Healthy Cuisine

Spring 2022

Letter From the Editors Dear readers, The original idea for our Ezine was to make it about healthy eating throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. But as our feature story and infographic ideas became more clear, we realized that we had to change it to being centralized around healthy food to fit with our diversity of interests. Creating this Ezine was a long process which involved conducting many interviews, hours of research, and a lot of learning to create and change images. It took a long time and several changes in our original plans but in the end we put it all together to create Healthy Cuisine. Though the team behind Healthy Cuisine spent countless hours of work working on the ezine, it would not have been possible without our interviewees who were willing to take time out of their day to help us put their expertise and experience with healthy food onto the pages of our Ezine. Because of this, we would like to thank all of our interviewees for the time they spent for our Ezine. Without them, we would have been unable to gather information to create our feature stories.

Our Ezine will cover many topics on food including some of how food has been impacted by Covid-19’s which has affected many things from food insecurities in the United States to local Austin restaurants. In addition, we will explore how community gardens are made and run, a local Austin restaurant, hospital dietitians, eating locally and how healthy food gets from farms to your plate. Lastly, our Ezine will include healthy recipes for you to try.

We are proud of the work we put into our feature stories which involved many steps and months of work on their own. To create the feature stories, we had to contact several possible interviewees to get even one response which made it take a long time. The difficulty of finding interviewees was followed by directly transcribing the interviews and then choosing the quotes that worked best for the topic of the feature story. Even though we are proud of our feature stories, they were not the only thing that took a lot of work. Making the infographics was also difficult. They took a lot of work since we had to learn how to use several different types of editing programs as well as the work it took to brainstorm the ideas for our infographics. After all of that, we still had to create them and think of titles.

Thank you for choosing to read Healthy Cuisine and we hope you enjoy it.

Sincerely, Anya Van Eenoo, Rakesh Ravi, Ben Gaskins, Elinor Ryan

Thank You!

Table of Contents 6

Meet The Team Designed by Anya Van Eenoo

8 14

Community Gardens

By Anya Van Eenoo

Nutrition Addition

16

By Anya Van Eenoo

The Best Asia Smokehouse on South Lmar

By Elinor Ryan

Covers by Ben Gaskins and Anya Van Eenoo Inside covers by Anya Van Eenoo Letter from the editors designed by Elinor Ryan Table of Contents designed by Anya Van Eenoo Credits desined by Anya Van Eenoo Pictures pages 16 - 18 by Elinor Ryan

20

Austin Cusine Favorites

By Elinor Ryan

22 26

By Ben Gaskins

From Farm to Fork

By Ben Gaskins

29 28

Healthy Appetite

Healthy at Home

By Rakesh Ravi

The Covid Vaccine

By Rakesh Ravi

Meet The Team Ben Gaskins is a very competitive person and because of this he likes to play sports and video games.

He is a freshman high school student at LASA high school and one of the writers and editors of Healthy Cuisine. He wrote the feature story about eating locally and he made the infographic that is called Farm to Plate. In the future he sees himself starting a family.

Rakesh Ravi is an editor and writer of Healthy Cuisine. He wrote about staying healthy at home and the Covid-19 vaccine. His hobbies include video games and chess because he is a very competitive person, as he describes himself. He is a freshman at The Liberal Arts and Science Academy high school in Austin, Texas. In the future, Rakesh is interested in going into med school.

6 Healthy Cusine Spring 2022

Elinor Ryan is an avid dancer on the Velocity Dance Team and freshman student at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy high school. She is a writer and editor of Healthy Cuisine and she is writing about a local Austin restaurant which is called Loro as well as healthy recipes. Along with dancing, she enjoys roller skating which she spends a lot of time doing.

Anya Van Eenoo is a freshman at LASA high school. She loves dogs and rides horses in her free time, she also enjoys gardening.

Anya is an editor and writer of Healthy Cuisine and she wrote about community gardens because she is interested in gardens and thinks they are important for the community.

She also wrote about food insecurity in the United States during Covid-19.

Healthy Cusine Spring 2022 7

8 Healthy Cusine Spring 2022

a Pl

ty Garden. Photo by An ine Communi ya Va Sunsh n Ee t a n nt

oo

Community Gardens

Growing and Giving healthy food to everyone

By Anya Van Eenoo

O

ver twenty community gardens have sprouted in Austin since 2004 as Austinites grow interested in raising vegetables and neighborhood community garden plots fill up.

