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Seattle Parks and Recreation welcomes all to enjoy the annual Big Day of Play

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Seattle Parks and Recreation welcomes all to enjoy the annual Big Day of Play

Free event Aug. 18 at Rainier Community Center and Playfield; water activities at Mount Baker Rowing and Sailing Center

Big Day of Play is a celebration of our city’s diversity, and it encourages neighbors, communities and families to have fun, build relationships and be active together. Big Day of Play will be held on Saturday, August 18 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Rainier Playfield and Rainier Community Center in southeast Seattle (3700 S. Alaska St.). The event is completely free and includes activities for all ages and abilities.

“Big Day of Play is our signature event at Seattle Parks and Recreation,” said Christopher Williams, Interim Superintendent. “This free event supports community members in enjoying the health benefits—both physical and mental—of connecting with others through active recreation, and it helps show adults and kids how much fun there is to be had in our parks and open spaces.”

The event will showcase active recreation booths and activities, including basketball, wheelchair rugby, goal ball, adaptive play equipment, rainbow bingo and much more. Community members can also enjoy cultural music and dance presentations throughout the day. Discover your inner athlete while enjoying the sounds, smells and foods from a range of communities.

Additionally, we are inviting everyone to hop down to Mt. Baker Rowing and Sailing Center to try out sailing, rowing and stand-up paddle boarding.

The Big Day of Play is presented by Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Get Moving Initiative, which supports local groups in offering innovative and culturally relevant events and projects to increase participation in community sports, recreation and physical fitness activities that serve under-resourced communities. Funding for the Get Moving Initiative is provided by the Seattle Park District.

This year’s Big Day of Play sponsors include Kaiser Permanente, City of Seattle, the Associated Recreation Council, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Bartell Drugs, 4Culture, Lowe’s and Cedar Grove.

If you’re interested in volunteering or participating as a vendor at Big Day of Play, please visit www.bigdayofplay.com.

Free transportation is available – more information here.

More information can be found at bigdayofplay.com and on the event’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/bigdayofplay/.

5 Ways Cooking Benefits Your Mental State

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Chef Zipora Einav

It’s no secret that cooking healthy food provides benefits to our bodies, but there’s also evidence that the act of preparing meals can benefit our minds as well.

Mental health experts credit cooking with helping to relieve depression, anxiety, eating disorders and other conditions. As various forms of meditation have become in vogue as ways to relax in our busy world, cooking is joining that genre, according to health professionals, working adults and people who cook for a living.  “Cooking at its core is comprehensive meditation with the assurance of a good, healthy meal as the reward,” says Zipora Einav (www.chefzipora.com), a chef to celebrities and  author of Recipe for a Delicious Life. “Cooking can lift you to a meditative place you often don’t get in the outside world. It starts with the environment you create in your kitchen. Mine is filled with music. Combining cooking with music provides the optimal environment to experience the many benefits of meditation.  “However you cook, do it with real peace and genuine happiness for yourself in mind. You’re giving to others; now give some of this to yourself.”
Chef Zipora lists five mental health benefits that cooking brings:

  • Relieves stress. Cooking can clear the head and relax the body. Family therapist Lisa Bahar told Psychology Today that a mindfulness on the moment – kitchen tasks such as chopping and stirring – makes the act of cooking meditative. “You are present in the task, doing something physical, and not distracted by the stresses of the day,” Zipora says. “It’s a nourishing, centering act that gets you to slow down.”

 

  • Gives joy. It’s easy to dismiss cooking as just another household chore, but you may derive joy from cooking that you don’t get from mundane tasks. “Cooking is an innately rewarding experience,” says Zipora. “You can enhance it however you like. Music happens to be the seasoning of my life. Classical puts me in a zone when I’m cooking. When you’re enjoying working in the kitchen and listening to your favorite music, all of a sudden you’re not just cooking, it’s like you’re flying with your feet on the ground. Cooking has all the ingredients of good vibrations.”

 

  • Provides better brain health. The clearest link between cooking and mental health is good nutrition; numerous studies have found compounds like antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamins and minerals found naturally in food can help protect your brain. “It’s easier to control the quality of your diet when you prepare much of the food yourself,” Zipora says.

