Dr. Oz Health Corps Teens Spotted at Brooklyn Food Conference

In the middle of two Health Corps Teen Battle Chefs at the Brooklyn Food Conference Saturday May 12 in Ft. Greene Brooklyn

It was with great delight that I attended the Brooklyn Food Conference this past Saturday. There were  eight floors of activities, talks, demonstrations, education, vendors on all food related topics. In fact it was so large that  I was only able to attend just a couple of talks as I wanted to be sure to stop by as many booths as possible including the Kid's Corner downstairs where a "food fight" was being held that encouraged kids to play with food as a teaching tool! (Check out PlayHarvest.org).
The Future of New York City Food Policy was a panel discussion and with solid suggestions from Ana Garcia, MPA and co- director of NY Academy of Medicine, Joel Berg, Executive Director of New York City Coalition Against Hunger, and moderated by Dr. Freudenberg, Distinguished Professor and Director of the Public Health Program at CUNY. There were two other panelists along with Joy T. Wang, producer at WNYC who covers food and culture. A lively and impassioned talk with solid suggestions and revelatory facts on how New York is failing and succeeding at making real food accessible to all. A heartfelt and informative speech from Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer who has been a tireless advocate for local and sustainable followed. To give you just a small  idea of all the talks and demos I didn't make it to see a list of the agendas covered below.

School Food - How to make it delicious and sustainable
Economics & Business Development - How food is an engine for local economic development
Food & Culture - How the multicultural landscape of New York/USA has on our food  through the lens of race, country of origin, gender, region and even sexuality
Food & Policy - Learning the political landscape of food policy; It's positive and negative effects of people and the planet.
Farming & Agriculture- How Brooklyn urban farms and gardens and rural farms can sustain the population.
Faith- Varied roles that faith communities can play in the food movement by addressing hunger, poverty, land, community & policy. One church that is stepping up to the plate is The Congregational Church of South Hempstead.  There is a Conference for 21st Century Pastors and Church Leaders being held Wednesday,  May 23 from 8:30am to 2:30pm on the topics of Jobs and Investments through Church based social enterprise; The Energy Efficient Church- Stewardship to the Max; Sustainable Agriculture- Next Level Food Ministry. The conference is $40 and in, 416 Woodland Dr., 11550. Includes breakfast and lunch. Call (516) 489 - 3610 to register  learn more or visit CCSH.
Environment - Explore how factory farrming,GMO's and extreme energy exploration create toxins in our food supply
Hunger & Emergency Food - Hunger is a persistent problem right here in the USA & New York. I learned that 1.5 million New Yorkers are missing meals daily with half of them children.
Labor & Social Justice - Inadequate wages are paid to over 2 billion food workers today. Ironically much of the fresh fruit and vegetables they grow are out of reach due to low wages with the incidence of diabetes,heart disease,obesity and more affecting these people. How do we support sustainable jobs in this sector?
Health Nutrition &  Education - A new wave of interactive and educational activities are on the rise teaching children, parents, families how to eat better and why it's important.
To Learn More About the Conference & Support Their Work go here!

Teen Battle B Chefs at BFC

HEALTH CORPS  with Dr. Oz and Usana Health Sciences Represent!

Really for me the most exciting moment for me at the conference was finding myself on the elevator with the Teen Battle B Chefs on the way to the Youth Summit area. I got a jumping up and down in approval and big smiles in a way that only teens can do when I told them I was with Usana Health Sciences. Usana has partnered with Dr. Oz to make learning about where food comes from, how to prepare food in a peer to peer relationship with teens inside schools fun and inspiring. Chef battles, fashion shows -   all food related activities -  catch teens at the critical time when they start laying the foundation for the rest of their lives. Teens learn how food,  nutrition and physical activities (or lack thereof) affects everything from their mood, energy level and weight. The idea is to get them on a path to a healthy and happy life instead of taking shelter of drugs,alcohol and cigarettes to feel better. As we know these habits  are ultimately empty as they rob the human organism of life.  Learn more about Health Corps here
Watch a video of the verdicts on a recent Teen Battle with Dr. Oz, Dr. Wentz and Dave Wentz