Community gardens are ecological green spaces where neighborhoods can come together, promote educational programs on gardening and sustainability for children, and share land to garden on. Not only do Austin’s gardens provide a place to socialize and grow plants, they also provide many services to the larger community. This is true for both large gardens, such as Sunshine Community Garden which hosts nearly two hundred plots on over three acres of land, and smaller gardens, like Cherry Creek Community Garden with twenty five plots on half an acre of land.

Not everyone likes Texas weather but some people appreciate it. Gardeners such as Janet Adams, a volunteer at Sunshine, use the weather to their advantage.

“In Texas you can grow in any season,” Adams said. “There are no excuses not to garden, other then it is just something you don’t do”.

Many people enjoy having fresh produce as part of their diet. This is true for Adams’

husband, Randy Thompson and Texas weather helps him with this.

“You can literally go year round in Texas and have something from your garden daily with your meals,” Thompson said.

However the constant heat in summer can cause problems for gardners.

“It’s hard to garden in the years we’ve had where there are ninety consecutive days where it’s been over a hundred degrees. It isn’t fun to be in the sun,” Thompson said.

Gardeners often struggle with the big time commitment that is needed for a successful garden.

The president of Sunshine, James Willmann said, “Given the climate here and the brief growing period we have in the spring …waiting a week sometimes makes a huge difference so you have to learn to make your schedule fit the gardening schedule.

I think that’s one of the hardest things for people to do”.

The work that is needed to have a garden is often difficult along with being time consuming.

“Sometimes I hate the garden because I have to work so hard,” Adams said.

Even though gardening can be difficult, Healthy Cusine Spring 2022 9

1 4

3

5 11

2

Key 8

Food Bank Plots Vine Vegetable Plots

6

9

7

Root Vegetable Plots

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Edible Plant Plots

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Water Feature

Bench

10

16

19 Ortimental Plant Plots

14

Trees

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Owl House

Buterfly House

Flower Garden

How David Edmerson planned to layout his garden. Graphic by Anya Van Eenoo

with such a large group of people at community gardens there is always someone who is able to help new and experienced gardeners.

Terry Southwell was the neighborhood leader in creating a small neighborhood garden, Cherry Creek, and is now the site director of the garden.

“It is called a community garden. it is as much about community as it is about gardening,” Southwell said.

“Everyone is willing to help, everyone is glad to help”.

His view on the importance of community in the gardens is shared by many other gardeners.

“Community gardens allow you to be around people who share your interest in gardening,” Willmann said.. “I have three or four really good friends who are my friends only because we garden together”.

Though it is an important aspect, community gardens 10 Healthy Cusine Spring 2022

are not all about community. “[I like] being outside and being able to grow plants,” Willmann said. “I very much like to try different varieties of tomatoes and see how they grow that sort of thing”.

As Cherry Creek proves, non gardeners can also enjoy community gardens.

“Even the people that are not gardens here in the neighborhood are very proud of this,” Southwell said. “They love it”.

A lot of work goes into creating community gardens and many attempts to form these community spaces are unsuccessful, according to David Edmerson, a resident of Austin. He tried to create a community garden in 2019 for his neighborhood but was unsuccessful due to restrictions put in by the city.

“I thought it would be neat to have a garden in our community so that people could meet up and grow vegetables…that they could consume for themselves …

share with neighbors, and also to contribute to the Austin food banks,” Edmerson said Edmerson wanted to make a community garden despite being a new gardener himself.

“I moved, and the house that I moved into had three raised garden beds in place and I wanted to take advantage of those, so I started gardening,” he said.

Edmerson lacked experience but even so, his gardens were successful, which led to his initial idea of forming a community garden.

“I was just kinda lucky my first time out,” Edmerson said. “I had a ton of vegetables so I started giving them away to my neighbors and then I thought it’d be really cool to have something closer to my neighborhood where people could go and have a community garden like they have all over other parts of the city”.

After a lot of research and visiting other gardens, Edmerson came up with a plan for his garden. It would be about half an acre, have twenty plots, which would each have a designated use.The garden would also have sustainable wildlife features such as bird houses and wildflower areas.

“Ultimately, the inspiration for the garden was really to produce consumable vegetables at a low cost, but the secondary goal was to create community space where people could meet, congregate, talk, [and] make new friends,” Edmerson said.

