KING COUNTY, WA - "Healthy meals are easy to make and taste great!" That's one of the important messages being promoted by the Seattle Nutrition Action Consortium (S.N.A.C.). In fact, S.N.A.C. has been providing a whole lot of nutrition education to low income families in our area since 1994, and it's been dished up with a heaping helping of fun.
Last year, S.N.A.C. -- a collaborative effort involving over ten organizations and businesses including Public Health - Seattle & King County -- enthusiastically delivered nutrition messages to more than 15,000 adults and children!
Making nutrition education and cooking fun and interactive is a hallmark of this dynamic organization.
Four nutrition outreach assistants present lively and interactive cooking demonstrations, stressing healthy and inexpensive meal choices. Participants learn healthy cooking techniques and taste freshly prepared food. Consistent messages such as "5 A Day for Better Health" (a program to increase fruit and vegetable consumption to at least five serving per day) are delivered throughout S.N.A.C.'s programs.
Over forty demonstrations and classes are held each month in a variety of community sites targeting families with children who are eligible for food stamps. Parents and their children may watch or even participate in cooking events at food stamp offices, shelters, parent groups, food banks and/or WIC (Women, Infant and Children) clinics. Children and young adults can learn about healthy cooking and help prepare recipes in health classes, health clinics, and classrooms in area elementary, middle and high schools and alternative programs.
"The S.N.A.C. program has been effective because we often see family members more than once and in a variety of settings," explained Martha Hykel, a S.N.A.C. demonstrator who has been with the program since 1995. "I may have a second-grader in a Mission:Delicious class in the morning and his mother at a demonstration in a WIC clinic later in the day. We strive -- through repetition and by adding a little fun -- to encourage better eating habits in the families we serve."
This year, S.N.A.C. is celebrating its five-year anniversary of providing nutrition education to low income families in the greater Seattle area. The goal of S.N.A.C. is to improve the health and nutritional well being of local, low-income families. The program promotes the good taste of healthy food and encourages families to eat meals together. The S.N.A.C. program is partially funded by the U.S.D.A. Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program.
Healthy Eating for Lifetime