Food Revival

Childhood Obesity: It's Complicated

by Amanda Storey | March 29th, 2010
Lilly

I had no idea when I accepted the Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities Project Coordinator position how much my life would change. It has been four months of challenges, discovery, and absolute joy. For those of you who don't know what I'm doing, here's a brief recap: I'm coordinating a four-year Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant called "Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities," which supports community action to prevent childhood obesity.  We are tackling the childhood obesity epidemic in Jefferson County, Alabama in a number of ways: 

a)creating community engagement and advocacy (grassroots outreach)
b)implementing policy changes that affect nutirional environment(access to heathier foods) & our constructed environment (safer sidewalks, bike lanes, greenway connectors)
c)creating opportunities for healthier snacks and physical activity in our child care centers Read more...

My Sanctuary, My Kitchen

by Amanda Storey | January 25th, 2010
Janet Elizabeth Simpson's Image

According to Webster, a sanctuary can be defined as "a place of refuge and protection." As I think back on the last few years, I'm absolutely certain that my sanctuary has been (and continues to be) my kitchen. 

Unfortunately, my teeny-tiny kitchen was ill-designed from the get-go.  A washer and dryer serve as my only open counter space.  I have two working drawers that, when opened, are blocked by the refrigerator. Speaking of the refrigerator -- it came with NO crisper drawers, no organization theme, no ice maker and is on its last leg.  There's no hood for the stove and quite frankly, that's probably a good thing, just in case the entire thing decides to lift off.  And it's imperative to know that when more than two appliances are going at the same time, the circuit will absolutely blow. 

For years, I had a hard time finding confidence – both in my abilities as a cook and in my kitchen's ability to be effective tool for anything other than a Lean Cuisine.  Little did I know what this little kitchen "that could" would teach me years later. Read more...