His plans for making a community garden are currently on hold, but he will likely continue with his plans in the future.

“I have not given up hope completely, ‘’ Edmerson said.

“I would still like to do it somewhere in the city someday”.

Despite the barriers put up by the city, Edmerson still has a plan he wants to put into action in the near future.

“I would like to put one here in Circle C if things ever change with land availability …but my thought is I will try to start a new one in a different part of the city,” Edmerson said. “I wish I was successful in getting the garden developed”.

“The difficulty of planning, organizing, and forming a community garden, along with the barriers put up by the city does not make it impossible to form a community garden.” Cherry Creek is an example of this.

“The land [that the community garden is on] is owned by the watershed protection group. At one point they met with us and told us that if we wanted

to, we could be responsible for maintaining this area, which we did,” Southwell said.

The place where the community garden is located had the houses on it torn down in 2010 because it was in a flood zone. Nearby areas that had also been torn down had turned into dumping areas over the years, and the neighborhood community was worried that it would also become a dumping ground, so several neighborhood leaders and gardeners got together and decided to make it into a community garden.

“We had meetings with the neighborhood and we got a lot of people within the neighborhood that said they wanted to be part of it,” Southwell said.

Southwell contacted the City of Austin to ask for permission to turn the area into a community garden.

“Building something in the floodplain was something that

had never been approved of by the City of Austin so we were asking for something new to happen,” Southwell said.

Initially the neighborhood’s plans were denied since it was a floodplain zone but after numerous meetings and negotiations, Southwell managed to convince the city and the floodplain manager to approve the plans. The process of signing contracts, working out a budget with the city, and building the garden took a long time but it was eventually completed.

“We started the process in 2011, and it was 2015 before we were able to open the garden,” Southwell said.

Cherry Creek Community Garden has a monthly work day, which was started at the beginning of the garden.

It was pretty trashy here, so our first outing as a neighborhood down here was picking up trash and cleaning up the area,” Southwell said.

This garden’s success is due to

Cherry Creek Community Garden was sucsessfuly rescued from becomeing a duming ground and is now a beautiful space for Healthy Cusine Spring 2022 11 neighbors to congregate. Photo by Anya Van Eenoo

Top: Sunshine has an extencive and sucsessful composting program. Left: Sunshine has a drip watering system to conserve water while keepng the plants well waterd throughout the year particulerly during summer. Bottom: Donatin to food banks is an importent part of community gardens, Sunshine has a large plot designatd for the Micha 6 food bank. Photos

by Anya Van Eenoo

12 Healthy Cusine Spring 2022

the community, which has been a big part of this garden since the start.

“It is a lot of work to get a community garden going, but everyone in the neighborhood really pitched in,” Southwell said.

Even though it took four years to accomplish, it was well worth the effort.

The community garden has become a neighborhood attraction for all of its residents.

“It has become a neighborhood recreation area where people can get into a natural environment and feel comfortable being there,” Southwell said. “We are really proud of it and we love it”.

Austin’s community gardens have evolved to include many benefits for both the gardeners and the community. One of the services that many community gardens provide is growing food for local food banks.

“We deliver food to the Micha 6 food bank once a week around this time and twice a week later in the spring and summer,” Adams said.

“Acknowledging that people make mistakes, we tell the gardeners that if they have any excess produce…we can take it to the food pantry,” Thompson added.

Neighborhood gardens, such as the garden Edmerson planned, also provide vegetables to food banks.

“Out of twenty beds, three of them would be dedicated specifically for the food banks and then from there, anyone would be able to donate,” Edmerson said Along with their food bank programs, Sunshine and Cherry Creek also have large composting programs that not only help the community get rid of their waste, but also help the gardeners have a free source of compost for their plot.

“We make a lot of compost and it is available for everyone to use,” Southwell said.

Community gardens provide many other services to the community, which vary greatly from garden to garden.

“As part of our annual plant sale we always have some plants leftover. So what we do is we let public schools come in and we donate plants to them,” Willmann said.

“Gardening is FUN, so if you want to garden and you don’t have a place to do it, LOOK for a community GARDEN.” - James Willmann, presedent of Sunshine Community Garden

Top left: Cherry Creek’s shed is three feet off the ground to allow for flood water to pass underneath it. Top middle: A location in Circle C park that Edmerson considered for his community garden. Top righ: Gardeners work in the TSBVI garden at Sunshine.

