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Food and Nutrition
Materials Help Youth Evaluate Media Messages, Make Food, Activity Choices PDF Print E-mail
Tampa Bay Life - Food and Nutrition

(May 24,2006)A new after-school program helps kids interpret the numerous messages they receive every day to make healthier choices about food and physical activity. The materials, available free on the Web, were developed by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH.)

Media-Smart Youth: Eat, Think, and Be Active! is designed to help young people ages 11 to 13 become aware of how media may influence the choices they make. The program’s fun, hands-on, interactive activities teach critical thinking skills that will help young people make smart decisions about what they eat and how they spend their time.

“Habits begun in childhood and reinforced in the teen years may become lifelong behaviors,” said Duane Alexander, M.D., director of the NICHD. “Media-Smart Youth teaches young people how to evaluate the complex media messages they receive so they can make wise choices about eating and being active.”

The Media-Smart Youth curriculum, available at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/msy, consists of 10 lessons and a major project that help young people acquire knowledge and skills in four key areas:

* Media awareness – The curriculum includes materials to help young people recognize attention-getting techniques used in media messages and to evaluate the messages for accuracy and consistency with their own ideas of being healthy.

* Media production – Participants express what they’ve learned through creative projects. These include a series of “Mini-Productions” in which youth develop their own media messages, and a final “Big Production” in which they may work with a local station, newspaper or other media partner to create radio ads, videos, posters or other media products that promote healthy nutrition and physical activity to their peers.

* Nutrition – Exercises and activities–such as learning to read and interpret Nutrition Facts Labels–teach young people important concepts for healthful eating and encourage them to practice making informed choices.

* Physical activity – Each lesson incorporates discussion and an “Action Break” to help participants develop strategies for becoming more active in their daily lives. They discover that daily physical activity is anything that gets their bodies moving, and that it can be fun.

The accompanying Facilitator’s Guide for the 10-lesson curriculum also includes a video tape or DVD featuring a program summary and tips for facilitators, plus youth-focused video segments for use in summarizing key concepts for each lesson.

Experts in nutrition, physical activity, media literacy, education and youth development reviewed Media-Smart Youth: Eat, Think, and Be Active! before it was tested in youth-serving organizations and after-school settings across the country. Feedback from adult facilitators and youth participants helped shape the final curriculum, which is consistent with national education standards of learning.

To arrange an interview with Media-Smart Youth Coordinator, Jill Center, about the sites around the United States that are conducting the program, please contact Robert Bock or Marianne Glass Miller, listed above.

To order a free copy of the Media-Smart Youth after-school program materials, contact the NICHD Information Resource Center at 1-800-370-2943 or visit the Institute’s Web site, http://www.nichd.nih.gov.

The NICHD sponsors research on development, before and after birth; maternal, child, and family health; reproductive biology and population issues; and medical rehabilitation. For more information, visit http://www.nichd.nih.gov/.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
 
Relish the Taste of Summer With Easy Homemade Pickling PDF Print E-mail
Tampa Bay Life - Food and Nutrition

(NewsUSA) - Is it possible to extend the fresh flavors of summer just a little longer? In days past, the solution was pickling and canning vegetables, like corn and cucumbers, that peak during the warm weather months.

While today's busy schedules don't leave much time for old-fashioned pickling, refrigerator pickling is an easy way to capture summer in a jar. Preparation time is just 20 minutes and the taste is so authentic, people will swear you spent all day in the kitchen. Anyone can do it and no special equipment is needed.

Simply place uncooked, fresh vegetables into sterile jars. Prepare a mixture of vinegar, sugar, salt and spices and bring to a boil. Then pour the boiling pickling liquid over the produce, close the jar lids tightly, and place in the refrigerator. Your pickled produce will last two months.

The flavor experts at McCormick offer these tips to ensure refrigerator pickling success:

* Sterilize jars by covering with water in a large saucepot and boiling for 10 minutes.

* Always start with just-ripened produce that is free from bruises or bad spots.

* Dill, mustard seed, turmeric, red pepper, allspice, celery seed and mixed pickling spice are perfect flavors for pickling.

* Use non-iodized salt. Iodized salt may leave white sediment on pickles or cause clouding of pickling liquid.

* Vinegar and salt amounts should never be reduced or diluted because they are essential for the pickling process.

