Fruit: Nature’s Fast Food

Posted on May 9, 2017 by Stephanie Ronco

I’ve got a fun new poster in the store, and today I want to share a little bit about it with you!

First things first, here’s my latest creation:

I was inspired by the fresh produce available last summer at one of my local markets, so when I got home I couldn’t resist setting up a quick still life to highlight these tasty stone fruits at their peak.

Imagine my surprise when this print won 1st place in the Open Print category of the 2016 Annual Print Competition at the Palo Alto Camera Club. Ron Herman was the judge, and I was completely floored by his decision.

Soon after this picture won, I decided to feature it in my gallery showing this past winter. The showing was titled “A Visual Feast” and took place at the Avenue 25 Gallery in San Mateo California. In fact, if you look closely, you can see this photo hanging with a few other favorites in the picture below.*

I was so proud of this original photo that I decided to turn it into a poster. But what to call it?

I wanted to steer clear of additional artistic commentary and let the image speak for itself, so I focused my brainstorming on key health lessons and nutrition topics. Then, out of the blue, it hit me. Fruit is nature’s fast food! I often grab a peach or a handful of cherries on my way out the door or to snack on as I work at my desk, and I realized that these snacking habits had — over time — gradually replaced my reliance on fast food. I’m sure that this change in my routine was great news for my health, and so now I want to share that epiphany with your clients in order to encourage them to also change their habits.

And that’s how this poster came to be. How will you use it?

Nature's Fast Food Poster - Peaches and Cherries Food Photo Poster - Motivational Poster

$19.00 ~~$24.00~~

Add to Cart

And here are some other resources that can help make your life easier…

Nutrition Month Activity Idea

Posted on March 28, 2017 by Stephanie Ronco

Yes, I know that Nutrition Month is drawing to a close, but I couldn’t resist sharing one last activity idea to promote good health. Plus, this activity doesn’t have to be limited to March — use it anytime you want to teach a nutrition lesson!

I planned this activity around the topics in the Nutrition at a Glance Poster so that you could help your audience internalize 3 keys to balanced nutrition. If you don’t have the poster, no sweat! Just address the topics with your class before you begin the activity.

Divide everyone into three groups and assign one of the three topics on the poster to each group:

Let Macronutrients Put Their Best Food Forward
Get Your Vitamins and Minerals from Food
Avoid Extra Processed Food Dangers by Reading Food Labels

Explain that each group is going to come up with 5 Jeopardy-style pairs of questions and answers about their assigned topic. If computers or smartphones are available, let the students use those to research fun facts and key points to address in their questions.

As the groups work, circulate around the room addressing any issues they might have and reviewing their question and answer pairs to make sure that they’re both accurate and answerable.

Once all the groups have their 5 questions, reconvene the class. Have the macronutrients group present their questions to the vitamins and minerals group, then have the vitamins and minerals group present their questions to the food label group. Finally, the food label group can present their questions to the macronutrients group. With this system, each group can engage deeply with 2 of the 3 topics on the poster.

As the teams are competing, keep score so that you can announce a winner at the end of the activity.

And what’s a good activity without a few prizes to motivate and reward your audience? Here are some of my favorites for Nutrition Month!

And for other great activities, don’t miss these fun posts…

Finally, what would Nutrition Month be without a little decoration? Check out these amazing materials…

$Food Label Math Poster - Nutrition Education Store$

Food Label Math Poster

$22.75 ~~$25.50~~

Add to Cart

Choose Wisely Fruit and Vegetables on Forks Poster - Nutrition Poster - Motivational Poster

$22.75 ~~$25.50~~

Add to Cart

Fork Stickers 2" - Pack of 100

$12.99 ~~$12.99~~

Add to Cart

What's On Your Fork? Poster - Nutrition Poster - Motivational Poster

$22.75 ~~$25.50~~

Add to Cart

What's On Your Fork? Bulletin Board Banner 24" x 24" Square Banner for Bulletin Boards, Walls, and More

$49.00 ~~$0.00~~

Add to Cart

Nutrition At A Glance Poster 18”x24” laminated nutrition poster

$22.75 ~~$25.50~~

Add to Cart

Nutrition Month Display Ideas

Posted on March 21, 2017 by Stephanie Ronco

It’s not too late to set up an engaging display for National Nutrition Month!

The best displays feature information in a variety of formats, presented in an eye-catching and memorable manner. Here are a few strategies that you can use to put together your best display yet…

Bulletin Board:

It’s usually a good idea to center a bulletin board around a banner or poster. For Nutrition Month, I would recommend any of the following, depending on the space you have available.

Since National Nutrition Month 2017’s theme is “Put Your Best Fork Forward” these posters would be especially relevant:
- What’s on Your Fork?
- Choose Wisely: Fruit and Vegetables on Forks
They’re also available as banners!
- What’s on Your Fork?
- Choose Wisely: Fruit and Vegetables on Forks
And here are some basic nutrition lesson options:

Once you’ve picked a poster/banner or two to center your display, it’s just a matter of filling in the details. One way to vary the view while imparting key information is to add a few relevant handouts, like these!

