're at “arms race” status yet, but our office's nutrition educator, Amy Weurdig, just shared her newest tools to up her cooking game with us: two books about flavors and seasoning foods.
Along with working here at our office, Amy is a Master Gardener and a Master Food Preserver. She definitely gardens with food or drink in mind. Her latest plan is to grow saffron here in the Owens Valley. But what can you do with all that saffron, especially when you have a garden full of produce? After all, one zucchini plant, assuming you can keep squash bugs at bay, can feed a small army. Some creativity is needed to get it all used. And that's where seasonings and flavor pairings can come to play.
In her research Amy came across two interesting resources: The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenberg, and The Spice Companion by Lior Lev Sarcarz. These two books provide invaluable information about some key flavors we use in cooking, but they take a very different approach to the topic.
The Spice Companion is a beautiful book. (It covers many herbs, too, so don't worry if you're a spice-o-phobe.) Thomas Schauer's photographs and Nadine Bernard Westcott's illustrations, to me, are the highlight of this work. This is a book you will want on display, not jammed into the kitchen bookshelf next to the spiral-bound church cookbook you bought in 1983.
The book is organized as an encyclopedia of the world's spices. Each spice has a lovely illustration or photo, and possibly a food based on it as a key ingredient. Along with this artwork, there is text explaining its use, harvesting and botany. As an easy-to-use feature, each flavor has recommended food pairings, complementary spices, and recipe ideas. Reading through this book may inspire you to try a few new things since it contains some fairly obscure ingredients, but to me the best use would work like this: Let's say you planted a dozen pepperoncini plants in Spring and you're inundated with these peppers. What can you do with them besides make pickles or give them away? It turns out they're fairly versatile! I like its idea of using them to flavor an Italian-style bean dip. I see it as a fine book to browse while you're munching on a scone in the sunroom on Sunday morning.
The Flavor Bible takes a different approach to the topic of taste. Instead of an array of herbs and spices from A to Z, this book gets to business right away. While it is peppered with pictures of food, it is mostly text and is much more information dense. After 36 pages of how the book works (if you're impatient just read pages 35 and 36 get on with it) you are presented with over 350 pages of concepts, foods, flavors, and cuisines. Each entry will tell you when it is available, good ways to prepare, and recommended flavor pairings. The authors don't mince words here. This is a book you should look over to get familiar with, then keep nearby for reference. If you like to cook and eat more than read about and look at food then this no-nonsense book is for you. I see this as a book that will end up with stains and stuck together pages after a few years because you'll thumb through it with dirty fingers or a dripping spoon.
Some of the entries in The Food Bible are mundane, much like when the dictionary includes words like “smile” that you would never look up. For example there is an entry on sour cream that, naturally, suggests putting it on baked potatoes. However, most entries are more useful. The last entry “Zucchini Blossoms” should be of special interest to any gardeners who didn't realize all the fun things you can do there. I'm especially intrigued by its recommended pairing with lobster!
I probably gained 5 pounds just looking over these two books. (Reviewer's note: I was eating a giant burrito. Your experience may vary.) They are both full of ideas for the gardener with too much bounty, or one who is just bored and needs inspiration.
Either book will set you back about $40. If you are a passionate, but inexperienced or highly experimental cook—the kind who tends to wing it in the kitchen, you will probably appreciate The Flavor Bible. Those of you more set in your ways and just need some inspiration or would like to learn more about new ingredients will enjoy The Spice Companion. Both are good references, but they have very different approaches that may not appeal to everyone. I'm glad Amy bought both and let me review them both side by side.
Mmmm. Some butternut squash bisque with saffron sounds really good right now, Amy.
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*Well it's good for my taste buds but not so much for my waistline.
- Author: Jesenia Mendoza
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Copyright © 2016 The Regents of the University of California. University of California Cooperative Extension, Sonoma County It is the policy of the University of California (UC) and the UC Division of Agriculture & Natural Resources not to engage in discrimination against or harassment of any person in any of its programs or activities (Complete nondiscrimination policy statement can be found at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ anrstaff/files/169224.pdf). Inquiries regarding ANR's nondiscrimination policies may be directed to John I. Sims, Affirmative Action compliance Officer/Title IX Officer, University of California, Davis, Agriculture and Natural Resources, 2801 Second Street, Davis, CA 95618, (530) 750-1397. |
- Author: Ben Faber
Lots of seeds; thick, coarse skin; not big, not small; thorns; sour; but fragrant, cold tolerant and selling for good prices. A cross between one of the original citrus parents – papeda – and a mandarin. It's got some pretty ancestral properties with something of a lemony flavor and a grapefruit odor. Yuzu is a citrus fruit esteemed by Japanese and Korean chefs just for the qualities of the juice and peel. At this point it cannot be imported fresh, so must be grown in California if it is used as a fresh ingredient. And prices at a recent farmers market made me shake my head at what was being charged. I would hate to think what would happen to prices if suddenly we had 500 acres of the fruit.
For more on yuzu, check out the UC Citrus Variety Collection at:
http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/yuzu1.html
Check out the seeds in this fruit
And the productivity