PS 205Q: The Alexander Graham Bell School Celebtrates NY Agriculture Literacy Week 2010 and SPOONS Makes a School Visit!!

On Thursday, March 18, 2010 I had the wonderful opportunity to join in the NY Agriculture Literacy Week 2010 celebrations with three participating second grade classrooms at PS 205Q in Bayside, Queens. With one day left of NY Agriculture Literacy Week, PS 205Q was still celebrating- full swing! I had so much fun and couldn't believe what all of the second graders had learned throughout the week! They knew so much about apples and couldn't wait to taste three different types of apples during the special apple tasting led by Program Leader and Science Teacher Ms. Bosi and the three participating teachers, Ms. Chin, Ms. Gartner, and Ms. Tsimis!

Here is a little bit about how each classroom celebrated on Thursday:

When I entered Ms. Chin's classroom, the first thing that I saw was a long row of bulletin boards covered with apple facts, an apple web, a list of apple sayings, and apple vocabulary words. All of the students wanted to tell me all about what they learned throughout the week, but couldn't wait to taste the three types of apples that Ms. Bosi brought into the classroom. After reading Apples and How They Grow by Laura Driscoll, tasting the Fuji, Golden Delicious and Granny Smith Apples, the students in Ms. Chin's class made apple prints by dipping apple slices in paint colors corresponding to the color of the apple they were using. They then folded their paintings in half in order to show and learn about symmetry! Here is Deanna's apple print:




Ms. Gartner's students were all so knowledgeable about the different parts of apples and became experienced taste-testers, nibble by nibble. During the apple tasting they made great observations about the skin, the flesh, the seeds, and some students even got a piece of the core! After each student tasted each of the three apple choices and took his/her own notes, the class voted to determine the favorite class apple. Granny Smith apples won the vote followed by Fuji and finally Golden Delicious apples which only got one vote. Here is a picture captured of Ms. Gartner's students experienced taste-testers in action:



When I walked into my last classroom for the day, Ms. Tsimis's class, I met 11 student-scientists all ready to make scientific observations and participate in a detailed observation-based apple tasting. Ms. Tsimis's students made picture graphs to determine their classmates favorite kind of apple. Here is a picture of Andrew, with his picture graph who found Fuji apples to be his classmates overall favorite:




Thank you PS 205Q Principal Ms. Scott-Piazza, Science Teacher and Program Leader Ms. Bosi, and Second Grade Teachers, Ms. Chin, Ms. Gartner, and Ms. Tsimis. Also, a very special Thank You to all second grade students at PS 205Q for inviting me to celebrate with you!

-Alix
Spoons Across America - Volunteer Coordinator
NY Agriculture Literacy Week 2010 Program Coordinator

It's time to celebrate NY Agriculture Literacy Week 2010!

March 15-19 is NY Agriculture Literacy Week 2010. Spoons Across America is the county coordinator for NY Agriculture Literacy Week, which is brought to us through Cornell Agriculture in the Classroom and Cornell Agriculture Outreach and Education. In collaboration with Cornell's Agriculture in the Classroom, Cornell's Outreach and Education, The Pearson Foundation and Penguin Publishing, and New York City College of Technology, Spoons Across America provides participating 2nd grade classrooms teachers throughout NYC with a Teacher Resource Guide Folder including donated copies of a story book related to agriculture and the specific food topic of the year(donated for 2010 from The Pearson Foundation and Penguin Publishing), supplemental lesson plans and activities related to the topic (provided by Cornell Agriculture in the Classroom and Cornell Agriculture Outreach and Education), and other supplemental information and fun facts to be used throughout NY Agriculture Literacy Week.

This year, Spoons Across America is following an Apple theme. The chosen book for the year is Apples and How They Grow by Laura Driscoll.

Fifteen schools throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx will be participating this year!

