Before you reach for a sugary drink for yourself or a member of your family think about this…drinking one 20 ounce soda a day translates to eating 50 pounds of sugar a year!

Last week New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley unveiled a new Health Department education campaign to fight obesity in NYC. “The majority of New York City adults are now overweight or obese, as are 4 in 10 elementary school children and the health consequences are staggering,” said Commissioner Farley. “Sugary drinks are the largest single source of added sugar in the diet, and a child’s risk of obesity increases with every additional daily serving of a sugary drink.”

A TV spot will air on major broadcast and cable TV stations over the next two months reminding New Yorkers about how sugary drinks can lead to obesity, which can cause diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis and some cancers. This latest installment of the NYC Health Department’s “Pouring on the Pounds” campaign was launched at an event in Times Square commemorating the nation’s first Food Day, a day modeled after the popular Earth Day, but focused on healthy food and eating.

In addition to the TV spot, bilingual subway posters will ask New Yorkers to think about how far they would need to walk to burn off the calories from drinking just one sugary drink. A YouTube video shows a man taking that calorie-burning walk across town and asks, “Are You Pouring on the Pounds?”

One message of the campaign states that to burn off the 650 calories of a medium frozen vanilla coffee drink one would need to walk 8 miles. The distance is based on a 160 pound person walking 3.5 mph.

There are many healthier alternatives to a sugary drink.  The “Pouring on the Pounds” campaign encourages New Yorkers to avoid sugary beverages and quench their thirst with water, seltzer or low-fat milk instead.

Could your town or city use a “Pouring on the Pounds Campaign” that talks to the cold and hot sugary drink?

Raquel, as chef and owner of A Pinch of Salt in NYC, offers hands-on cooking instruction to adults and children. She believes in teaching children how to eat healthy. This past summer she volunteered at PS 11, in NYC, teaching a group of 3rd graders how to prepare meals using the crops they sold at their very own farmer’s market. Students worked side by side with Chef Raquel making such things as vegetable crostinis and  Greek salads and enjoyed eating their creations.

She is now participating in a project to revamp school “food” to real cooked foods, as a part of Wellness in the Schools (WITS), which operates the Cook for Kids program in New York City public school kitchens and classrooms, serving 6,500 children. Under the leadership of Chef Bill Telepan, WITS sends culinary school graduates into public school kitchens to prepare fresh meals from scratch and to educate families about the importance of eating whole, unprocessed food.

As a WITS in Residence, Chef Raquel signed on to train public school cafeteria workers to return to slow cooking. The project involves her staying at a school for a year to insure that the the cafeteria staff will feel comfortable continuing the new menus after she leaves. (more…)