Participants walking into a nutrition education class at Vecino’s Denver Harbor Family Clinic receive a warm welcome: an inviting display of fruits, vegetables and pantry staples lines a table at the front of the room, ready for use in hands-on learning activities. Colorful posters illustrate healthy eating and the five food groups.

But most importantly, participants are met each week by instructor Ana Hernandez, who spends time before each class catching up with families, swapping favorite recipe tips, and cheering on even the smallest successes.

Tight budgets and limited time make healthy eating a challenge

For a busy family on a tight budget, relying on prepackaged meals and fast food often seems like the only reasonable option. After all, food dollars stretch just so far, and working parents have very little time to shop and cook. Hernandez aims to change this misconception.

As a Nutrition Education Associate with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, she shares her passion for eating with working families throughout Harris County, spreading the message that cooking meals from home is not only easy, but healthier and far less expensive than prepackaged options.

Making healthy eating fun, affordable and achievable

Through a partnership with Vecino Health Centers, Texas A&M Agrilife Extension brings the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program to the Denver Harbor community twice each year. For seven weeks in the spring and fall, Hernandez makes the prospect of healthy eating and basic exercise fun, affordable and achievable for participants.

The popular course, currently offered to Spanish-speaking patients and community members at Vecino’s Denver Harbor Family Clinic, gives participants the knowledge to understand balanced nutrition, read labels, and cook healthy meals with everyday ingredients. The program is also available in English.

“A lot of people in our community don’t know anything about how to cook for our families and how to have a healthy life,” says Hernandez. “We work with families to show them it’s not expensive to eat healthy and make better choices.”

A powerful impact on the health of a community

When it comes to the health of the community, courses like the one Hernandez’ teaches have a staggering impact. Studies show that every dollar spent on the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program reduces healthcare costs by ten dollars. For all of Harris County, where the program runs at schools, community centers, clinics, churches and jails, this equals a community-wide savings of more than eight-million dollars.

This partnership with Texas A&M Agrilife Extension is just one Vecino’s services aimed at helping patients prevent and manage chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. It represents a continuing commitment to expand preventative care and improve the long-term health of the entire community.

Article by: Vecino Health Centers

original post: https://vecinohealthcenters.org/partner-spotlight-texas-am-agrilife-extension/

Nutrition Educator Assistant Laura Dorado explains how each class’s curriculum touches on a different area of nutrition for participants at the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program class Thursday morning at the Ringgold Civic Pavilion.(Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)

A free food and nutrition education program where people learn to make healthy choices is offered on Thursdays at the Ringgold Civic Pavilion.

The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program was founded in 1969 and since then has addressed critical societal concerns by influencing nutrition and physical activity behaviors of low-income families.

During the classes, attendees learned how to cook more meals and snacks at home, eat more fruits and vegetables, be more active with their family, reach or stay at a healthy weight, save money on groceries, control portion size, have more energy and keep food safe.

As of right now, two more sessions are available for registration but the program may be continued throughout the year.

“This is great because this is to prevent a lot of diseases in the community,” Nutrition Educator Assistant Laura Dorado said. “It is for free and we are giving the participants resistance bands, thermometers and they are also learning about food safety.”

Dorado works with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and said she is really happy the City of Brownsville is trying to educate residents to make healthier choices, especially children who still can’t decide what to eat or not to eat.

“Sometimes parents buy their child a happy meal and give them a tablet but they have to learn to make healthier choices for them. Teach them how to eat to have all their nutrients,” Dorado said. “We need to promote this program more. This is for free and we have a lot of incentives.”

At the event participants are given resistance bands, measuring cups, thermometers, pamphlets that say how to eat and the right portions, among many other things.

To register for the class or to learn more about the program, call Dorado at (956) 545-4135. The next class is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 29.

Attendees for the next two sessions will learn tips for offering children healthy choices from each food group, how to deal with picky eaters and letting them play a role in meals and a summary of all the summer sessions.

“People are really engaged in the classes and we really need to teach our community to be healthy,” Dorado said.

By Nubia Reyna Staff Writer nreyna@brownsvilleherald.com

Originally published by The Brownsville Herald

https://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/smarter-choices-program-serves-up-nutrition-tips-for-community/article_8a22c288-c52a-11e9-bdd1-e7c6391af813.html