 

  • Makes you more creative. Part of the fun of cooking is thinking outside the box. “Cooking should be considered an art, and with new ingredients, you can explore new areas of cooking and surprise your family with a meal that they will have never seen coming,” Zipora says. “Perfect recipes, come up with new ones, and let your creative juices flow.”

 

  • Boosts self-confidence. “You feel a strong sense of accomplishment when you’ve prepared something satisfying,” Zipora says. “When you’ve prepared a nice meal for several people that confidence will surge, and it can spread into other areas of your life. It will inspire you to try new things.”

“Cooking without a doubt nourishes your psychological well-being,” Zipora says. “At the end of a long work day, it soothes the soul and the mind.”

About Chef Zipora Einav

Chef Zipora Einav (www.chefzipora.com) is an accomplished private chef who has cooked for some of Hollywood’s most notable celebrities – Bob Hope, Jack Nicholson, Mariah Carey, Pierce Brosnan, Scarlett Johansson – and for professional athletes, including former National Football League star Donovan McNabb. She is the author of Recipe for a Delicious Life, which includes recipes, a classical music CD titled Music for a Delicious Life, and her anecdotes and adventures while travelling the world as a private chef. She founded her company, Chef Zipora Enterprise – Comfort Food in Harmony with Your Health ™ to improve people’s lives by empowering them to eat well and embrace a healthy lifestyle. The company achieves this through its food, music products, books and edutainment programs.

Cooking For Mom on Mother’s Day Gives Kids Food For Thought

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Taking mom out for brunch or dinner is a traditional way to celebrate her on Mother’s Day. But there’s another way that incorporates food, and it can be fun for the family as well as food for thought for the kids.

In other words, when you involve the children in the meal preparation on Mother’s Day, it might lead to a lifelong interest in cooking. The idea, says a chef to the celebrities, is to ingrain healthy nutritional habits and other life skills through involving the kids more in the kitchen.

“Giving mom a nice day by preparing a tasty recipe, and the kids having fun doing it, is a great gift for both the children and mother,” says Zipora Einav (www.chefzipora.com), author of Recipe for a Delicious Life. “It may even mark the beginning of an interest in cooking, along with all the benefits of learning to eat healthy and do things for others.

“It’s helpful to their self-sufficiency and self-confidence. They’ll become well-versed in how to help their future family eat healthy and have fun making meals together, because the heart of a family is in the kitchen. And a lot of families are so busy these days, they don’t spend enough time in there together or at the kitchen table.”

Chef Zipora offers a tasty recipe for Mother’s Day that the kids can have fun preparing and serving.

The Kelly Family’s Blueberry Loaf

Ingredients – cake:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons lemon peel

¾ cup buttermilk

½ cup coconut oil

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup fresh blueberries

Ingredients – lemon glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 8½-inch x 4-inch bread pan with olive oil. In a bowl, mix flour, salt and baking powder.

In another bowl, combine the sugar and lemon peel. Rub together with your fingers until the mixture feels like sand. Then add to the dry ingredients and mix well.

In a second bowl, combine the buttermilk, coconut oil, eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Mix well and then slowly add to the dry ingredients. Gently fold in the fresh blueberries, and don’t overmix.

Pour the mixture into the bread pan. Bake 65-70 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on rack for 15 minutes, then remove the cake from the loaf and continue to cool.

To make the lemon glaze: In a bowl, mix the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Spread onto the cooled blueberry loaf.

Din Tai Fung & Jack’s BBQ join the lineup at Safeco Field

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Din Tai Fung & Jack’s BBQ join the lineup at Safeco Field

Centerplate & Chef Ethan Stowell’s collaboration continues to bring creative, restaurant quality food to the ballpark
Seattle’s favorite spot for noodles and dumplings and the best Central Texas BBQ this side of Waco are coming to Safeco Field for the Seattle Mariners 2018 season as Din Tai Fung and Jack’s BBQ join the menu lineup.

Centerplate, the Mariners hospitality partner, and noted Seattle restaurateur and Safeco Field consulting chef Ethan Stowell are continuing their now eight-year collaboration that has earned Safeco Field a reputation for fresh, locally-inspired, restaurant-quality food in a ballpark setting.

“Seattle maintains an incredible food scene, so every year when we decide how we are going to tweak the food and beverage items that we offer at Safeco Field, we visit local restaurants and sample the menus for ideas,” said Centerplate General Manager Steve Dominguez. “The new partners this year, combined with chef Stowell and the new menu item created by Executive Chef Taylor Park and his team, will only serve to enhance the Safeco Field experience.”

