Welcome to Week 3 of National Nutrition Month, which began on March 1, 2025! This year’s theme is “Food Connects Us”. The focus for the third week of March is “Explore the Connection Between Food and Culture”. The important points of this week’s message from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics are:

• Experiment with recipes using different ingredients or cooking techniques. 
• Include your favorite cultural foods and traditions, or try new global flavors. 
• Enjoy your meals with family or friends, when possible.

Cooperative Extension Agents and Educators can bring this message of exploring the connection between food and culture to their communities by promoting opportunities to enjoy meals with friends and family whenever possible and including cultural foods and new recipes using different ingredients and cooking techniques from other cultures in your programming. Two Extension agents who are connecting food and culture in their communities are Cheri Bennett from Richmond County and Demetria Cox-Thomas from Mecklenburg County. Read more about their work below. 

Ways to get the community involved: 

• Arrange a community potluck and have everyone bring a favorite cultural dish to share. Make sure each food group is represented. 
• Host a cooking class or recipe demonstration series that features a different global cuisine at each session. 
• Partner with community organizations to host a food festival or fair showcasing and celebrating your county’s diversity of foods and cuisines. 

For more information about National Nutrition Month and resources from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, visit https://www.eatright.org/national-nutrition-month. This website includes a social media toolkit with weekly graphics and messages ready for you to distribute to your community (note: AND prohibits alteration of NNM social media graphics for public distribution).

Learn more about what Cheri is doing in Richmond County!

Richmond County is working to improve the incidence of chronic disease related to unhealthy diets and lack of exercise. To successfully achieve this goal, it is essential to be mindful of cultural foods when providing an opportunity to learn healthier cooking methods for foods that are enjoyed and rooted in southern culture. Southern cooking traditionally has included foods “rich” in fats, sugar, and sodium. Cheri’s Extension program participants are learning hands-on how to prepare vegetables using healthy oils and prepare them in ways that preserve the most nutrients, such as steaming and roasting. A favorite recipe of the participants has been parmesan-crusted cabbage steaks. It’s a new twist on a vegetable that is traditionally boiled in “fatback meat” for flavor. Unfortunately, the fatback adds saturated fat. The cabbage steak is baked and incorporates thyme, paprika, and balsamic vinegar for flavor. Participants enjoy cabbage without the fat. 

Participants are exploring lean meats such as ground turkey to make southern staples like meatloaf. Even the Med Instead of Meds Mushroom Beef Tacos are great with ground turkey! They are replacing chicken and pork chops fried in heavy oil with baking and air frying. Cheri has also introduced whole grains such as quinoa, whole-grain pasta, and brown rice as healthier side dishes than white rice and traditional pasta.

Participants are learning to replace sodium and sugar with garlic, herbs, spices, and fresh or dried fruit. Participants in the Steps to Health “Take Control” class make an herb and spice blend to take home. This is a great way for them to get acquainted with the smell and taste of herbs and spices and visualize how they would use them in their favorite foods.

“Food is an essential component of every culture. Many of my participants grew up enjoying spices and herbs only during holidays. Through home food preservation and community food and nutrition classes, participants are learning to incorporate spices and herbs to prepare foods throughout the year that are not only representative of their culture but also representative of other cultural traditions, such as chutney, flavored vinegar, and various marinades. Through Med Instead of Meds, they have been introduced to Mediterranean-inspired dishes using fruit such as dates, raisins, mangos, and lemons to make delicious entrées and side dishes that are culturally inspired. The curry quinoa salad is a class favorite and a great example of how island culture can be incorporated into a healthy low-fat recipe!”

Learn more about what Demetria is doing in Mecklenburg County!

Demetria Cox-Thomas is a Registered Dietitian and a Family and Consumer Sciences agent in Mecklenburg County. Demetria leads hands-on cooking classes and shares that is one of her favorite ways to inspire and encourage healthy habits. Demetria notes, “It’s one of the best parts of my job.” Demetria, along with A&T FCS agents and 4-H agents, celebrated Black History Month this year through food with the culinary students at Olympic High School in Charlotte, NC. In three different culinary classes, they guided 75 students through an Oldway’s African Heritage Diet lesson which included a hands-on cooking activity featuring ancient African grains such as sorghum, kamut, and fonio. After Demetria demoed the grains, the students made the other components of the grain bowl & practiced their knife skills, sautéing techniques, and seasoning abilities—without relying on a recipe. This improvisation allowed the students the freedom to get creative and experiment with different flavor profiles. These grains were very unfamiliar to the students. Thus, Demetria notes that so their willingness to try something new was very exciting.

The students learned about the nutrition benefits of these grains, including providing a great source of fiber, B vitamins, protein, and antioxidants. Most of these grains are also gluten free. In addition to making grain bowls, individuals can use these grains in baking, soups/stews, and for a porridge-style breakfast. These grains are very affordable and accessible at your local grocery stores, such as Walmart or your local international grocery stores.

Led by Dr. Warley, Extension Director, the Mecklenburg County Extension Center looks to share more opportunities with communities to allow individuals to learn, share, celebrate and connect over cultural cuisines. The County team also thinks it’s important to share how to incorporate these cuisines into an everyday healthy eating pattern.

“I’ve always had a deep connection with food. Growing up, I watched my daddy  grow veggies in his garden then cook and create delicious meals with those veggies and other local foods from food producers that he was connected with. As an adult, I now eat a plant- based diet and continue to honor my culture and many other cultures through the meals I cook. Food and culture go hand in hand. Cultural food tells many stories about the people who are connected to it. I tell people all the time that the reason I’ve stuck with being plant- based for as long as I have, is because I always discover something new, interesting, and delicious. I’m also a Registered Dietitian, so in addition to growing and cooking food, I now teach others about food in various ways.”

Written by Maggie Martin and Emily Youmans, dietetic interns.

Maggie and Emily are MS Nutrition students at Meredith College and dietetic interns in the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences for the spring 2025 semester under the supervision of Christy O’Connor, Produce Prescription and Diabetes Programs, Extension Associate, and Dr. Basheerah Enahora, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist.