Over the last several weeks, local Philadelphia residents, as well as folks as far reaching as Australia (yes, you read that right!) attended Healthy For Life, a community nutrition and culinary program!

As an initiative of Aramark and the American Health Association, Health Promotion Council teamed up with the Culinary Literacy Center to deliver five sessions of educational programming to jumpstart health and wellness via Zoom.

Led by the charismatic Diana Molina of Health Promotion Council, community members were engaged in nutrition education as well as delicious and simple recipes that everyone was encouraged to try at home. Recipes included a refreshing Simple Persian Salad, a filling Black Bean Burger accompanied by a Mustard Potato Salad. A tantilizing Raspberry-Mango Breakfast Parfait even got sweet tooths' excited about healthier options to kick those cravings!

Over the five weeks, we discussed:

• Compelling reasons why eating a colorful rainbow of fruits and vegetables was important to not just our health, but also beneficial to the environment while being on a shoestring budget.
• Identifying the five basic food groups with corresponding serving sizes was also a main objective.
• Implementing a habit of creating grocery shopping lists prior to going (and also while not hungry!) to the supermarket empowers smart-shopping and prevents unnecessary food waste. 
• Reading and comparing nutrition labels and unit prices, understanding when to buy fresh, frozen or canned foods, and then practicing easy, budget-friendly and healthy meals has been enriching and delicious!
• A limited number of Philadelphia residents were also able to qualify for a gift card intended to off-set the costs of recipe ingredients, encouraging participation.

A second series of Healthy For Life starts in May 2021. Philadelphia residents who attend all five sessions are elegible for an extra incentive at the end of the series. You can view our first Healthy For Life session that was Live Streamed on Facebook to get an idea of how virtual library programming runs and while you're at it, follow us on Instagram!