Join the Columbia Heights farmers market this weekend for a delicious – and bilingual – healthy cooking demonstration with CentroNia’s wonderful Director of Food and Nutrition, Beatriz Zuluaga!
Stop by between 10am and noon to taste some seasonal goodies and learn about the amazing pre-K through 2nd grade programming at the school as well as upcoming workshops for parents on topics like portion control, cultivating healthy habits, reading labels, preparing healthy snacks, and general information on wellness.
A couple of tips for healthy eating:
- Eat fewer processed foods and more fresh foods.
- Choose whole fruits or vegetables over juices – juices have too much sugar and no fiber!
About the chef:
Beatriz is a lifelong food lover. She grew up eating fresh foods with a mother who loves to cook and to try different foods. She has always loved to cook and when she came to this country, Bea started her cooking career. After working in the food industry for several years, she started volunteering in a school and was alarmed by the poor quality of food that children were served:
“I noticed that the days they served hot dogs, ketchup was listed twice on the menu. I was curious and when I asked questions I learned that it was listed once as a condiment and the other time as the vegetable of the day. That day, I decided that I wanted to change the food children were served in school!”
Chef Beatriz found her way to CentroNía. After a year of promoting healthier cooking on the premises, she and her team decided to start educating the teachers to encourage children to try the new foods. The program was a great a success: first teachers started getting involved, then parents and the community, and then the group developed a curriculum for children which eventually became their “Eat Healthy, Live Healthy” campaign.