Bottom left: Entrence to the TSBVI garden. Bottom middle: At Cherry Creek clay pots called ollas are barried next to plants and filled with water, the water seeps out of the pots and into the soil, this saves them water. Bottom right: Sunshine has purple marten houses in the garden to attract birds in the spring. Photos by Anya Van Eenoo.

Common services also include providing children the opportunity to garden and learn about gardening. “[I wanted to] have educational opportunities where we could teach children about gardening, sustainable gardening practices and community outreach,” Edmerson said.

Sunshine has an ongoing plan similar to Edmersons to get children interested in gardening.

“We are going through the process of setting up a children’s garden, a special area for children where we’ll have beds, roughly two feet by two feet where they can go and garden however they

want to,” Willmann said.

Sunshine also has extensive resources for people with disabilities to allow them to garden more easily. These include raised beds for disabled people.

“They are beds that are about three feet high so they don’t have to bend over it and they can use a wheelchair if they need to,” Willmann said.

“We don’t charge for those,” he continued.

Sunshine is on a piece of land that is owned by The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impard (TSBVI).

Because of this, the volunteers at the garden do what they can to help the students at the school.

“They have a garden that’s about sixty by forty feet for their students,” Willmann said. “ We maintain the garden for them and help them with the beds”.

Anyone can enjoy community gardening whether they like the gardening or the social aspect.

“Gardening is fun,” Willmann said, “So if you want to garden and you don’t have a place to do it, look for a community garden. Try to find one and give it a try. If it ends up being something you don’t like to do, then you can try something else. Being outdoors, working in the soil, watching things grow, is a lot of fun”.

Healthy Cusine Spring 2022 13

Nutrition Adition

Graphic

Covid-19 has had sever impacts on food security in the United States. High unenploymet rates have lead to long lines at the food banks and problems with the supply chain have left store shelves empty.

s by An

ya Van

Eenoo

Covid-19 Impacts on Food Insecerites by Race

25%

White

Black

Hispanic/ Latino

Asian

Other Race

23% 20%

19%

19%

19%

17%

16%

15%

10%

10% 8%

5%

6%

6%

0%

OverallOverall 14 Healthy Cusine Spring 2022

With Children With Children

Food Insec during Cov

Bellow US Average of Food Insicurity Around US Average of Food Insicurity Above US Average of Food Insicurity

Billions of 2020 dollars

curities in the US vid-19 by state

Federal Spending on Food Assistince

140 120 100 80 60 SNAP

40

WIC Child Nutrition

20

Other

0

80

19

5

198

0

199

5

199

0

200

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200

0 2015 020 2

201

Healthy Cusine Spring 2022 15

The Best Asian Smokehouse On South Lamar

By Elinor Ryan

L

oro is operated and owned by Hai Hospitality, who also run many other restaurants in Austin, including Uchi,

Uchiko, and another restaurant in Houston, Uchiba.

The goal of Loro is to meld Texan, Southeast Asian and Japanese cuisine to create a new concept that is deliciously familiar.

“We are primarily a sushi restaurant, we have Uchi, and Uchiko, and Uchiba, and that very grand umbrella, but we realized we don’t know anything about BBQ…so we went to Aaron Franklin, and when he thought of the idea of partnering with us, it was kind of a nobrainer,” said Hai Hospitality training director Stevie Stanwyck, explaining how the idea of Loro came to be.

At Loro, the environment of the restaurant is casual and communal, and sharing is encouraged, and they believe “The best food starts with the best products,” so they only source their food from family farms who use natural protocols.

Former general manager Zach Knight said his favorite part of his job is “Interacting with people, providing hospitality, providing a unique experience, and getting to talk with different people every day”.

Stanwyck agreed and said, “I get to work with and interact with really great people every day,” Stanwyck said, “Our food is awesome and incredible, our drinks are amazing and delicious, but the people are what makes it all special and worthwhile.”

The staff and customers are both very important to the dynamic of the restaurant.

Loro has lots and lots of amazing recipes, but the wonton chips and dip stand out to Zach Knight. He said it is his favorite because it is unique and delicious.

16 Healthy Cusine Spring 2022

He described it as “[The appetizer is] a play on chips and salsa but it’s in the southeast Asian style; chips and green chili green pepper salsa,” Knight explained. “…Then there is a peanut sauce that is a little more rich and deep in flavor…and the chips are fried wonton paper,” A recipe that is special to Stanwyck is “A dish called chicken karaage. It’s fried chicken and it comes with a thai chili gastrique and there is szechuan salt and szechuan peppercorn to give you this numbing kind of spice.