Nutrition from A-Z
New Food Label Guide
Sugar Math or Sodium Math
MyPlate on a Budget
Portion Control

You can also print out pictures that support your main point (people being active for an exercise board, healthful foods/meals for a nutrition board etc) and fill in a few gaps with assorted stickers or wall decals.

Tabletop Display:

Tabletop displays offer a better chance for interaction than a bulletin board display, but they also take up more room.

The key to a good tabletop display is having something that will draw people to the table. Banners on stands offer a great way to stand out from the crowd, and these options are perfect for Nutrition Month:

Floor stickers are also creative (and intriguing) eye-catchers here. My personal favorites include:

Then you want to fill your table with resources that will help your audience learn and remember key Nutrition Month lessons. Posters like the ones featured in the bulletin board section above are great options, and you can prop them up on a tabletop easel or two. Handouts are useful take-home resources too, as are stickers/bookmarks/other fun prizes.

If you’re talking about sugar, salt, or fat content in your display, I’d highly recommend test tubes, which you can use to display the average amount of your featured element in a variety of foods.

These materials offer a great visual way to compare and contrast different options, and the test tubes have gotten wonderful feedback in the past. In fact, they’re one of our most popular resources for health fairs!

And there you have it! A little Nutrition Month display inspiration!

For additional resources to help with your National Nutrition Month celebrations, don’t miss these amazing materials…

Make Every Bite Count Wristband 8" Adult - 20 pack - with forks

$26.00 ~~$25.00~~

Add to Cart

Choose Wisely Fruit and Vegetables on Forks Poster - Nutrition Poster - Motivational Poster

$22.75 ~~$25.50~~

Add to Cart

What's On Your Fork? Poster - Nutrition Poster - Motivational Poster

$22.75 ~~$25.50~~

Add to Cart

What's On Your Fork? Bulletin Board Banner 24" x 24" Square Banner for Bulletin Boards, Walls, and More

$49.00 ~~$0.00~~

Add to Cart

Nutrition At A Glance Poster 18”x24” laminated nutrition poster

$22.75 ~~$25.50~~

Add to Cart

Fork Stickers 2" - Pack of 100

$12.99 ~~$12.99~~

Add to Cart

$Food Label Math Poster - Nutrition Education Store$

Food Label Math Poster

$22.75 ~~$25.50~~

Add to Cart

Activity Idea: Teaching Food Safety

Posted on March 14, 2017 by cheryle

I don’t watch television cooking shows very often, because their food safety practices usually upset me.

I once watched a popular show (the hostess is a household name that I won’t mention) and spotted at least three things that I would consider food safety problems — these included unsafe recipes for food preservation and cooking temperatures that were just WRONG.

I’m not the only one who is concerned about these shows and what they are teaching (or not teaching) their audiences. Back in 2004, a research project looked at over 60 hours of cooking shows. They spotted an unsafe handling practice every four minutes. More recent research studies have shown similar results.

It isn’t getting better.

All of the studies documented a lack of handwashing, cross-contamination between raw and ready-to-eat food, and not using a thermometer to ensure that the foods have been cooked properly.

Other unsafe practices spotted include: fly-away-hair, chipped nail polish, potential contamination with wiping cloths, not washing produce, touching ready-to-eat food with bare hands (combined with inadequate handwashing), sweating onto food, touching hair, licking fingers, double dipping with tasting spoons, and eating while cooking.

One of the studies noted that — not surprisingly — only 13% of the shows they watched mentioned any type of food safety practice.

While I know that these shows are produced primarily for entertainment, I wish they would do a better job of modeling good food safety procedures. They have the opportunity to teach millions of viewers, but they don’t.

So I had an idea for those that teach food safety.

Have your students watch a few of these shows and note the unsafe practices. Perhaps you could watch a few together and then discuss what they saw and why they identified those items. Have them check too for any good practices or mention of food safety too.

They’ll never look at a cooking show the same way again.

By Cheryle Jones Syracuse, MS, Professor Emeritus at The Ohio State University

References:

Mathiasen, L.A., Chapman, B.J., Lacroix, B.J. and Powell, D.A. 2004. Spot the mistake: Television cooking shows as a source of food safety information, Food Protection Trends 24(5): 328-334.
Nancy L. Cohen, Rita Brennan Olson. Compliance With Recommended Food Safety Practices in Television Cooking Shows. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 2016.
Curtis Maughan, Edgar Chambers, Sandria Godwin. Food safety behaviors observed in celebrity chefs across a variety of programs. Journal of Public Health, 2016.

And here are a few fantastic resources for National Nutrition Month!