* Allow filled jars to cool before placing in refrigerator.

For more pickling ideas, visit www.mccormick.com or call

1-800-MEAL-TIP.

 

SWEET AND EASY

PICKLE CHIPS

(Makes 8 half-pint jars)

 

2 pounds pickling cucumbers

(4 to 5 inches long)

2 1/2 cups distilled white

vinegar (5 percent acidity)

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup McCormick Minced

Onions

2 tablespoons non-iodized salt

1 tablespoon McCormick

Celery Seed

1 tablespoon McCormick

Mustard Seed

1 teaspoon McCormick

Ground Turmeric

 

Wash cucumbers with cold water. Cut off ends and cut into 1/8-inch thick slices. Place slices into 8 hot sterilized half-pint canning jars with lids or 4 pint jars with lids.

Mix remaining ingredients in medium saucepan. Bring to boil on medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar and salt. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Ladle over cucumbers, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Stir each jar well. Cool. Place lids on jars. Refrigerate pickles. Shake jars once a day for 3 to 5 days to redistribute seasonings and blend flavors.
 
Polk County Summer Food Service Program PDF Print E-mail
Tampa Bay Life - Food and Nutrition

These are the locations throughout Polk county that provide free summer lunches to children 18 years and younger. Contact Betty Blankenship at (863) 534-0588 for a list of sites, eligibility and registration information or for further details on the summer feeding program. There will be no lunches on July 4th. The 2007 Summer meal program runs fron June 4th to August 10th.

Auburndale
Berkley Charter School, Caldwell Elementary, First Academy, Lena Vista Elementary, Shelby Street Station, Stambaugh Middle, Winter Dale Academy

Babson Park
Polk County Parks & Recreation program at Dale R. Fair Babson Park Elementary

Bartow
Bartow Civic Center, Bartow Middle School, Carver Recreation, Gibbons Street Elementary, Girls Inc., Polk Street Community Center, YMCA FBC of Bartow

Davenport
Polk County Parks & Recreation program at Loughman Oaks Elementary

Dundee
Dana’s Daycare, Dundee Elementary

Fort Meade
Anna Woodbury Elementary, Peaceful Believers Church

Frostproof
Frostproof Care Center, Lakeview Park Community Center

Haines City
Alta Vista Elementary, Bethune Neighborhood Center, Citrus Center Boys & Girls Club, Lake Eva Civic Center, New Beaulah Missionary Church, Northridge Christian Preschool

Lake Alfred
Lake Alfred Summer Recreation program at Lake Alfred Elementary, Highland Community Center

Lake Hamilton
Laborer & Harvesters Ministry

Lake Wales
Citrus Center Boys & Girls Club, Janie Howard Wilson Elementary , Hillcrest Elementary, Lake Wales Afterschool, Polk Avenue Elementary, South Lake Wales Summer Recreation, Spook Hill Elementary

Lakeland
About Face, Alpha Care I, Alpha Care II, Beacon Hill Preschool, Bill Duncan Excel Center, Blake Academy, Boys & Girls Club (Musso, Sanders, Schowe), Cheyenne Territory, Combee Elementary, CT& S Anointing Learning, Dixieland Elementary, Emma Turner Center, Girls Inc. of Lakeland (Jenkins), Interact Council Human Development, Kid’s Town Preschool, Kathleen Elementary, Lakeland Housing Authority (Paul Colton, Westlake, Exploration V), Lakewood Terrace, Lime Street Elementary, Litisia’s Little Learners, Oscar J. Pope Elementary, Rochelle School of the Arts, Pace Center for Girls, Simpson Park Community Center, Sleepy Hill Middle, Southwest Elementary Southwest Middle, New Jerusalem Christian, Winston Elementary, Word Alive Community Services, Word Alive Learning Enrichment

Mulberry
Badcock Boys & Girls Club, First United Methodist Church, Kingsford Elementary

