The Norwood News, in partnership with WFUV radio and BronxNet television, continues its five-part series on food insecurity issues impacting the Bronx and its residents.

In PS 109 Sedgwick in Morris Heights, students learn the importance of eating healthy with Edible Schoolyard NYC, which incorporates healthy eating in classroom lessons.

From classroom to cafeteria, PS 109 makes sure its students grow up with healthy eating habits through programs like afterschool family cooking activities.

Edible Schoolyard NYC is just one group trying to reverse statistics outlined in a recent state health department report that showed the Bronx as the unhealthiest county in New York State for the eighth year in a row. Embedding healthy eating into the lifestyles of young people stands among the many ways to improve health outcomes in the borough.

Elizabeth Quintero is a FoodCorps Service Member with Edible Schoolyard NYC. She teaches elementary school kids how to cook healthy meals and the importance of fruits and vegetables. “The ultimate goal is to educate students about what they’re eating and what their food choices are and where their food is coming from. And really raise awareness of what’s going into their food,” Quintero said.

Interacting with kids and teaching them about healthier food has made Quintero realize that most kids want to eat healthy. She said they do not always see their options. “They are just overly bombarded with unhealthy food options and by educating them and saying you can find these healthy food options in their neighborhoods maybe they will make more of an effort to find them,” Quintero said.

The recent state Health Department report also shows that 30 percent of adults living in the Bronx are obese.

Bronx Health REACH
Like Edible Schoolyard NYC, the Bronx-based Institute for Family Health promotes a mission of healthy eating. It introduced REACH—Racial Ethnic Approaches for Community Health—with Charmaine Ruddock serving as director.

The group, Bronx Health REACH, has pointed out that there have been changes in ranking like health behaviors. Ruddock said the Bronx ranked 40 out of 62 in health behaviors, defined as how people believe or act regarding their health. Last year the Bronx ranked last. “There is improvement and that improvement should be noted,” Ruddock said.

The federally- and state-funded group also works with schools and bodegas to push for healthy community initiatives. It even works with churches to incorporate nutrition in Sunday sermons. Schools have stressed physical activity while its partner bodegas have started a marketing campaign to get the community to eat healthy.

Ruddock said it is important to get the families involved because it will ensure that the healthy habits kids learn will continue at home. It is part of an initiative called “Healthy Children, Healthy Families.”

“The people want to do better. When they get the information they are more inclined to use the information well,” Ruddock said.

The Children’s Aid Society
The Children’s Aid Society’s food and nutrition programs are another way people can get the information Ruddock is talking about. Whitney Reuling is the director of food and nutrition programs at The Children’s Aid Society, which has been around since 1858. “In order to stay relevant we need to evolve, and ‘Go! Healthy’ is really a part of that evolution,” Reuling said of the group’s healthy eating initiative.

The five-branch program is designed to tackle all age groups throughout communities. “Go! Healthy” was originally designed in 2003 in response to the childhood obesity epidemic.

“We help support children and their families by providing an access to nutrition education as well as healthy food starting as early as childhood,” Reuling explained, adding that kids learn about their bodies through songs, stories, and physical activity.

With three early childhood sites in the Bronx and a number of locations around the city, children learn how to prepare snacks as a way for them to learn about the food that’s going into their bodies. “It’s really wonderful to walk through a site and smell food being prepared from scratch,” Reuling said.

The Bronx early childhood center prepares food from scratch that is delivered to the classroom. Students get to sit around the table and enjoy a family style meal.

`Reuling explained the four other initiatives that cover every base of healthy eating. Its second branch dubbed “Go! Chefs” was launched in 2006. Kids learn how to cook healthy meals as early as first grade. They are simple seasonal recipes that incorporate fresh ingredients.

“They’re accessible yet affordable so these recipes can really be replicated at home,” Reuling said.

The “Go! Healthy Gardens” initiative, which focuses on gardening, complements “Go! Chefs.” Every participating site has a vegetable garden that is maintained by students and staff with a shared goal to have a thriving garden.

“Go! Healthy Meals” and “Eat Smart New York” are two other initiatives that reach a wide net of people. Nutrition classes for adults and farmers market outings are ways to address access to healthy foods.

“We’re doing what we can to address the access issue,” Reuling said. “‘Go! Healthy’ is really a constant evolution.” Reuling thinks the multifaceted aspects of “Go! Healthy” are exciting. She said the program does a good job at meeting community members where they are.

“The more avenues you provide the more buy-in you’re going to get,” she said.

Back at PS 109 Rosa Lopez said she sees a difference in her nine-year-old son Rami. She said he’s more curious about trying new foods like pesto sauce that Quintero taught Rami to make. Lopez said eating healthy is critical for her son. “On his dad’s side of the family diabetes is something that they carry, you know. It means a lot because eating healthy can prevent that,” Lopez said.

She says her son’s exposure to these different vegetables has made her more conscious when she’s cooking.

“I always cooked healthy but now he’s asking for vegetables so I don’t have a choice. Every day he asks, ‘Mom can we try carrots? Mom, can we have corn or can we do tomato salad?’”