Cooking Up Healthy Habits at Harmony Village
Nothing quite unites a community than sharing a delicious meal with one another. This statement couldn’t be more true for the residents at Harmony Village, who often come together to celebrate their love of food. Whether they are preparing for potlucks, sharing homemade recipes, or tending to their community garden, the residents at Harmony Village are always looking for the next opportunity to explore their passions and make their community stronger.
That is why we were so pleased that earlier this month, Blue Zones Project Yuba Sutter, Adventist Health & Rideout, and The Yuba Sutter Food Bank, partnered with us to graciously host a healthy cooking class for the residents at Harmony Village. According to Blue Zones representative, Alexandria Mazerolle, this class was “designed to make the healthy choice, the easy choice”.
Kicking off the class was Adventist Health & Rideout Dietician, Jennifer White, who began by teaching residents how to properly read nutrition labels. Proper serving size, calories, and the different types of fats were some of the topics covered. Following the nutrition label reading, The Yuba Sutter Food Bank hauled in several stacks of food boxes, each containing local, fresh produce for all attendees. Along with that, Blue Zones Project Yuba Sutter brought some healthy enhancements that residents could add to the items in their food boxes.
The excitement continued as Blue Zones Project Yuba Sutter also hosted a cooking demonstration of a simple, affordable, healthy recipe. The dish of the day was a Swiss chard, collard green, and potato scramble. Sounds delicious if you ask us!
Throughout the demonstration, the residents expressed their enthusiasm for learning a new recipe and discovering new ways to incorporate healthy options into their diets. According to Blue Zones representative, Alexandria Mazerolle, all of the ingredients were locally grown, inspiring many of the residents to reap the rewards of their own community garden when it’s time for them to harvest.
All in all, the class proved to be a valuable educational tool for our residents, allowing many to feel more confident in their ability to eat healthier. Throughout the class, the residents received tons of helpful food-related tips such as rinsing canned veggies to reduce sodium, as well as simple techniques such as washing fresh produce, chopping vegetables, selecting in season produce, and steaming vegetables.
It’s valuable resources like these that we always strive to provide to our clients. Many individuals that we house often come to us after experiencing a wide variety of hardships, and it is our goal to help them comfortably transition back into the community. At the end of the day, we want to set our residents up for success, and encourage them to live the best, healthiest life that they can. With that being said, we extend our thanks to Blue Zones Project Yuba Sutter, The Yuba Sutter Food Bank, and Adventist Health & Rideout for providing this valuable resource to the residents at Harmony Village. We hope to continue building incredible partnerships such as these, to provide more wellness workshops and educational opportunities for all of our tenants. Here’s to building a healthier community!
If you would like to participate in a healthy cooking class such as this one, they are open to the community on a regular basis. You can visit ys.bluezonesproject.com or follow @bzpyubasutter on social media to learn more about upcoming events and available resources.
