What's for lunch? September 12th 2011

Todays menu features Beef Chili, Brown Rice and Steamed Broccoli.

The beef that we use to prepare our meals is produced locally and grass fed, but what is grass fed beef?

Perhaps the most amazing aspect of grass farming is that the meat offers tremendously significant health benefits. Grass Fed Beef contains high levels of Omega 3’s—the fatty acids that can reduce cholesterol and fight heart disease. In contrast, grain-finished animals from feedlots are high in Omega 6’s—the fatty acids that can raise cholesterol levels. In addition, grass-finished beef offers 400 percent more vitamin A and E than commercial beef, and is rich in beta-carotene and conjugated linoleic acids, both major cancer inhibitors.

Most beef consumed in the US is “grain finished” at large-scale commercial feedlots. Grass-fed beef is raised and finished on an all-natural, grass diet, that results in animals that are much healthier. The cows never receive antibiotics, hormone implants or by-products, so there’s no risk of mad cow disease.

Bon Appetit!

Health & Wellness Fair for Full Time Staff

At HCZ, we place a high value on the health and wellness of children, families and our staff. The growing number of preventable health issues, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure (hypertension) and high cholesterol in our community is cause for action.

Full-time Staff are invited to join us at this educational and interactive event

Date: Thursday, June 9, 2011
Time:  3:00pm — 7:00pm
Location: In the HCZ Gymnasium & Blue Room at 35 East 125th Street

Over 30 participating exhibitors to include; Biometric Screening*; BMI (body mass index) testing; Healthy cooking demonstrations and sampling; Cholesterol screening; Wii fit challenge; Fitness/Life style coaching and Financial planning advisors to name a few…

Give-A-Ways :
Pedometers & Advice on The Walk America Program for first 100 employees who attend.

Raffle Prizes:
Orthotics, Electric Tooth Brushes, Acupuncture Gift, Holistic Health Session, Fitness
Gift, Holistic Health Consultation, Trial Yoga Membership, & Dance Video.

*Full-time staff only. Sign-up is highly recommended to ensure your testing, however, walk-ups are welcomed. Please RSVP to Kenyatta Nobles at 212-234-6200 to sign–up for Biometric Screening or any questions.

News from the Armory

Do you love to dance? Do you want to get into shape while doing something you love? Are you ready to dance yourself into shape? If you answered yes to any of these questions then ZUMBA is for you!

The Harlem Children's Zone Healthy Living Initiative, in partnership with the New York Road Runners Foundation, is pleased to announce that they will be offering adult Zumba classes at the HCZ 369th Harlem Armory. Zumba classes will workout your muscles and burn calories with fun, easy to follow, Latin-inspired dance movements.

Classes will be held every Wednesday starting June 1st and ending on August 24th.
For the month of June classes will be from 7:30pm – 8:30pm. For July and August, classes will be from 6:00pm-7:00pm. All classes will be held at the HCZ 369th Harlem Armory, 40 West 143rd Street between Lenox Avenue And Fifth Avenue.

If you have any questions, please call Shaka Kinard at 212-281-5431 or e-mail hli@hcz.org.

We've got seedlings!

There's always a lot of excitement in the air (not to mention allergens! Achoo!) as the plants and trees that have survived with us through the long winter start to bloom and blossom. Walking around New York the past few weeks it's been impossible not to notice the Pear Trees and Cherry Blossoms showing signs of life from Harlem to Brooklyn. Meanwhile, here at HCZ we've been incubating our own set of seedlings for our Kitchen Garden...and after a few days and weeks of patience...we've got sprouts!

These seedlings will grow up to be some deliciously fresh fruits and vegetables. Plus along the way we'll get to learn about the amazing scientific processes that go on in the soil and the systems that support turning sunlight, air, and water into edible energy. So far we've started lots of tomatoes (Tiny Tim, New Yorker, Fox Cherry, Green Zebra, Goldie), some cucumbers (Big Munchers and Pickling Cucs), Eggplants (Apple Green and Black Beauty), Peppers (Big Jim and Hot Chili), Herbs (Thyme, Tarragon, Dill), some melons (Banana, Iroquois, Jerry Lind), some squashes (Patty Pan Squash and Pumpkins) and some cruciferous vegetables (Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts) to transplant into the garden.

