Illinois Ag Connection - SIUE East St. Louis Center Offers Healthy Eating on the Go

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SIUE East St. Louis Center Offers Healthy Eating on the Go
Illinois Ag Connection - 05/18/2018

Lore'al Perkins, a senior at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS), has packed celery, carrots, broccoli and peppers, in an array of yellow, red and orange, into her glass mason jar.

She is waiting patiently in line for the cucumbers, cranberries, sunflower seeds and spinach. "I think salad in a jar is a cool way to eat vegetables on the run," said Perkins.

Of the 25 participants, Perkins was one of 11 CHS students from Edith Laktzian's Life Skills class who attended the Learning Resource Center's Success and Continuing Knowledge (S.A.C.K.) Lunch and Learn workshop. Nutrition, health and wellness coaches Jen Rowlen, of Glen Carbon, and Julie Gau, of St. Louis, taught the workshop.

The College of Arts and Sciences' (CAS) Targeted Funding Initiative (TFI) is supporting the Lunch and Learn program at the SIUE East St. Louis Center. CAS Dean Greg Budzban, PhD, first created TFI grants in 2016. The program offers a way to continuously innovate and find novel ways of solving problems. It utilizes funding acquired through the College's winter session courses and is supplemented with other internal CAS funds.

"We love what we do. We empower people in the area of nutrition, health and wellness," said Rowlen. "The idea of putting salad in a jar is a good way to make sure you are eating your vegetables. It's also an economical way of preserving them longer."

The health coaches explained the benefits of eating vegetables, especially when they are raw.

"Dark color vegetables, like plums, blackberries, grapes and blueberries help with inflammation," said Gau. "Processed foods, dairy and sugar add to inflammation."

"Salads in a jar taste good, look good and are good for you," said Rebecca Harper, Learning Resource Center director. "It's a win-win-win."

With a focus on empowering people and strengthening communities, the SIUE East St. Louis Center is dedicated to improving the lives of families and individuals - from pre-school through adult - in the Metro East. Head Start/Early Head Start and a charter high school are among the programs that offer the community renewed hope and an opportunity to reach educational, career and life goals. The Center also assigns first priority to encouraging, supporting and improving the educational success of the residents of East St. Louis and surrounding urban communities. The Center provides comprehensive programs, services and training in the areas of education, health, social services and the arts.

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