Keeping Food Healthy

With diabetes prevalent among both Native Americans and African Americans/Blacks, AARP Kansas set out to not only call attention to the problem, but also to do something about it.

That’s why, for the last three years, AARP Kansas has worked with the American Association of Indian Physicians (AAIP) to sponsor a cooking class for members of the four federally recognized indigenous tribes in Kansas (e.g., Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, Kickapoo Nation of Kansas, Sac and Fox Nation, and Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation).  Each year AARP has brought in Richard Hetzler, renowned and award winning executive chef from the Mitsitam Café at the Smithsonian Institute, to teach the participants how to cook a healthy meal using traditional indigenous foods.  The event takes place at the Prairie Band Potawatomi Casino in November.  Once the food is prepared, the cooks share the meal with invited guests.  This year’s menu included a fluffyegg white frittata sitting atop a bed of baby greens topped with apple cider reduction, Adobo braised buffalo short ribs, celery root puree, chili roasted carrots, and, for dessert, flourless almond honey cake with a bitter sweet chocolate chili sauce and citrus yogurt sauce.  Along with the cooking class, participants receive information about eating healthy, the importance of exercise and resources on how to manage chronic illnesses like diabetes.  As a result, participants have reported shifts in behaviors including substituting high fat/sugar ingredients for more healthy ones, increasing physical activity, weight loss and generally healthier living.

Building on this success, AARP Kansas joined forces with the Topeka Chapter of the LINKS, Inc. and the Kansas African American Affairs Commission (KAAAC) to sponsor a cooking class geared primarily toward African American/Black women who have diabetes or cook for people who have diabetes.  Owners of small food-related businesses in the Kansas City area were also invited to participate as a result of AARP’s partnership with the Small Business Administration in the Encore Entrepreneur program.  The cooks met at the Culinary Center of Kansas City in Overland Park in December, to learn from Chef Rock Harper of Hell’s Kitchen TV fame.  After learning more about chronic illnesses and how to manage them from AARP volunteer and nurse Annette Billings, the cooks got to work preparing Cornish game hens, baby kale salad and sweet potato pie.  The cooks and their invited guests were then treated to the delicious meal while they heard from Health and Human Services Region 7 Director Stephene Moore who provided information and answered their questions about the Affordable Care Act.