“We actually have our chicken karaage at each of our restaurants as well,” Stanwyck said. “But Loro is by far the best one out of all the restaurants. Really comforting,” he added.

Covid-19 had a large impact on the restaurant industry,

Wonton Chips an

Facts and Ingred

The Wonton Chips and Dip is that includes fried wonto pepper salsa, and a deep pe dish is an interesting pla chips and salsa, while als some asian influence int

“Breaking bread is such a good opportunity for us to create a sense of community, and I really thrive on that.”

-Training Coordinator, Stevie Stanwyck

nd Dip

dients

a recipe at Loro on chips, green eanut sauce. The ay on a classic so incorperating to the dish.

Healthy Cusine Spring 2022 17

and Loro in particular, according to Stanwyck.

When asked about if the entire restaurant industry was affected by the pandemic, Stanwyck said, “There’s two big things that have affected it the most,” Stanwyck said.

“The first has just been staffing… and the second restaurants, but it’s a global thing.”

When asked if and how the Covid-19 pandemic affected Loro, Knight said “Yes, many restaurants have had to close their doors because of the pandemic, but some, like Loro, have thrived.

“Loro was ready for the adjusted challenges that we had to face as a result,” Knight said. “Loro is built for people to eat outside. Loro is built to be a quick ordering experience, not a long, drawn-out experience, and Loro has the capacity to do a ton of take-out, so Loro is one of those an example of a restaurant that is thriving as a result of the pandemic.”

Many other restaurants were affected by the pandemic, positively and negatively, but it wasn’t catastrophic for Loro. When the shutdown happened, and takeout was a must-have for a lot of restaurants, Loro was already equipped with the necessary precautions to function well using only the takeout services.

18 Healthy Cusine Spring 2022

Currently, there is only one location of Loro in each of Austin, Dallas, and Houston, but when asked about any upcoming plans, both Stanwyck and Knight agreed that there will be a couple new ones all over Texas. Knight said, “They’ve opened a Loro in Dallas and there’s a Loro now open in Houston, and I think there might even be a second Loro coming to Austin.”

Stanwyck said, “There will be one. It will probably be in Cedar Park.”

“Some Restaurants have failed as a result (of the Covid-19 pandemic), and some have increased their bottom line. Some made it, some didn’t, but it absolutely has affected them.”

-Former Loro GM, Zach Knight

CHicken Karaage Facts and Ingredients Chicken Karaage is made with boneless chicken thighs, which are then fried. At Loro, the chicken comes with thai chili gastrique, szechuan salt, and szechuan peppercorn. The combination of those three ingredients introduces an almost numbing spice.

Healthy Cusine Spring 2022 19

AUSTIN Graphic By Elinor Ryan

Cuisine Favorites

38%

6%

Easy Tiger Bakery

Other Local Restaurant

15%

Home Slice Pizza

22% 17%

Torchy’s Tacos

Chuy’s Tex-Mex

2%

20 Healthy Cusine Spring 2022

Franklin BBQ

Local Students Review Local Restaurants Torchy’s is the only taco Students from Austin were place I ever go to! The food surveyed about their favorite has a good traditional, local restaurants. home-style, authenticity, while still being affordable.

-Ailia Zhao

I like Franklin BBQ because it has an authentic Austin feel. I can tell that not only tourists love this restaurant, but locals as well.

-Finn Ryan

Healthy Cusine Spring 2022 21

Healthy Appetite THE BENEFITS OF EATING A LOCALLY SOURCED DIET

By Ben Gaskins

Some delicious TacoDeli tacos. Photo by Robert Espinosa

22 Healthy Cusine Spring 2022

n ever-increasing number of community residents are seeking out locally produced food for their tables. Many Austin locals suggest that the benefits of consuming locally sourced food are important and considerable: local food often tastes better, creates local economic opportunities, provides added health benefits, and helps reduce environmental damage.

Local food is a broad term that can include all food types as long as it is grown, harvested, raised, and processed within the area; many locals use a 100-mile rule. It can be found at farmers markets, roadside stands, grocery stores, food co-ops, communitysupported agriculture programs (CSAs), restaurants, and home gardens. Sometimes it’s packaged in jars and cans, like nut butter or applesauce, but more often it’s left unpackaged—frequently free of preservatives and hormones, with availability often seasonally determined.

Local food looks and tastes

Robert Espinosa. Photo by TacoDeli.

“Eating clean can transform every piece of your life.”

-Naomi Seifter, PicNik CEO

Outside view of PicNik. Photo by Naomi Seifter

better. Locally grown crops are typically picked at their peak and brought directly to market. Local farmstead products are handcrafted for best flavor. Local livestock products are processed close-at-hand and typically in small facilities rather than large industrial plants or factories.

Eating locally sourced foods can lead to happier, healthier bodies. The shorter the time from farm to table means fewer food nutrients get lost in transit.

According to PicNik CEO Naomi Seifter, food from long distances often goes bad in trucks, planes, trains, and warehouses well before it gets to your kitchen.

“Eating clean can transform every piece of your life,” Seifter said. “Eating clean helps your mood, your demeanor, your willpower, your attitude, your physique, your skin, your hair, your nails, your energy, your outlook on life, your motivation and your consciousness.”

Choosing to eat locally Healthy Cusine Spring 2022 23

A busy TacoDeli afternoon. Photo by TacoDeli.

produced foods offers a satisfying range of advantages that extend from food freshness and quality to community economics and cultural enrichments.

It is a blessing that local food stocks are available year-round in the Austin community.

Local foods can be tough to afford sometimes, but certain restaurant owners, like Seifter, will go the extra mile to help the Austin community, according to Robert Espinosa, co-founder of Austin restaurant Tacodeli.

“I remember early on when the farmers’ markets started 24 Healthy Cusine Spring 2022

[in Austin], we would start to try to source eggs—that was back in the early 2000s.”

Espinosa said. “Prices were so high that it was really hard to justify going in that direction. But we kept trying.”

Because local foods can be so hard to access at times, sticking with the program and not going away from locally sourced foods has been tough.

“That’s why we make everything in house from scratch,” Espinosa said. “Nothing has crazy ingredients in it. We know what’s in it, so that’s always been kind of part of our

mentality.“ Having started using local ingredients, Espinosa and Seifter will not stop.

Seifter loves that she has created a restaurant that is so good for the community and also tastes amazing.

“I think it is only a matter of time before the majority of people in this country recognize that food is the biggest saving grace in our journey towards health,” Seifter said. “It’s absolutely magical what can happen when you improve your diet.”

Seifter had a lot of stomach troubles so she

started a paleo diet, which PicNik.” is food like meat, nuts, and Even when it has been fruit. After starting a paleo hard, Espinosa knows that diet, she felt so sticking to locally much better. sourced food can “Once I help everyone discovered the in the Austin Paleo diet, it community. helped me so “The better the much, bringing ingredients and the my energy better the quality levels up and of the proteins or fixing all of my the vegetables, the dietary issues,” less you really need Seifter said.

-Naomi Seifter, PicNik to do to the food.”

“I wanted to Espinosa said. “We CEO help all around don’t add a bunch me” with those of crazy ingredients same issues and that’s when to a subpar piece of meat to I really got serious about make it palatable. So I think

“We are so proud of this great company, and we just can’t wait to share the future with you.”

there’s elegance and simplicity, and there’s the flavor and just how you feel after eating.“ “There is so much happening!!” Seifter said, “We are launching our first three products into grocery stores and truthfully, we are all just really loving life. We are so proud of this great company, and we just can’t wait to share the future with you.”

Indoor view of PicNik. Photo by Naomi Seifter.

Healthy Cusine Spring 2022 25

FROM TO

FARM FORK

By Ben Gaskins

SUPERMARKET

26 Healthy Cusine Spring 2022

The first step of the farm to table process is for farmers to grow the produce and raise the livestock. During this stage, food is vulnerable to contamination. In fact, 20 billion pounds of produce is wasted on farms each year. Food can be thrown away if exposed to pests, disease, or harsh weather.

FO

Once the food is processed, it’s taken to a distribution center, which could be quite far from its source of origin. Most farmers don’t directly take the produce to stores or restaurants. During the transportation process, food is susceptible to spoilage.

Improper refrigeration of items can increase this risk.

OOD PROCESSING

During this stage of the farm to table process, the harvested crops are turned into consumable products. This may consist of washing and sorting fruits or turning milk into cheese. However, if not appropriately washed, food can become contaminated — then, if not properly stored, pathogens can grow.

