Using Creativity To Promote National Nutrition Month

It was “Divine Divas” versus “Extraordinary Gentlemen” in the big Feud; both the winners and the losers received some healthy fruits and veggies; and they all--presumably--are living happily ever after.

But of course we’re talking about the results of the “Nutrition Feud Game Show.” That was one of the more creative activities which USDA employees participated in, as they commemorated National Nutrition Month across the country in March.

According to Roberto Salazar, administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service, National Nutrition Month was a good time to spotlight the new employee wellness initiative which the Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services mission area launched one month earlier in February. It’s called “FNCS Employees Eat Smart. Play Hard,” and it’s an effort to promote healthy eating and active lifestyles consistent with the President’s “HealthierUS Initiative.” The June 2002 issue of the USDA News carried a story about “HealthierUS” at the Department.

“The theme for National Nutrition Month--‘Eat Smart. Stay Healthy’--was similar to our mission area’s theme,” said Alberta Frost, director of FNS’s Office of Analysis, Nutrition, and Evaluation. “It helped us to be creative as we provided support, information, and encouragement to motivate our employees to engage in healthy behaviors.”

For instance, at FNCS’s headquarters office in Alexandria, Va., employees participated in a “Nutrition Expo” to commemorate the month. Ebony Horry, an FNS staff nutritionist, was the coordinator for the Nutrition Expo. She said that one of the more popular events was the “Nutrition Feud Game Show.”

“We patterned it after the ‘Family Feud’ TV show,” explained Judy Wilson, director of FNS’s Nutrition Services Staff. “We had two teams of three persons each, which battled it out as they tried to guess the most popular answers to a series of questions about nutrition and physical activity.” Those teams consisted of three female managers--dubbed the “Divine Divas”--pitted against three male managers--dubbed the “Extraordinary Gentlemen.”

As a sample question, the teams coped with “If you were on a diet, what dessert would you order when eating out?” The “Gentlemen” team was the first to reach 300 points, and won a basket of fruits and vegetables. The prize for the “Divas” team was a small bag of fruits and vegetables plus a small salad.

As the sign above indicates, these are the “Divine Divas”--FNS Contract Management Branch Chief Patsy Palmer, FNS WIC Program Director Pat Daniels, and FNS Nutrition Services Staff Director Judy Wilson (L to R)--who are smiling graciously in defeat at the hands of the “Extraordinary Gentlemen” at the “Nutrition Feud Game Show.” --Photo by Jean Altman

Wilson also pointed out that a “Milk Taste Challenge” was included among the various other Nutrition Expo events which focused on food tasting, physical activity demonstrations, and nutrition exhibits. “Employees were encouraged to see if they could tell the difference between two-percent, one-percent, and fat-free milk,” she explained. “We found that most employees who normally drink higher-fat milk couldn’t ‘taste’ the difference between the three choices. By contrast, those employees who normally drink fat-free milk were more likely to ‘taste’ the difference.”

FNCS invited the Agricultural Marketing Service to host a number of exhibits at the Expo. AMS home economist Betsy Crosby said that AMS’s exhibits included several open packages of “Meals Ready to Eat”--the same as those currently used by U.S. military personnel stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan--plus an “egg candling” demonstration.

“We showed how our AMS egg graders look through egg shells without breaking them, as they try to find blood spots, cracks in shells, and other defects,” she explained. “Our graders then make sure those eggs are pulled from the packaging line in the egg processing plant.”

Employees in FNS’s Southwest Region, headquartered in Dallas, used March to kick off its partnership with the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association in Nacogdoches, Texas to promote good nutrition and an active lifestyle for children. Rebecca Lucero, an executive assistant in that regional office, said nearly 1,000 elementary school students from throughout Nacogdoches County came to Kids’ Day at the Rodeo on March 25.

“They saw cowboy demonstrations and received lessons on nutrition--as they learned about the importance of healthy eating and active living,” she said.

Employees in FNS’s Mountain Plains Region, headquartered in Denver, used National Nutrition Month to talk about good nutrition to audiences at a senior citizens center and a preschool. Regional Nutrition Director Stella Nash talked about “What Should I Eat to Remain Healthy?” to a seniors group in Denver. “You could see the light bulbs come on over their heads,” she recounted later, “as they grasped the idea of ‘serving sizes’ versus ‘portion sizes’.”