Here is a great, hearty, rustic vegetarian sandwich recipe from Chef Bobo's Good Food Cookbook to help you celebrate NY agriculture and APPLES:

Cheddar Cheese and Apple with Watercress- 6 Servings

Ingredients:
Fresh lemon juice
2 Granny Smith apples, cored, and thinly sliced
2 loaves unsliced French bread, halved lengthwise and toasted
6 to 8 slices cheddar cheese
1 bunch watercress
1 recipe Tarragon Mayonnaise

Steps:
1. Sprinkle a little lemon juice over the apple slices and toss them together (The lemon juice will keep the apples from oxidizing and turning brown.)
2. Preheat the broiler. On the bottom half of each toasted bread loaf, pile on the sliced apples. Top with cheese. Broil until the cheese melts. Remove from broiler and top with watercress.
3. Spread some of the Tarragon Mayonnaise on the top half of each toasted bread loaf. Place on the sandwich, mayonnaise side down. To serve, cut each sandwich into 3 pieces

Tarragon Mayonnaise
Combine 1 cup light mayonnaise dressing and 1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon. Let stand for a few minutes to let the flavors develop

After you try out this recipe…let us know how you like it by posting on our Facebook wall or emailing us at info@spoonsacrossamerica.org!

Be sure to check back for NY Agriculture Literacy Week 2010 updates throughout the week!

Have a healthy and delicious NY Agriculture Literacy Week 2010! To celebrate along with Spoons make apples your fruit choice of the week.

Happy New Year from Spoons

The Spoons Team has a lot to share since our last post, and will be doing a lot of blogging in the upcoming weeks!

Firstly, we would like to wish everyone a happy, healthy, fresh and tasty New Year. Hopefully everyone got a chance to make something delicious from Chef Bobo’s Good Food Cookbook during the holiday season. Personally I have been on a Chef Bobo’s Braised Brussels Sprouts with Shallots kick, and will share the recipe with all of you today! It’s really easy to make, will totally change Brussels sprouts reputation, and will leave you wanting more each time you cook them up!

To cook them, all you need is:
1 pint Brussels sprouts
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil or canola oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons water
¼ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Here are the steps:
1. Trim stems and remove any wilted outer leaves from Brussels sprouts.
Wash and cut Brussels sprouts in half lengthwise.
2. Drizzle the oil in a large nonstick skillet and swirl it around until the oil coats the entire surface.
Heat over high heat until hot.
Reduce heat to medium and add shallot and garlic. Cook and stir until tender.
3. Add Brussels sprouts to skillet and toss in the hot oil.
Add water.
Reduce heat to medium.
Cook, covered, for 7 to 8 minutes or until sprouts are soft.
4. Remove saucepan from heat.
Sprinkle sprouts with lemon juice and toss.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
This recipe is from Chef Bobo’s Good Food Cookbook by Robert W. Surles.
After you try it out…let us know how you like it by posting on our Facebook wall or emailing us at info@spoonsacrossamerica.org!

Now…for some Spoons News!

• Spoons proudly partnered with artist Karen Van Every of Serimony to provide charitable greeting cards that support our mission. Click here to see the three card designs! Each is an intricate and clever hand drawing of fruits and vegetables that compose the three card images.
• On the “We Recommend” section of our website, we have added a link on our News Roundups to the Surgeon General’s Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation 2010. The Report has some great information and insight, and encourage all to take a look at it. Click here to read the report.

So, that’s it for now – don’t forget to check out the Spoons Greeting Cards!

Check back soon for some more updates and perhaps some new recipes!

Snacking is Good for Children

Children need to refuel their bodies more than three times daily because they have smaller stomachs than adults.*

It's important that snacks be healthy and taste good, so that kids are excited to find snacks in their backpack or lunchbox or on the kitchen counter.

3rd, 4th & 5th grade students experience tasty and healthy snacks with the Take a Taste with Spoons, The Eat Fresh, Eat Local, Eat Healthy Program. The children learned about the elements of taste, made healthy snacks from locally grown, seasonal foods, sampled them and took a recipe home to share with their families.

Spoons Across America is a grassroots 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit organization that mobilizes hundreds of teachers and food professionals to educate children, families and teachers about the benefits of healthy eating.

How can we make a difference? With your financial support, we can continue to expand our programming around the country to educate children about the importance and benefits of healthy eating.

By making a contribution of $25, $50, $100 or more you can support our healthy eating programs. For a gift of $100…Ten 5th graders will explore local seasonal foods and learn to make healthy snacks.

Thank you! Julia V. Jordan, Founder
Spoons Across America

* University of Wisconsin - Extension 2009

To donate to Spoons Across America through NYCharities, go to: http://www.nycharities.org/donate/c_donate.asp?CharityCode=2322

Buckets & Buckets...of Apples!

