Hungry Students Try Cooking for Change

The semester’s last Cooking for Change was held on Tuesday, May 2.  The workshop wrapped up a semester long project geared towards teaching students the fundamentals of nutrition.

The workshops started as a pilot program, and are put on by the Student Association of Nutrition and Dietetics, which partnered with the Student Health Advocate Committee.

The Student Health Advocate Committee was responsible for promoting the events, while the Student Association of Nutrition and Dietetics selected the recipes and topics of discussion at each workshop.

Each workshop has a different focus. Past workshops have taught different techniques for chopping vegetables and cooking various kinds of grains.

The last event focused on proteins.

A student chops onions to be sautéed for her dish. Photo by Ross Vetterkind

Before the cooking began, a short presentation was put on by sophomore dietetics majors and members of the Student Association of Nutrition and Dietetics, Holly Krey, Rachel Kratz and Karen Wethal.

Alison Round, senior dietetics major and president of  the Student Association of Nutrition and Dietetics, said the workshops are meant to show that, “healthy eating can be fun and it can be easy as well, and these are just some examples of how that can be accomplished.”

Students in attendance learned the basics of proteins before jumping in and making their own vegetarian protein dish consisting of red beans and brown rice.

Krey said many students think it’s impossible to get enough protein without eating meat, but assured that the 10 grams of protein in the dish were enough.

Maddie Ahrens, freshman paper science engineering major, said she was motivated to attend because she was running low on meal swipes, but was excited to learn about healthy ways to eat less meat.

Student Association of Nutrition and Dietetics provided all the ingredients necessary for students to try their hand at their own version of this simple seven-ingredient dish.

Krey said one common misconception that students have is that cooking is expensive.

The high-protein dish was simple, the total cost of the ingredients came out to only $4.56, averaging to $0.57 per serving.

Next semester Round says the workshops will evolve to include nutrition, stress management and physical activity.

Olivia De Valk

Reporter

odeva199@uwsp.edu