Master Food Volunteers from Newport News and Suffolk recently presented workshops on healthy eating as part of the Community Forum on Aging with 128 participants.

Jaynee Sasso, a Master Food Volunteer from Newport News, presented “Getting a Perspective: Let Food Be Your Medicine” which featured information on how to increase the variety of healthy foods that we consume.  The content for her presentation was provided by Dr. Young Ju, Associate Professor in the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise at Virginia Tech.

Wanda Gerard (left) and Jaynee Sasso (right) participate in the Community Forum on Aging

Wanda Gerard, Master Food Volunteer and Master Gardener with Suffolk/Newport News, presented “Creative Cooking with Herbs and Spices.” Participants learned to identify herbs and their multiple uses for flavoring.

Many thanks to Jaynee and Wanda!

Kudos to Tracey Giordano, a Master Food Volunteer from Roanoke for her co-presentation with several local organizations in February to showcase healthy foods available in Africa, the Caribbean, South America, and the American South.

An article, “FASS Forward to a Healthier Future” about this interesting program is featured on the Roanoke Tribune web site.  In addition, Roanoke Master Food Volunteer, Almena Hughes is shown with Tracey while they chose produce at a local market, and Chef Laura Pole demonstrated how to incorporate alternative flavors (like herbs and spices) in cooking to reduce sodium.

In addition, Deb Chappell, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent for Roanoke and supervising agent for the Roanoke Valley Master Food Volunteers, encouraged program participants to participate in the upcoming FitEx program, an online fitness campaign, through Virginia Cooperative Extension.