They got a special treat —seeing culinary arts students demonstrate food cooking and sampling the finished products afterward.
The event was a first time for the CNMI to join the national Food Day event on October 24, The CNMI was just one of the hundreds of Food Day celebrations that took place on Monday, and all activities share the common goal of encouraging people to eat and prepare food using locally grown ingredients, start getting healthy and help reduce the high numbers of diabetes, obesity and other illnesses springing up from an unhealthy diet.
The goal of the Food Day is to transform that American diet and get more people to cook in their homes. This could be an uphill battle and a big challenge as more people get too busy in their work and are finding their way to fastfoods for quick orders, a better option than spending hours they don’t have in the kitchen cooking. Little did they know that this fastfood habits carry a high price that everyone has to pay sooner or later.
Food Day objectives
1. Reduce diet-related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods.
2. Support sustainable farms and limit subsidies to big agribusiness.
3. Expand access to food and alleviate hunger.
4. Protect the environment and animals by reforming factory farms.
5. Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids.
6. Support fair conditions for food and farm workers.
The recipes
Using locally fruits and vegetables from the Sabalu farmers market, Culinary Arts students from the Northern Marianas Trades Institute applied what they learned to come up with creative recipes that are not only healthy but whose ingredients are locally produced.
Xavier Taisacan prepared Boy Choy Salad from a medium sized head of bok choy, green onions, sesame seeds, olive oil and lemon juice and distributed samples in small dishes afterward.
From another table, clients watched Mike Roppul and Allan Lifoifoi cooking up with Egg Fu Yung recipe, a delicious omelet using locally produced chicken eggs, onions, celery, bean sprouts and salt and pepper.
Other students prepared a Savory Pumpkin casserole made from a 2-lb pumpkin, onions, melted butter, salt, ground pepper, eggs, milk and ricotta cheese, and Curried Fruit made with local fruits including bananas, pineapple, mango, and papaya coated with sauce made from brown sugar, corn starch, curry and butter.
The students were glad to see their recipes devoured in no time by the eager clients who got copies of their recipes and vowed to try the recipes in their homes.
CNMI Women, Infant and Children nutritionist and program coordinator Erin Angela Camacho said they originally planned to hold the Food Day event at the Sabalu Market, but changed the venue because of weather conditions.
Camacho said the WIC Program hopes to conduct future food demonstration at the Sabalu Market in Susupe where local farmers sell their produce.
Camacho said that would be a way to encourage the local people to eat local food and start turning away from fast food and other unhealthy food.
WIC is also encouraging their clients to get their fruit and vegetable supplies from the Sabalu Farmers market on Saturdays, and Tuesday market at the Fishing Base in Garapan using the fruit and vegetable vouchers they receive every month.
“We hope to come up with more recipes using local ingredients, and we also encourage local households to keep on experimenting with our local products and share what they come up with others,” Camacho said.
Copies of the recipes are available at the WIC Clinic on Navy Hill during office hours. Some of the recipes are already translated to the Chinese language so Chinese clients can also avail of the free recipes.
The CNMI Food Day was held in partnership with the Northern Marianas College-CREES, NMTI and the CNMI-WIC under the Commonwealth Health Corp.
For more information about the WIC and its programs, call 664-4084.