The Final step is you bringing the food home to the table. After the food has gone on this long path it finaly settles in your home ready to be cooked up and eaten for a healthy breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Healthy Cusine Spring 2022 27

Healthy

at

Home

By Rakesh Ravi

D

ue to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us are remaining at home and engaging in fewer social interactions and physical activities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, eating a nutritious diet is critical. Our body’s ability to prevent, fight, and recover from infections is influenced by what we eat and drink.

Gary Tanner a registered clinical dietician at Ascension Health Care talks about strengthing your immune system via a healthy diet. He said, “People who consume a healthy, wellbalanced diet have stronger immune systems and are less likely to contract chronic illnesses and infectious diseases”.

A lot of food concerns are connected to COVID-19, there can be many things done to prevent the spread regarding food safety. Gary said, “While basic personal hygiene and home food safety are always necessary, handwashing is especially vital in preventing the transmission of COVID-19 and should be done frequently. It’s critical to wash your hands with clean water and soap for at least 20 seconds before preparing or eating meals”.

“While basic personal hygiene and home food safety are always necessary, handwashing is especially vital in preventing the transmission of COVID-19 and should be done frequently,” Tanner 28 Healthy Spring 2022 your hands with said.

“It’sCusine critical to wash

A healthy breakfast porridge sits in two bowls, layered with fresh cut fruits. Photo courtesy of Brooke Lark on Unsplash.

Healthy Cusine Spring 2022 29

clean water and soap for at least 20 seconds before preparing or eating meals.”

According to Gary you can’t just consume anything to stay healthy, you need to nourish your body with fresh and unprocessed foods. Gary said, “To acquire the vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, protein, and antioxidants your body needs, you should consume a variety of fresh and unprocessed foods every day”.

Lena Demoss, a Senior Pediatric Clinical Dietitian at Texas Children’s Hospital the Woodlands, said she typically does with a new patient during a nutrition coaching session. She hopes to establish what they want to accomplish and what issues

they are having.

“We talk about what issues they are having,” Demoss said, “and I will often have them give me a detailed breakdown of what they are eating and drinking through the day, and any symptoms that show up during the day,” According to Demoss understanding your diet will further help you acquire what you want.

“Begin with the fundamentals, focus on what you’re putting in versus what you’re taking out after you’ve gotten your water, meal time, and sleep in order,” Demoss said.

Dietitians emphasize the importance of thinking about your diet and taking

a break. Many do things for themselves to ensure a healthy mind and body as well as recommend things for their patients to do.

Sarah Williams a clinical dietitian from Round Rock Cancer Center specifically Radiation Oncology said she does many things to ensure her healthy body and mind.

“Whether it is baking something new and interesting, going plant shopping, or taking a quick walk with my dog I try to do something that fills my soul regularly,” Williams said.

Demoss agreed, adding that personal care includes limiting time with technology.

“Separate yourself from your computer, phone, and television when eating and

A very protien filled bowl. Photo by Sarah Williams.

“The ultimate goal is to modify your perspective and consider your diet as a long-term lifestyle adjustment that will improve your overall health” -Gary Tanner, clinical dietcian 30 Healthy Cusine Spring 2022

A variety of cut falling fruits. Photo courtesy of Unsplash.

take a proper lunch break, even if you’re at work,” Demoss said. “Just ten minutes of mindfulness can help you figure out when you’re full”.

Williams said the accuracy and trustworthiness of social media and using social media to stay in touch with nutrition trends should be questioned.

“I also like social media to a certain extent, so I can stay on top of any emerging nutrition trends in pop culture, because I will inevitably be asked about it,” Williams said. “But beware of nutrition

advice from social media, it’s often not accurate.”

Tanner said there is more to changing your health for the better than just changing your diet. He said your mentality is also a critical aspect.

“The ultimate goal is to modify your perspective and consider your diet as a long-term lifestyle adjustment that will improve your overall health,” Tanner said.

Demoss agrees, adding that your plan for change should fit around your

lifestyle and not the other way around. Changing your health for the better isn’t as simple as slightly changing your diet.

According to Demoss, shaping your life around those adjustments is what makes a difference.

“We constantly stress that our nutrition plan must fit your lifestyle because we know you won’t modify your life to fit a diet plus it won’t stick,” Demoss said.

Healthy Cusine Spring 2022 31

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Healthy Cusine Spring 2022 33

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