by Nutrition facts, healthy recipes, and food demonstrations by chefs were the highlights of a recent Nutrition Café hosted by the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) Department of Human Sciences. The recipes are healthy options just in time for homecoming, snail and holiday gatherings.
The incident occurred at the UAPB Business Support Incubator in downtown Pine Bluff, Arkansas. At the end of the presentation, participants sampled a variety of fresh vegetables and a sugar-free dessert, received healthy recipe sheets, and won door prizes. Here are links to the healthy recipe sheets that can be completed with any of your game day choices: Hummus, Cauliflower Pizza Crust, and Graham Cracker Crust.
Chef Dr. W. Jinnings Burruss Jr., UAPB assistant professor of food service and restaurant management (above), demonstrated how to make hummus.
“So we’re celebrating here today the Evans Allen Demonstration Garden Site Project,” said Dr. Marilyn Bailey, interim chair of the UAPB Department of Human Sciences and project leader of an initiative entitled “Implementing Healthy Eating Habits while Fighting Obesity. Preschool Settings.”
“We have childcare center providers from four counties – Jefferson, Bradley, Drew, and Chicot. Our goal is to encourage children to eat healthily, starting with fresh fruit and vegetables in the classroom,” said Dr Bailey.
Children, parents and caregivers were present during the interactive session which was filled with informative details about how diet affects the body and ways to modify recipes to make them healthier.
Dr. Kimberly Haynie, UAPB associate professor of food science and nutrition, presented on the differences between good and bad fat. She showed foods belonging to both categories and encouraged the group to avoid certain foods because they increase the chance of heart disease.
Chef Dr. W. Jinnings Burruss Jr., UAPB assistant professor of food service and restaurant management, demonstrated how to make hummus. He said the recipe was suitable because it is simple, quick and cheap to prepare. Attendees enjoyed the hummus, and were served colorful fresh vegetables from the garden, including broccoli, carrots, celery, squash, red and green bell peppers, tomatoes, and cauliflower.
A Nutrition Café was created to bring together childcare center providers to brainstorm ways to encourage children to eat healthy from the classroom through curriculum, modeling, and hands-on experiential opportunity for children, according to Dr Bailey.
She said she was inspired by the garden project when she walked through a UAPB Pre-K classroom several years ago. Children were sitting at a table eating lunch, which included french fries. She remembers looking at one of the children and asking what they were eating. The child replied that they were eating French fries. She then asked if the child knew where French fries came from. McDonald’s is the child’s answer, she said.
“Obviously, I knew we had some work to do,” Dr. Bailey reflected.
That conversation inspired her and Dr. Janette Wheat, UAPB assistant professor in the Department of Human Sciences and joint project leader, to write a proposal for the project. She said we invited a group of parents to visit the garden and harvest and get their ideas for lesson planning in the classroom.
Dr. Bailey that the emergence of social and emotional issues, such as depression – which affects mental health and well-being – is becoming more evident after the global pandemic.
“We can see it even in the younger population…the kind of oppositional defiant behaviors…we’ve seen quite a bit of clapping and some other behaviors that to me say young children are under stress,” Dr Bailey said.
She added that giving children the opportunity to work with the UAPB farm manager and allowing students to “touch the dirt” is very rewarding.
“The whole goal is to be able to support the mental health and well-being of our youngest citizens so they can grow up to be community leaders and grow up in a healthy way,” said Dr. Bailey.
Although the Nutrition Cafe started in 2021 and officially ended in September 2024, Dr. Bailey extended to keep the garden going. This commitment ensures that the benefits of the project will continue to be felt in the community. “Tonight was a fun, fun time,” she said.
Dr. Bailey expressed his excitement about the future of the project, saying, “We’re really looking forward to keeping this project going for years to come.” She also invited viewers to watch a recent video showing families touring the garden, learning what’s being grown, and visiting a nearby farm: https://bit.ly/4gkiXc3. This invitation shows the potential role of the audience in the future of the project.
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff offers all of its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any. another legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