Din Tai Fung (Intentional Wok, Section 132, Main Level)

“Phenomenal,” “delectable,” “little pillows of heaven,” have all been used to describe the food at Din Tai Fung, the Taiwan-based chain that consistently draws long lines at its four Seattle area restaurants. Taking over the Intentional Wok space, Din Tai Fung will serve pork wontons with spicy sauce, wonton soup, steamed traditional bao buns filled with pork, or a vegetarian option with bok choy, tofu, mushrooms and vermicelli noodles. Garlic string beans, chicken fried rice, hot and sour soup and boba tea with tapioca pearls round out the menu selection.

Jack’s BBQ (The ‘Pen)

Central Texas-inspired BBQ via Seattle’s SODO neighborhood is coming to The ‘Pen. Pit Master and native Texan Jack Timmons has perfected the art of low and slow smoking over hardwoods to create some of the most delectable dishes this side of Waco. Safeco Field offerings include beef brisket sandwich, pulled pork, Jack’s own smoked jalapeño-cheddar sausages, served on a bun or hand dipped in Jack’s own buttermilk hush puppy batter and fried. There’s also burnt ends, Frito pie and Jack’s own hush puppies.

Dynamite Chicken (The ‘Pen)

Ethan Stowell’s concept, from his Bramling Cross restaurant in Ballard, has an updated menu this year with a fried chicken sandwich, with or without Chef Stowell’s own spicy sauce; hot wings with spicy sauce; tater tots topped with Beecher’s cheddar cheese, bacon, garlic and spicy yellow peppers; and jalapeño poppers. He’s also taken garlic fries, a ballpark favorite, to a new level with fresh garlic and parmesan cheese. Order them with a side of crispy chicken tenders.

On Deck Donuts (Near Frozen Rope Ice Cream Sandwiches, Section 132, Main Level)

For those with a sweet tooth, On Deck Donuts offers house-made mini donuts and jumbo donut bites with your choice of toppings and dipping sauces including maple syrup and bacon, caramel sauce, powdered sugar or frosting.

Sandwiches, Lobster Rolls & More

The Sultan of Sandwich (near Section 105, Main Level), Safeco Field’s destination for meaty, meal-sized sandwiches is adding three new options: pork meatball with house-made marinara sauce; Cubano with pulled pork, ham, Swiss cheese and house-made mojo sauce; a classic Reuben with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing on a rye baguette.

Sound Seafood (Club Level, Section 249), already home to fresh seafood offerings like true cod fish & chips and Dungeness crab sandwiches, will now offer lobster rolls featuring delicate claw meat dressed with garlic-celery aioli on a King’s Hawaiian roll.

As if Jack’s BBQ wasn’t enough for the meat eaters, Holy Smoke BBQ (Section 119, Main Level & Section 313, View Level) has house-smoked longbone beef ribs on a bed of coleslaw with Jack’s mild or spicy sauce. It’s a meaty meal for one or more.

Cans & Craft Beer

Safeco Field boasts an outstanding selection of beer including drafts from craft breweries from around the Northwest, barrel aged and cask conditioned ales, domestic and premium brews on tap and in cans. In addition to Happy Hour in The ‘Pen, which offers 16oz beers for $6.50 up until game time, 10 locations around the ballpark offer a selection of 12oz cans for $5 and $6.

Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine

Washington’s own Chateau Ste. Michelle is new to Safeco Field this season. The award-winning 14 Hands varietals are available at concession stands, First Base Vine (Main Level, near Section 126), clubs and restaurants throughout the ballpark including Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet and Rosé. Available by the glass and full bottle carafe.

About Centerplate

Centerplate is a global leader in live event hospitality. “Making It Better to Be There®” for more than 116 million guests each year at more than 300 prominent entertainment, sports and convention venues across North America, Europe and the United Kingdom. Centerplate has provided event hospitality services to more than 30 official U.S. Presidential Inaugural Balls, 14 Super Bowls and 22 World Series. Visit the company online at Centerplate.com, or connect via Twitter @Centerplate, Instagram @Centerplate, or Facebook/Centerplate.

About Ethan Stowell Restaurants

Ethan Stowell is the executive chef and owner of Ethan Stowell Restaurants in Seattle. His food philosophy is all about keeping it simple, using fresh ingredients and allowing the food to do the talking.

