Archives for February 26, 2015

Eat Well and Play Hard

February 26, 2015

Shari Portnoy brings healthy eating messages to Brooklyn Kids

Shari Portnoy works hard to bring nutrition, fitness, and food safety information to daycare centers in Brooklyn, New York as part of the Eat Well Play Hard in Child Care Settings program. Eat Well Play Hard aims to provide consistent and positive messages about eating healthy foods and being physically active to three and four year old children and their parents.

Recently, Shari used Fight BAC!® materials and posters to teach a group of 35 about food safety. She designed her class to facilitate discussion with parents. First, they collected snacks from tables Shari had set up beforehand. These weren’t just snacks – they were learning tools! Shari then asked the parents to make observations about the food and a discussion began that transitioned into an important food safety lesson.

Thank you, Shari for bringing important Fight BAC!® messages to Brooklyn kids, parents, and daycare staff!

Shari Portnoy is a Registered Dietitian (RD) and Certified Fitness Trainer (CFT) you can read more about her here: http://www.foodlabelnutrition.com/about.html#bio.

Michigan Fund Makes Food Safety Projects Possible

February 26, 2015

A Food Safety Training and Education grant yields benefits for Michigan consumers

Michigan Fund Makes Food Safety Projects Possible

Every year, the Food and Dairy Division of Michigan’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) offers a grant for Food Safety Training and Education.

BAC Fighter Jeanne M. Hausler reports that these grants have allowed development of consumer-facing materials that target Michigan residents.

Another major benefit of the program to Michigan consumers is the improved food safety knowledge among employees of Michigan’s retail grocery stores and restaurants.

The Michigan Farmers Market Association is among the winners of the 2014 grant. They plan to provide training and education to consumers for food safety at farmers markets. Click here for a list of the rest of the 2014 grantees.

Thank you Jeanne and your team at MDARD for funding these amazing projects in food safety education!

Student Health Educators

February 26, 2015

Connecticut BAC Fighters inform entire school

Julia Cronin planned a middle school class project that ensured food safety information was spread beyond the walls of her classroom to the entire K- 8 student body of Integrated Day Charter School in Norwich, Connecticut.

Julia, a science teacher, partnered with an english/language arts teacher to have students create Food Safety/Food Choice information brochures. The students used information they learned in class and from online research to create the brochures. One of their favorite sources was the www.fightbac.org website! Once the brochures were created, the students were instructed to share information with their classmates. In this way, the 8th grade students were able to reach their peers and younger classmates.

Julia reflected on the project, “The best part of it all was watching them in the lunchroom teaching the younger students about why they needed to wash their hands and why they should include an ice-pack in their lunchbox.”

She found that once students learned what could happen when food is mishandled, they had ownership of the material and were more motivated to make changes.

BAC Fighter Reaches Kids and Restaurant Workers

February 26, 2015

Food Safety Instructor Commits to Reaching Multiple Audiences

BAC Fighter, Sujit Dey is committed to sharing food safety messages with multiple audiences. As a food safety instructor for the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sujit teaches food safety at local schools and restaurants.

In his outreach with kids, Sujit focuses on handwashing. He visits local educational institutions to demonstrate proper practices. Both students and parents take home valuable lessons in hand hygiene.

He also recently taught a food safety course for chefs, managers, and restaurant workers of 15 Dhaka – area restaurants. The day long course covered how to prepare, cook, serve, and store food safely.

Thanks Sujit for sharing food safety and hand hygiene messages!