We love the artist illustrated seed packets that we got from the Hudson Valley Seed Library and are excited about the heirloom varieties donated by John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds! What about you? Are you starting to think about growing your own balcony or fire escape garden now that the weather is turning? Or do you want to get your hands dirty in our garden? We would love to give you a tour of what's growing and we're always looking for volunteers to help us with our latest project. Let us know if you want to get involved. Until next time, keep growing and learning and eating well!

Make a Commitment to Wellness!

With your help, our community can change the alarming national trends towards lower life expectancy and obesity for the next generation that the modern American diet and an inactive lifestyle contributes to. We strive to teach our community how to eat for life: to set our children up to thrive and live their best life. We want to help  you develop a healthy relationship to food and an active lifestyle. And we need you to support HCZ's healthy nutrition environment.

Be A Positive Example

Adult members of the Harlem Children's Zone and Promise Academy communities set an example for our children. Whether you are a teacher, a parent or a member of the staff you help our kids learn to recognize food as fuel for their growing bodies and active minds. You can also help us teach the next generation of Harlem's children healthy ways to celebrate their own food traditions as a unique expression of family and culture while modeling what kinds of foods they should be seeking out and piling on their plates. Click to read more about HCZ's Wellness Policy and our Community Food Pledges.

Eat for Life

The basics of a healthy balanced diet are simple, but not always easy to satisfy. Essentially our bodies need a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins to function well. Our bodies also do best when we are active--for kids that means at least 60 minutes of active play a day! We've got lots of opportunities to get active around HCZ for parents, staff and students to take advantage of.

Create Change

Too much of the food that is readily available in Harlem and across the country is heavily processed and full of excessive salt, sugar and chemical additives. Whether you call it fast food or junk food the additives can cause high blood pressure, interfere with mental focus, cause mood swings, interrupt our natural sleep cycles and even contribute to our risk of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. We encourage you to fill your diet with more "whole foods" that are minimally processed and free of all the junk that's snuck its way into the typical American diet.

Simple, not easy

We recognize that changing your diet (especially as an adult) is not an easy task. That's why we're committed to helping you any way we can. Please let us know if you have specific needs or questions about eating well or feeding your family healthfully and we'll do our best to serve your specific needs. In the meantime, check out some of the excellent resources available around the web to help you eat better, get more activity and get involved with movements for creating positive change in our food systems locally and nationally.

Please visit our Wellness Resources to link to some of our favorite sites, groups and tools about healthy eating, living well, and making positive changes for yourself, your kids and your community.

Welcome to HCZ's Wellness Connection

At HCZ Community Wellness and Health is one of our top priorities. We have a variety of programs that work in this arena including the Educated Eaters Program, the Children's Health Fund and the Healthy Living Initiative. Find out more about each of these programs by clicking on the tabs at the top of this page.

One of the toughest challenges facing our children is obesity. Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled, and today, nearly one in three children in our country are overweight or obese. Childhood obesity contributes to adult health problems like diabetes, heart disease and hypertension.

We all want our children to achieve excellence—both in their schoolwork and their quality of life. The Harlem Children’s Zone is firmly committed to creating a healthy nutrition environment that supports and encourages an active lifestyle; we need help from staff, teachers, parents and students to cultivate a consistent message and reinforce healthy habits at HCZ. We tackle this important issue from a variety of fronts like serving healthier foods in the cafeteria, encouraging physical activity, and educating our community about the connection between nutrition and health.

At HCZ and Promise Academy, we are committed to:

1. Feed students a balanced healthy diet that is nutritious, delicious and sets them up to focus and succeed in their schoolwork and thrive in their lives.
2. Teach our community—by education and example—how to relate to food in a healthy way by improving nutrition education to staff, students and parents.
3. Encourage students and all members of our community to understand the relationship between healthy eating, an active lifestyle and their success—in and out of the classroom.

We are excited to get our entire community involved in our efforts to create a healthier environment and this blog is a way for us to all share in the vision and support this important goal. Thanks for visiting! Stop by again soon!