His highly acclaimed restaurants include Tavolàta, How to Cook a Wolf, Anchovies & Olives, Staple & Fancy Mercantile, Ballard Pizza Company, Rione XIII, Bar Cotto, Mkt., Red Cow, Frēlard Pizza Company, Bramling Cross, Marine Hardware, Tavolàta Capitol Hill, and Ballard Pizza Company SLU, as well as Goldfinch Tavern in the Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle.

Stowell was named one of the 2008 Best New Chefs in America by Food & Wine magazine and was chosen as the Best New Chef All-Stars in 2013. He and his wife and business partner Angela were the recipients of the 2016 Richard Melman Innovator of the Year Award.

Since 2010, chef Stowell has consulted with Centerplate on the Safeco Field food and beverage program. This collaboration has won Safeco Field the reputation for serving locally-inspired restaurant-quality food in a ballpark setting. In addition to Dynamite Chicken, Ballard Pizza Company, Holy Smoke BBQ and Sound Seafood, Stowell originated the “Northwest Mex” concept for the popular Edgar’s Cantina and Edgar’s Tacos. He has also created menu items featured at Safeco Field Sausage Company, Hit It Here Café and in the Private Suites.

:: Black Love Seasoning ::

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A Bold Seasoning Blend of Warmth and Sweetness that is Down to Earth with a little bit of a Spicy Kick…..just like Black Love!

Created by Chef Dayo and inspired by the love she and her Husband share, “Black Love” was first given as their Wedding Favor the Autumn evening of 2016. “Black Love” quickly became a favorite signature spice blend because of its uniqueness in flavor, versatility, and the love it represents. From just being sprinkled on popcorn, added to enhance roasted vegetables, or used as a wet rub on grilled or braised meats, Black Love surely adds a taste you will remember!

Black Love is sold in a 6oz container for $10. To order yours, please click on the “Buy Now” link below.

Dayo (“Dah-yo”) is the Owner and Executive Chef of DayoSense Catering in Seattle, WA. Her food balances the heart and soul of the South and the celebration of ingredients one finds with Italian cuisine. A native of Seattle, Dayo graduated from University of Washington with a degree in Architecture. However, after being a designer for 8 years, her passions guided her to the exciting medium of food. Always the one to create and enjoy atmospheres of warmth and family over food she started sharing her love of cooking by serving dinners to-go, promoting Seattle families to “Stop, Eat and Fellowship”. After graduating with gold cord honors from the International Culinary School Art Institute of Seattle, Dayo hit the ground running developing her catering business DayoSense, and joining the ranks of Chefs speaking on behalf of healthy foods and nutrition for the African American community. She enjoys creating celebrated comfort dishes with fresh, seasonal and local ingredients. Through cooking classes, mentorship, and hands on training, Dayo is in action about having a legacy of genuine love and joy for excellent customer service, moving and shaking in the kitchen, and creating memorable catered events.

Chef Dayo is a proud member of:

National Association of Catering Executives
Minority Women Business Enterprise
American Heart Association Chef Representative
Art Institue of Seattle Professional Advisory Committee
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

 

Restaurant Success workshop provides free guidance for entrepreneurs

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The Seattle Office of Economic Development’s Jennifer Tam welcomed the first Restaurant Success workshop of 2018 with a realistic, but optimistic, idea of what it’s like to open a food service business in the city. “There are about twice as many restaurants per person in Seattle as the rest of the state,” she explained. The information participants learned in the following two-hour class helped prepare them to succeed in this competitive, growing industry.

The Restaurant Success program is an effort between the City of Seattle, King County, the State of Washington and the Seattle Restaurant Alliance to improve the experience of opening or expanding food businesses in Seattle. The program provides online resources to clarify various requirements that entrepreneurs will face as they prepare for their first customers. Over-the-phone interpretation support is also available in over 200 languages.

Restaurant Success Orientation workshops, held at various times throughout the year with different partner organizations, are an opportunity for those interested in starting or expanding a food business to get information, ask questions, and meet peers who are facing similar situations. Hosted this month at the Greater Seattle Score offices, the class was attended by a small group of people interested in the food industry.

