Submitted by Kathy S. McEwan, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent, Foods & Nutrition, SNAP-Ed Coordinator, Southwind Extension District

 

 

To celebrate National Nutrition Month in March, the National Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is promoting the theme, ‘Go Further with Food.’

In today’s world, it’s a worthwhile call to action, says Kansas State University nutrition specialist Sandy Procter.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports that one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally, which is about 1.3 billion tons of food – and just under $1 trillion in equivalent U.S. dollars – each year.

Not all of that is food lost in the home, but Procter said that’s a good place to start.

“It’s not just the people with higher incomes who waste food,” said Procter, who is with K-State Research and Extension. “Folks that are trying really hard to save money and do all of their grocery shopping just once a month are likely to have more food waste than if they were able to get to a store on a regular basis.”

To maintain good nutrition and reduce the amount of food wasted, Procter shared these ideas for helping to make food go further:

Fruits and vegetables. “The way you store fruits and vegetables is part of the art of reducing waste,” Procter said. Extension educators often conduct tours with shoppers to help them identify good quality fruit and vegetables, and then how those will be stored. For example, tomatoes don’t need to be refrigerated, but strawberries certainly do.

Selecting quality produce and storing them correctly “work together to keep food at its best as long as possible,” Procter said.

Meats. Buying in bulk may help you save money at the store, but “it takes a little bit of discipline,” Procter said. A five-pound package of chicken thighs may be on sale, but “unless you’re doing a banquet, you’re probably going to want to re-package for freezing and have those ready in a size that you can thaw out for a meal’s worth.”

Make a plan for cooking meals. It takes some planning, but if you can take time on the weekend to cook and then freeze individual meals, it saves time and helps to use up available groceries.

Others may choose to shop for ingredients as they’re needed, though Procter says “that can create a problem with access to the right ingredients, in addition to more time spent shopping.”

Use the foods you have. Everyone tends to build up extra cans of food or other items that were originally intended for another purpose. As those build up, think of how you can pair foods to make another meal.

“Maybe you have a protein, and maybe you have a vegetable and sometimes it can be incorporated into a one-pot meal,” Procter said. “Or, maybe you have a can of tuna and corn, and you can do a similar type meal with ingredients that you wouldn’t normally choose but would fill all of the components of a healthful meal.”

There are many other ways that consumers can contribute to making food go further, she said, including trying a variety of foods, purchasing at local farmer’s markets, and supporting the local food pantry.

“Eating a variety of foods is a way to ‘go further’ in a healthy lifestyle,” she said. “The body does amazing things; if we make choices from a variety of colors and variety of foods, our body is going to get most of the nutrients that it needs just from the variety that we choose.”

Procter noted that farmer’s markets give consumers a chance to talk directly with the person who has grown a certain food. “And the foods are going to be at their prime, and we’re probably not going to be able to experience them at a more tasty level than what we might find at the farmers market,” she said.

For more information on health and nutrition, contact Kathy at [email protected] or by phone at 620-365-2242.  Information about National Nutrition Month is available at https://www.eatright.org/food/resources/national-nutrition-month.

Submitted by: Carla Nemecek, Southwind Extension District, Director & Agent

While most kids are relaxing and enjoying Spring Break this week, 4-H livestock project members in the Southwind District will be learning more about their livestock projects through a new national program aimed at teaching youth that part of the learning process in raising livestock also involves understanding that our animals will eventually reach the food supply.

Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA) is a national multi-species quality assurance program for youth ages 8 to 21. The program is designed to provide an estimated 60 minutes of education each year. The online program requires the passing of a series of three quizzes to earn certification. An in-person YQCA workshop requires complete attendance.

YQCA is the result of a collaborative effort between states that have previously offered multi-species youth livestock quality assurance programs, the National Pork Board’s Youth PQA Plus program and representatives from other national livestock groups.

YQCA is designed as an annual education and certification program focused on food safety, animal well-being and character awareness for youth ages 8 to 21 producing and/or showing pigs, beef cattle, dairy cattle, sheep, goats, market rabbits, and poultry. The program has been designed by extension specialists and national livestock program managers to ensure it is accurate, current and relevant to the needs of the animal industry and shows and is appropriate for youth.

The primary goals of the program include:

• Ensure safety and well-being of animals produced by youth for showing and for 4-H and FFA projects
• Ensure a safe food supply to consumers
• Enhance the future of livestock industry by educating youth on these very important issues so they can become more informed producers, consumers and/or employees in the agriculture and food industry
• Maximize the limited development time and budgets of state and national youth program leaders to provide an effective quality assurance program
• Offer livestock shows a valid, national quality assurance certification for youth livestock exhibitors

  While the training is not required for youth to exhibit at our local county fairs, it is required for some species at the Kansas State Fair and Kansas Junior Livestock Show. The in-person training will be offered at the Moran Senior Center on Tuesday, March 20 at 10:00 am. Further details can be found on Facebook at ‘Southwind Extension District’, or by calling the Iola Office at 620-365-2242.