Gina O’Brian, a Special Nutrition Programs nutritionist at the Regional Office, taught two Greeley, Colo., preschool classes about nutrition. In her lesson, children were given a Food Guide Pyramid placemat and various food items in order to show how those foods fit in the Pyramid to make a balanced diet.

“For the top of the Pyramid, the children were each given a chocolate kiss, and the lesson was on ‘moderation’,” O’Brian said. But one young boy handed back his chocolate. “I’ve already had some chocolate today,” he told her. “So you can have mine.”

Lesson learned! •

We’re Helping A Unique Fish And Aquaculture Center—At A High School

“We just planted the seed and got the ball rolling,” explained Lewis Kearney, the Forest Service’s Rural Community Assistance Program coordinator for the Cherokee National Forest in northeastern Tennessee. He was referring to a state-of-the-art fish and aquaculture enterprise run by students at a vocational high school in Johnson County, Tenn.

Kearney had earlier collaborated with Roy Settle, coordinator of USDA’s Appalachian Resource Conservation and Development Council based in Johnson City, Tenn., to use a $7,000 Forest Service Economic Recovery grant to study the feasibility of building a fish-raising facility--as an expansion of a small hydroponics greenhouse begun at the high school in the 1980s.

“Then it took on a life of its own,” Kearney observed. “It has since bloomed into a million-dollar, high-tech, energy-efficient aquaculture business.”

“This definitely looks state-of-the-art, and we’ve been happy to help jump-start it, Harvey,” affirms USDA’s Appalachian Resource Conservation and Development Council coordinator Roy Settle (left)--as teacher Harvey Burniston (right) agrees. Settle is referring to their present location, a fish and aquaculture center run by students--such as Mark Holland (2nd from left)--at a vocational high school in Johnson City, Tenn. Lewis Kearney (2nd from right), FS Rural Community Assistance Program coordinator for the Cherokee National Forest, collaborated with Settle to provide seed money from USDA for the unique undertaking. --Photo by Jeanne Eastham

“This is one of a kind in the country,” he then emphasized. “We see it as a model of sustainable energy and educational opportunity.”

Kearney noted that the enterprise--jump-started by Forest Service seed money--today consists of four greenhouses, including a geothermally heated and cooled aquacenter. “Here, fish and plants literally feed each other, while students are learning about aquaculture and how to run a farming business,” he advised.

He described the facility as a 9,000-square-foot multi-crop center--where the students are raising up to 200,000 fish in raceways that have water garden plants floating on the water, and hydroponic tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers growing alongside.

“Seedlings grow in racks on rolling tables over the fish tanks, while hanging baskets of ferns overhead are fed by fishwater,” he recounted. “Hydroponic lettuce grows directly over the fish. The lettuce takes up fertilizer from the fishwater, and the fish benefit from oxygen that the plants release back into the water.”

Kearney added that the geothermal heating and cooling system--donated by the Tennessee Valley Authority--keeps things humming, while saving energy and dollars.

Settle explained that some 200 pounds of vegetables grown in the center--each week--supply local schools and restaurants. Sales of fish and plants provide dependable income to support the program itself and its teaching assistants.

“USDA is right there at the table, too,” he emphasized. “When we cater annual meetings and other events in the area, we work with the school to purchase its produce. That makes good sense--and it supports the program.”

Settle noted that the hands-on workers behind this enterprise are the students of FFA--formerly called the Future Farmers of America--at the high school. “They’re the ones,” he said, “who raise the fish, clean the tanks, help operate the business, provide tours to visitors, and learn about alternative agriculture, energy efficiency, business operations, public relations, and options for a brighter future.”

“In the meantime, USDA’s Appalachian Resource Conservation and Development Council provides supplies, training, and workshops.”

Settle added the project has helped students gain self-esteem and confidence. “Plus, before,” he said, “barely 60 students took ag classes--and now half the school is enrolled, including an equal number of males and females.”

“This is a community that was once dependent on Forest Service forest products for income,” Kearney observed. “Now it has a more diversified palette of economic options for its youth--and USDA helped to make that a reality.”