Over the course of the orientation, participants learned the basic first steps to opening a business and were guided through the various regulatory processes they would have to complete to open different kinds of food businesses. Farmers market vendors, for example, go through different processes and agencies than brick-and-mortar restaurants.

As Seattle’s economy booms, our restaurant industry is doing the same. Top view of Ethiopian injera - a spongy sourdough flatbread made of fermented teff flour, spread flat over a communal pan (a large platter) and topped with several kinds of wats (stews) and vegetables.The Restaurant Success program makes the process of opening or expanding a new food business accessible to those who may have little experience or resources, with the goal of creating a more equitable industry in which those from all backgrounds can succeed.

If you missed this workshop, mark your calendar for Thursday, February 15, when another Restaurant Success Orientation will be held at the Rainier Beach branch of the Seattle Public Library. You can also check out the Restaurant Success website, or reach out to Jennifer Tam at jennifer.tam@seattle.gov or (206) 684-3436.

Help feed salmon at Carkeek Park with the Carkeek Watershed

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There are 30,000 Chum salmon eggs incubating at Carkeek Park right now, and another 35,000 salmon fry will be arriving on January 16! Carkeek Watershed salmon program is in need of volunteers, and lots of them, to help feed these very small salmon.

Support our local ecosystem and help restore wild salmon runs to Carkeek Park! The Carkeek Watershed is in need of volunteers who can offer a once-a-week commitment of 30-45 minutes from January to May to feed the salmon. Volunteers will need to take a 90-minute training; however, no particular experience is necessary. Friends and family are welcome to join you during your volunteer shift. See this link for a basic rundown of what your volunteer duties would entail: carkeekwatershed.org/fish-feeding-procedures/.

For more information or to sign up to volunteer, contact the Carkeek Watershed at CWCAP@CarkeekWAtershed.org or 206-235-7431.

New Campaign Calls on McDonald’s to Hold the Antibiotics from Their Meat Supply Chain

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The consumer and public health advocacy organization WashPIRG Foundation is calling on McDonald’s to commit to a concrete timeline to phase out routinely using medically-important antibiotics in its beef and pork supply chains. The WashPIRG Foundation is singling out the iconic fast food company because McDonald’s has an outsized influence as the biggest purchaser of beef in the United States, and it has a vague long-term antibiotics plan. Health experts, including the World Health Organization and American Academy of Pediatrics, warn that the routine use of antibiotics on animals that aren’t sick fuels drug-resistant bacteria, a major health threat to humans.

“Protecting antibiotics requires action, not reaction. If we don’t act now to preserve the effectiveness of these medicines, we’ll face a world in which common infections once again kill” said Elise Orlick, Director of WashPIRG Foundation. “The Big Mac can make a big dent in stopping the misuse of antibiotics in our food system.”

“We are seeing an increasing number of patients with multi-drug resistant infections, which are difficult to treat due to limited antibiotic options,” said Dr. Afrah Sait MD, Infectious Disease Fellow at Tufts Medical Center. “In order to prevent bacteria from becoming resistant and ensure our antibiotics remain effective for patients who need them, it is critical for all of us to carefully consider when and how antibiotics are used and employ them only when absolutely necessary for saving lives.”

As part of the national campaign launch, U.S. PIRG Education Fund has started gathering signatures on a petition urging McDonald’s to take action on its beef and pork supply chains. Nearly 10,000 people have already signed on in support. The message is clear: a commitment from McDonald’s to stop selling beef and pork raised with the routine use of antibiotics will help protect our ability to treat infections and save lives.

McDonald’s recently released a vision for phasing routine antibiotic use out of its entire meat supply chain globally, but it has yet to commit to a timeline for making that vision a reality.  

To McDonald’s credit, the company stopped serving chicken raised with medically-important antibiotics in 2016, ahead of schedule. At the time, consumer and health advocates, including WashPIRG Foundation and partners, applauded the company’s actions and influence. Now, 14 of the top 25 restaurant chains in the U.S. have committed to no longer source chicken raised with routine antibiotics, according to the Chain Reaction report.

“We convinced McDonald’s to stop serving chicken raised on life-saving medicines,” noted Orlick. “Now, it’s time for the biggest burger chain in the country to make the same commitment for all the meat they sell. Doing so will help protect doctors’ ability to treat infections and save lives.”