The time of year when leaves begin to change color, the air gets a crisp feeling and the type of fruits and vegetables available in the market has arrived. With fall comes so much new and exciting produce…so it’s time to get tasting, cooking, exploring and picking. Here at Spoons, one of our favorite fall activities is taking a trip to a local Greenmarket to pick some fresh, locally grown apples.

Did you know that apples are a healthy source of antioxidants, which help to keep our bodies strong and healthy by protecting us against free radical damage? We learned that fact from The U.S. Apple Association (http://www.usapples.org). That’s just one of the many reasons why the Spoons Team will be loading up on apples this fall season.

Find your closest Greenmarket to get all sorts of fresh, local tasty produce by checking out the Greenmarket 2009 Map by following this link: http://www.cenyc.org/files/gmkt/map.pdf. For readers able to make it to an apple orchard this season...Happy Picking from The Spoons Team!
-- Marva Butler & Alix Small


P.S. Stay tuned for blogs including delicious fall produce recipes and clever food ideas!

The Obama & Bloomberg Duet…Marva and Alix are the Backup Singers

Spoons Across America welcomed two full-time AmeriCorps VISTA/ NYC Civic Corps volunteers: Ms. Marva Butler and Ms. Alix Small on August 10^th, 2009. These two women came to Spoons as part of Mayor Bloomberg’s response to President Obama’s call for National Service. Marva will be working on grants and fundraising, and Alix will be focusing on volunteers and volunteer management. This VISTA team will build Spoons capacity by putting systems into place and developing sustainable practices by driving volunteer activity. These VISTA members will be working in partnership with the board, our Spoons consultants and Spoons volunteers, so everyone will have an opportunity to get to know them and become more involved in the projects!\

Marva hails from Houston, Texas and this past May earned her MBA from Florida A&M University. Some of her hobbies include reading, traveling, cooking, and spending time with friends and family. One of her most exciting past internships includes working with The International Rescue Committee in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where she provided program and logistical support for three refuge camps. Marva hopes to use her strong business and marketing/fundraising background to successfully build sustainability.

Alix is a native New Yorker, hailing from Long Island. This past May she earned a B.S. from Binghamton University in Psychobiology. Alix enjoys spending time outside, cooking, entertaining her family and friends and staying active. This past year she completed a year long internship with a Gastroenterologist in Binghamton, NY where she conducted two research projects focused on nutritional aspects of a gastrointestinal disease. Alix is not only passionate about nutrition, but also about the SPOONS mission. She has great hopes to increase volunteer activity while serving as a VISTA for SPOONS

Here is a link to the Press Release and a link for the video of the Swearing in Ceremony on the steps of City Hall on July 30^th, 2009: http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2009b%2Fpr354-09.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1

Spoons Across America Board Member, Lynda Dias, shares her thoughts on working with students and partners on our projects:

Being part of the Spoons Across America team has been an incredible experience for me. I am constantly inspired and touched by all of the amazing children across the country who we educate about the benefits of healthy eating. With their teachers, family and friends, they experience fun and exciting programs while learning about nutrition and developing healthy relationships with food.

In New York, I have the privilege of collaborating with Chef Feliberto Estevez and his dedicated team at Gracie Mansion to implement Spoons Across America programs in Washington Heights at Juan Pablo Duarte School PS 132 . One of our most exciting programs is the Dinner Party Project. The children are taught about nutrition, food safety, meal planning, table setting, etiquette, cooking and even dancing. Our partners, City Tech, Pearson Foundation, Dancing Classrooms and the UBS Events Marketing team have worked closely with us and the PS 132 teachers to create unique learning opportunities and life-long memories for the children. On the night of the Dinner Party there is magic in the air. The children become the perfect hosts and proudly share with their guests their menu and how much work went into creating their Dinner Party. Their guests are amazed and I am often pulled aside only to be thanked because their child is setting the table, eating salad and now wants to try new foods!

None of us wanted the magical night to end!

As you know children not only inspire us, but often challenge us to do the incredible. The amazing children at PS 132 collected 50,000 pennies and chose Spoons Across America as the recipient of their donation to ensure that children in New York City were able to participate in the Spoons Across America Programs. The children’s inspiring gift challenged us to raise $50,000 for 50,000 pennies to deliver Spoons Across America’s food and nutrition literacy programs in New York City. I encourage you to support the children at PS 132 and make the incredible happen.