Polk City
Polk City Elementary

Poinciana
Lake Marion Creek Elementary

Wahneta
Sheriff’s Department program at Wahneta Elementary

Waverly
Camp Pleasant

Winter Haven
About Face, All About Kidz Learning, Citrus Center Boys & Girls Club, City of Winter Haven Leisure Services (Chain O’Lakes Complex, Elbert Elementary, Lion’s Park, Rotary Park), Cypress Kid Club, Cypress Oaks, Fairyland Learning Center, Garden Grove Elementary, Garner Elementary, Girls Inc. of Winter Haven, Kiddie Korner, Pierre’s Kiddieland, Police Athletic League, Westwood Middle, Winter Haven Recreational & Cultural Center
 
Pinellas County Summer Food Service Program PDF Print E-mail
Tampa Bay Life - Food and Nutrition

Pinellas County is one of several counties across the Tampa Bay area that has a Summer Food Service program to provide healthy meals to children that may not have access to nutritional meals during the summer. Most of the locations provide a free lunch around noon and then a snack in the afternoon.

Pinellas County Summer Food Service Program Locations:

  • Bear Creek Elementary, 350 61st St. S, St. Petersburg (May 30-Aug. 8, lunch 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., snack 3:30-4 p.m.).
  • Blanton Elementary, 6400 54th Ave. N, St. Petersburg. (June 4-July 12, lunch noon-12:45 p.m., snack 3-3:30 p.m.).
  • Gulfport Elementary, 2014 52nd St. S (May 30-Aug. 8, lunch 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., snack 3:30-4:30 p.m.).
  • Fitzgerald Middle, 6410 118th Ave. N, Largo (May 30-Aug. 8, lunch 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., snack 3:30-4:30 p.m.).
  • James Sanderlin Elementary, 2350 22nd Ave. S, St. Petersburg (May 30-Aug. 8, lunch 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., snack 3:30-4:30 p.m.).
  • John Hopkins Middle, 701 16th St. S, St. Petersburg (May 30-Aug. 8, lunch 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., snack 3:30-4:30 p.m.).
  • Nina Harris School, 6000 70th Ave. N, Pinellas Park (May 30-Aug. 8, lunch 11 a.m.-noon, snack 2:30-3:30 p.m.).
  • Oak Grove Middle, 1370 S Belcher Road, Clearwater (May 30-Aug. 8, lunch 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., snack 3:30-4:30 p.m.).
  • Pinellas Park Middle, 6940 70th Ave. N (May 30-Aug. 8, lunch 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., snack 3-4 p.m.).
  • Rawlings Elementary, 6505 68th St. N, Pinellas Park (May 30-Aug. 8, lunch 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., snack 3:30-4:30 p.m.).
  • Shore Acres Elementary, 1800 62nd Ave. NE, St. Petersburg (May 30-Aug. 8, lunch 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., snack 3:30-4:30 p.m.).
 
Pickles: The Perfect After-School Snack PDF Print E-mail
Tampa Bay Life - Food and Nutrition

(NewsUSA) - Looking for new and creative ways to get your kids to eat healthier after-school snacks? Try opening a jar of pickles.

"Pickles are a fun, easy and most importantly, tasty and healthy snack that kids and parents love," said Jeff Tuttle, chief marketing officer for M.A. Gedney Company, producer and marketer of the Del Monte line of pickles.

"An afternoon snack is not just an indulgence, it is a necessity for active kids with fast metabolisms," Tuttle added.

Now offering the world's first line of USDA-certified organic pickles, Del Monte products are available in supermarkets and retail outlets offering natural and organic foods nationwide. The new organic line includes Sweet Bread & Butter Chips, Dill Burger Slices, Kosher Dill Whole Pickles, Kosher Dill Baby Pickles and Kosher Dill Spears.

Consider this quick and easy recipe for Pickle Roll-Ups. They can be prepared in advance, are simple enough for the whole family to make, and fun for kids to eat with their fingers. They make a great after-school snack as well.

For more kid-friendly recipes, visit www.delmontepickle.com.

 

Quick and EAsy Pickle Roll-Ups

 

1 jar of Del Monte Dill Baby

Pickles, either traditional

"Babies" or Del Monte's new

organic version

1 8-ounce package of cream

cheese at room temperature

3 packages of sliced deli meat,

such as ham or corned beef

 

Spread thin layer of cream cheese on slice of meat. Wrap one pickle with cheese-covered meat slices. Chill for at least one hour, then slice rolls into wheels. The pickle will be surrounded by the cream cheese and sliced meat in bite-sized bundles.
 
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