To kick-off Nutrition Month 2021, the Tri-County Regional Centre for Education (TCRCE) has partnered with Nourish Nova Scotia to launch “Literally Nutritious.”
The new virtual nutrition literacy program highlights simple and delicious slow cooker recipes for the whole family. “Literally Nutritious” is made possible with the assistance of a community food grant through the Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage.
This program provides a slow cooker, a fresh food box, pantry items, and recipe cards to 30 families throughout TCRCE. The step-by-step recipe cards support many facets of literacy, including reading skills along with the knowledge and skills to cook and enjoy food. A video series has also been created to teach introductory cooking skills using minimal equipment and is available to everyone on the TCRCE website.
“We have brought together some of our region’s “Celebrity Chefs” to participate in the video series,” says Lori Munro-Sigfridson, TCRCE Active Healthy Living Consultant. “Many of our students and families will recognize our chefs because they are administrators from a number of TCRCE schools. The videos guide viewers through each stage of the recipe, from preparation to serving, as well as provide you with a little insight into the cooking talents and traditions of the chefs.”
The creation of this project was the result of a collaboration between a number of partners including, SchoolsPlus, Active Healthy Living, Nourish Nova Scotia, and TCRCE regional staff.
“Nourish is pleased to be involved in this exciting initiative,” says Kayla Thomas, Program Development Coordinator at Nourish Nova Scotia. “Our team has developed and tested delicious recipes for families to enjoy. Cooking together builds resiliency and literacy in children and youth. We are looking forward to learning how participating families have grown together in the kitchen.”
Literally Nutritious aims to increase literacy skills through reading text in recipes, promote healthy eating, and create opportunities for families to spend time together. According to the new Canada’s Food Guide, mealtime is a great opportunity to bring the family together. Eating together as a family benefits everyone and children can especially benefit from regular family meals as they are starting to develop their eating habits and behaviours.
Visit www.tcrce.ca/cook for more info and to view the video series. As well, the Nourish Nova Scotia website offers a number of resources at www.nourishns.ca/food-literacy.