The latest numbers from the Food and Drug Administration show sales of medically-important antibiotics to use on food animals decreased from 2015 through 2016, marking the first decline in year to year sales on record. The decline suggests that restaurants’ new attitude toward antibiotics is making an impact. The FDA data also separates antibiotic sales by species for the first time. It shows significant differences among the percentage of medically-important antibiotics going to chicken, cattle and swine — chicken accounts for only 6% of sales, while beef accounts for 43% and pork for 37%.  

Some companies including Chipotle, Subway, Panera Bread, Niman Ranch and Applegate have already moved away from all meat raised with routine antibiotic use, or are in the process of doing so. If McDonald’s, which sells a billion pounds of beef in the U.S. each year and a significant amount of pork, commits to only purchase beef and pork raised without misusing antibiotics, we can take a significant step in ensuring that antibiotics are preserved for treating sick people.

Background info on antibiotic overuse on farms:

Millions of Americans get sick each year with antibiotic resistant infections and at least 23,000 of them die. A recent study estimates that by 2050, drug-resistant bacteria may kill more people worldwide than cancer kills today. Some of the biggest users of antibiotics are large, industrial farms, many of which routinely give antibiotics to livestock and poultry even when animals aren’t sick. Approximately 70% of medically-important antibiotics sold in the U.S. are for use on food animals. To keep antibiotics working, we need to limit their use to situations when animals are sick, or to control verified infectious disease outbreaks on the farm.

Free African Heritage Cooking Classes Spearhead Oldways’ Black History Month Celebrations

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February is Black History Month, and here at Oldways we celebrate the month the way we celebrate most things: With a focus on food. It is the perfect time to discover why its savory flavors and naturally healthy features make African heritage cuisine the next big food trend.

To commemorate Black History Month, Oldways is challenging everyone to enjoy at least one dish, at home or at a local restaurant, that is inspired by the cuisines of African American ancestors and Oldways’ African Heritage Diet Pyramid. There are numerous ways to get involved, such as:

  • Attending a regional A Taste of African Heritage (ATOAH) cooking class series, which addresses increased rates of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity in African American populations and is having a significant health impact in communities around the country: 62% of students have lost weight, 30% have reduced blood pressure, and 53% have lost inches from their waist. Boston, Houston, Dallas, and Philadelphia are just a few of the cities hosting classes in February—our directory has a full list, and this video provides a wonderful overview.
  • Venturing out to a new restaurant serving healthy, traditional food; from Ethiopian to Ghanaian, Jamaican to Cuban, and even Southern style. Our up-to-date Dine-Around-Town guide lists African heritage restaurants across the country.
  • Preparing meals at home, whether it’s trying a brand new recipe or using simple food swaps to incorporate the flavors and benefits of traditional ingredients.
  • Teaching others about the health and nutrition of the African heritage diet. Anyone can sign up to teach an ATOAH class, and health professionals can earn 2 hours of CPE credits by taking Oldways’ African Heritage & Health Course.

 

AFRICAN HERITAGE DIET

The African Heritage Diet is a way of eating based on the healthy food traditions of people with African roots. This healthy way of eating is powerfully nutritious and delicious, and naturally meets the guidelines experts recommend for supporting good health.

AFRICAN HERITAGE DIET PYRAMID

The ancestors of African Americans brought many wonderful food traditions to parts of the Caribbean, South America, and the southern states of the U.S. Maybe these were your great, great, great grandparents. Over the generations, many of these food traditions have been lost, with the influences of modern American eating habits. And our health has suffered because of this loss.

As the African Heritage Diet Pyramid illustrates, this diet is based on whole, fresh plant foods like colorful fruits and vegetables, especially leafy greens; tubers like yams and sweet potatoes; beans of all kinds; nuts and peanuts; rice, flatbreads and other grain foods, especially whole grains; healthy oils; homemade sauces and marinades of herbs and spices; fish, eggs, poultry and yogurt. It’s naturally low in processed sugar, unhealthy types of fats, and sodium, and includes only small amounts of meats and sweets.

Whether we look to Virginia or Jamaica, Nigeria or Brazil, we find this overall healthy eating pattern shared by all of their culinary histories, with distinct foods featured by each region. It is this “big picture” framework of the African Heritage Diet Pyramid that all people can use to claim their best health. We invite you to take a new look at your heritage and your health, and to enjoy the foods, and the ways of cooking and eating, that are a part of your healthy heritage.