Make Every Bite Count Wristband 8" Adult - 20 pack - with forks

$26.00 ~~$25.00~~

Add to Cart

Choose Wisely Fruit and Vegetables on Forks Poster - Nutrition Poster - Motivational Poster

$22.75 ~~$25.50~~

Add to Cart

What's On Your Fork? Poster - Nutrition Poster - Motivational Poster

$22.75 ~~$25.50~~

Add to Cart

What's On Your Fork? Bulletin Board Banner 24" x 24" Square Banner for Bulletin Boards, Walls, and More

$49.00 ~~$0.00~~

Add to Cart

Nutrition At A Glance Poster 18”x24” laminated nutrition poster

$22.75 ~~$25.50~~

Add to Cart

Fork Stickers 2" - Pack of 100

$12.99 ~~$12.99~~

Add to Cart

$Food Label Math Poster - Nutrition Education Store$

Food Label Math Poster

$22.75 ~~$25.50~~

Add to Cart

Shopping with MyPlate: Activity Guide

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Stephanie Ronco

MyPlate is more than a fantastic guide to healthy dining! Much of its advice can also be applied to healthy shopping. You may remember the post Shopping with MyPlate: A Handout. The leader guide that goes with that handout is too good not to share, so here it is! How will you use your copy?

Shopping with MyPlate: Activity Ideas

Make a List! (Kids) Explain that, in order to have meals like MyPlate, people have to fill their shopping carts like MyPlate too. Find out who has gone to the grocery store with their parents. What was the experience like? Have each child pretend that they are in charge of meals for the week and plan a grocery list. What do they need to do in order to get food for healthful meals? Feel free to use the shopping list handout included in this lesson. Come back together as a group and discuss the lists.

Grocery Tour: (Adults) Take a field trip to the grocery store. Discuss the layout of the store and how to find foods that match MyPlate’s advice. Spend some time on Nutrition Facts labels, demonstrating how to evaluate sodium content, added sugars, saturated fat ratios, etc. Offer participants a chance to get groceries, and discuss what they found. Why did they pick what they picked?

MyPlate Shopping Display:

A display can help flesh out this lesson. Consider some of the following ideas…

Interactive Display: Put up a large, blank MyPlate image inside a picture of a shopping cart. Have adults write down healthful foods that would fit in each group. Kids can also draw pictures of those foods.

Shopping Tips: Center a picture of MyPlate on your board, then surround it with word bubbles full of shopping tips that will make grocery trips easier and result in more healthful purchases.

Shopping List Samples: Write out a list of healthful foods, dividing them into MyPlate categories. This can serve as shopping inspiration.

This post is excerpted from the MyPlate Workbook. If you like what you see, don’t miss this free printable leader guide!

We’re here to help you look your very best right now, so here are some other amazing MyPlate resources from the Nutrition Education Store…

My Plate Photo Poster 18x24" - MyPlate Poster - My Plate Poster

$22.75 ~~$25.50~~

Add to Cart

10 pack MyPlate Plate Plastic - Nutrition Education Store Exclusive Design - 10 Plates With Free Shipping

$80.00 ~~$99.00~~

Add to Cart

Floor Sticker - MyPlate

$49.00

Add to Cart

Health Fairs on a Budget

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Stephanie Ronco

Today, it’s storytime.

The story to follow is all about how one reader put together a health fair display booth on a tight deadline with an even tighter budget. I want to share her success with you! Maybe this information helps you save money on your next program. Maybe it inspires you to create your own great resources. Maybe it’s just a fun blog post to read before you get back to your next agenda item. Whatever the case may be, I thought that this story was too awesome not to share.

So let’s get to it.

A few weeks ago, a long-time reader at a food bank called me up and asked about putting together a health fair package on a budget. She had $50, tons of great plans, and one week to pull everything off.

Let’s start with the health fair tools we picked. The budget display kit was made up of…

The first thing to go into this display kit was the 100-Calorie Snack poster. It comes with a free handout, so our intrepid reader had two tools in her arsenal right off the bat. She also has an easel to help show off the poster at her booth. This eye-catching poster came to her attention through the Displays by Design program, which she loved. You can use this feature to look through products by design rather than subject matter, which in turn can help you select resources that look good together.

Next up were stickers and bookmarks. The Fruit and Veggie stickers were too eye-catching to miss, and who could say no to amazing bookmarks?

The next part of her display were free handouts. The Free Handout Program was a good place to start, and the weekly free handouts that are part of the Email Program could also be used to round out a health fair display. Handouts are great for building visual appeal and for offering “take-home” reminders of key health lessons. They’re perfect for a wide variety of audiences, and can be just the inspiration your clients need to make a change in their lives.

Oh, and speaking of free resources, the health-fair planner couldn’t pass up the myriad recipes in the Food and Health Free Recipe Archive. These also made great handouts. They could also be used in a cooking demo or to make tasty samples to draw more traffic to a health fair booth.

But wait, there’s more! Although we’ve now covered all the items on the budget health fair booth list above, our intrepid reader had a few last tools up her sleeve. She kept the booth on budget by taking advantage of the free shipping I offered, and she also found the discount code link lurking at the bottom of the store page. This code saved her 10% off the entire order!

When we finished talking about the program, she laughed with relief and told me that all her stress was gone for the first time since she heard about the project. Now she had everything she needed.

What a great day!

By Judy Doherty, PC II

Displays are key to fun health fairs, and there are tons of great resources in the Nutrition Education Store! Which one will make your life easier?

Change It Up Poster

Wellness Fair Kit

MyPlate Stickers

Food Safety Poster

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