Nutrition & Family Program Update: Robin's January/ February Update

February 18, 2009

Robin's January/ February Update

COORDINATION ---Food Safety

1) Still working to have a class on History of Food Preservation for McLean County Museum of History

2) Working with Heartland Headstart on a program a parent training on Safe Food Preparation.

Sampling of consumer questions in food safety….

1) Q: With the peanut butter recall… are peanuts safe to eat? And is my peanut butter safe as well? A: our web site had the latest findings.

2) Q: I'm having problems with cooking oils having a rubbery residue on my skillet after I cooked a soybean hamburger. I used a spray on oil. Should I use maybe olive oil? A: The rubbery residue is from the spray on cooking oil. It doesn't work on some utensils… aluminum is one. Try a good oil such as corn oil or canola oil. You also need to properly season your cast iron skillet.

3) Q: Young woman with new weighted gauge canner processed the water out of the canner and has a few questions. How did this happen? A: 1) Heat too high and too much steam escaped? 2) didn't put enough water in canner to begin with?

4) Q: I have 2 cans of sardines and there is no expiration date on them. I need to know if they are good or bad.

5) Q: I have little bugs in my oats. How do I get rid of them?

6) Q: What are the most recent updates in canning? A: in 1989 they established recommendations for acidifying all tomatoes with either vinegar, lemon juice or citric acid.

7) Q: My daughter in-law is thinking of starting to preserve by canning. I just wanted to know if there have been any changes lately in the guidelines. A: We talked awhile… I sold her the canning book we carry, So Easy to Preserve.

COORDINATION---General Nutrition

1) 01.16.09…Judy from Headstart called for a Feb 24 program on Nutrition for the parent & child connection meeting… We will supply a variety of menus for a week… balanced and cheap!

2) 01.15.09… Julie Short called from Western Avenue Seniors wanting to put us on schedule for 1x / month for programming.

3) 01.15.09… Children's Discovery Museum wants programming during March, Nat. Nut. Month. Pat Backsmeier will be doing that. CDM celebrates the Year of Science this year. Nutrition month in March will be part Ag Week activities or on a separate day devoted just to nutrition. CDM has a fabulous new exhibit, Healthy Kids, Healthy Future on the first floor and would love to have some hands-on activities for that area. Ag Week is 3/17-3/21 and NanoDays from 3/28-April 5. They also have some fieldtrips on Fridays as well as it being spring break 3/23-3/27…very busy time and people always like free activities. They ask us to keep them in mind for any future collaborations we can work on to promote Health and Nutrition in our community.

4) A student, Danny Burke, from IWU called to talk about the Food Stamp Program (SNAP) being introduced in Bloomington Farmer's Market using the Link card. Iowa has 103 Food Stamp Farmers Markets and Illinois only has 1 and that is in Logan Square in Chicago.

5) 02.03.09…Nikki Wynn from Heartland Community College, Faye Freeman-Smith's coordinator needs a Living a Healthy Lifestyle program on April 8. Thought I would do U of I program… Food & Fitness.

Sampling of consumer questions….

1) Q: Some fresh eggs from the store got hidden in my car and have been in there a week. Will they be ok? A: with the varying temperatures, dipping close to 0 every night, sunshine in the days, and the fact that the shells are cracked not a good idea to use them for anything.

2) Q: Should there be a concern about high fructose corn syrup? A: It is a less expensive sweetener found in soda pop and processed foods.

3) Q: My friend makes banana bread from over-ripe bananas that are so ripe they are leaking. She said that's the recipe she has always worked from. Have you ever heard of this and is this necessary?

COORDINATION--- Healthy Family Relationships

1) Gridley Public Library will host a program given by Cammy Seguin on Building a Better Memory.

2) They also are looking for a knitting teacher for an evening children's program. I think I found 3 teachers!

3) Heartland Community College's Kym Ammons-Scott has requested a COLORS Personality Program teacher. I sent a notice out to Patti Faughn and Cammy Seguin.

News Releases (nutrition & food safety)

…Baking…. Chocolate Valentines Day and Baker's Chocolate

... Freezing Foods that Don't Freeze Well

…Cholesterol Numbers

… Honey Adds Health Benefits… U of I study

… All About Eggs (for Easter)

… Peanut Butter recall

… Professional Inservices

… Wellness article

… Diabetes article

…Is Cooking from Scratch Really Less Expensive?

… Peanut Butter updates each day.