VA’s “Healthy Teaching Kitchen” program has good tips for all

Staff Report

One of the Veterans Health Administration programs that is spreading across the county is the Healthy Teaching Kitchen concept. In a VA article, Tom Cramer wrote, “You are what you eat. That’s the philosophy at the Fargo VA Medical Center in North Dakota, which is why they have a staff of dietitians dedicated to teaching Veterans how to eat stuff that’s good for them.

“Sometimes people can be intimated by healthy cooking, especially people who haven’t been in the kitchen very much,” said Allison Wanner, a clinical dietitian at Fargo. “So we try to make it easy; we try to break it down into simple steps for our Veterans. We want to give them confidence that they can prepare good, nutritious food for themselves. It seems less daunting to them if they can walk through the process with us.”

Wanner is part of a team that runs the ‘VA Gourmet’ program at Fargo, where Veterans learn the basics of how to eat right.

“VA Gourmet is our interpretation of the VA’s Healthy Teaching Kitchen concept, which is being implemented across the country,” she explained. “We have several dietitians and dietetic technicians who teach the class. Over the last couple of years we’ve worked really hard to evolve it.”

Wanner said that in addition to learning about good nutrition, Veterans are taught such fundamentals as hand-washing, basic knife and chopping skills and the importance of reading food labels at the grocery store. They also learn how to eat, not just what to eat.

“They teach you to put your fork down and chew your food 20 times before you swallow,” said 69-year-old Army Veteran Jim Aasness. “That’s helpful for me, because right now I’m at about 228 pounds. I’d like to get to under 200. So I’ve backed off the bread and pasta and soda. I don’t eat after seven or eight o’clock at night. And I take my fish oil and my calcium, and my multivitamin.”

Aasness said he’s learned a lot during the time he’s been participating in the ‘VA Gourmet’ program.

“They teach you what to eat, and how much to eat,” he said. “It’s all about portion control. They teach you to use a small plate, and not to eat out of a container. They tell you that it’s okay to go out and eat a steak, but just eat half of it and save the rest for later. And eat your fruits and vegetables. And watch your sodium intake, and your carbs.

If you are a veteran, you may want to check out the Healthy Teaching Kitchen at your local VA Medical Center.

But there are lessons in the program for all of us. The “how to eat, not just what you eat” concept is great for all of us. If you are interested in healthy eating, or you are a diabetic, there are plenty of hints in the full article at http://tinyurl.com/nrrg5sb.

You can also take a look, or download Yummy Benefits – A healthy cooking guide at http://www.nutrition.va.gov/docs/YummyBenefitsCookbooknfs.pdf for great, nutritious and healthy recipes that are easy to make. The recipes, collected from VA dieticians across the country, provide full nutritional information for each recipe.

Healthy eating isn’t just for veterans – it’s for all of us.

The Gayly – October 29, 2015 @ 1 p.m.