Cooking up Ratatouille for School Lunches, Farm to School Style!

re:TH!NK Farm to School and the food service staff from Omro, Winneconne, and Oshkosh schools teamed up last week to prepare and freeze over 1,000 lbs of Ratatouille sauce to liven up the school lunch menus. Locally-grown tomatoes, squash, eggplant, peppers, onions, garlic, and fresh herbs from farms within a 50 mile radius were used to make the sauce. The mounds of beautiful, fresh produce were truly a sight to see! The kitchen staff were eager to prepare this dish from scratch, using new processing equipment purchased through a USDA Farm to School grant, awarded to re:TH!NK last year.
     

Over 12,000 students will have the opportunity to eat the ratatouille in their school lunch in various dishes like quesadillas, wraps, pizza or as a side dish. Fun school events will help promote the sauce, like showing clips of the movie Ratatouille, sending home colorful fliers with nutrition information, recipes and games, and having volunteers hand out samples of the dish while inspiring the children to try it.

The idea (and the recipe) for the ratatouille was borrowed from Chef Monique Hooker, who created this dish for schools in Virocqua, Wisconsin. Thank you, Virocqua! Since all of the vegetables are plentiful and ready for harvest right now, this was the perfect time to make the sauce and freeze it for use later in the year.
re:TH!NK has been working with schools in Winnebago County for the past two years on farm to school programs to bring more fresh, locally-grown and nutritious food to schools to support and encourage healthy eating habits for the students. Farm to school connects the classroom, school meal programs, farmers, and the home to foster a positive attitude towards healthy food. The more local food that can be brought into the schools, the more chances kids have to taste and eat these products.  Students involved in Winnebago County Farm to School programs have been more willing to try new foods; an important first step towards lifelong healthy eating habits! At the same time, farm to school supports local farmers and the local economy.

Associating the ratatouille dish with characters from the popular children’s movie is a way to peak the students’ interest, branding these healthy foods in a way that appeals to them and competing with the mountains of messaging they receive daily for processed, less nutritious foods,.  By allowing students to try new foods in a fun and educational environment, the program encourages them to discover new healthy foods that taste good!

See the ratatouille-making in action!

Active Schools Getting in Gear for the 2014-15 School Year!

In most Winnebago County Elementary Schools, the beginning of August marks a very busy time for administrators, teachers, and other staff as they prepare for nearly 16,000 public, private and charter school students to enter through their doors in just a few short weeks!  re:TH!NK and Winnebago County Health Department are jumping in as well for the excitement of continuing on with sustainability and new implementation of Active School programs throughout the county.  During the 2013-14 school year, we had the opportunity to assist in the implementation of Active Classrooms in over 200 public and private school classrooms, reaching nearly 5000 elementary students in Winnebago County!

Active Classrooms Brain Break at Wilson Elementary School in Neenah, WI!

In addition to these programs, we also implemented some active recess programs, including a recess walking program at Roosevelt Elementary School in Neenah where students can earn charms for every 5 miles they walk!

We look forward to continued collaboration with Winnebago County Elementary Schools and hope to aid in the growth of the Active School programs in Winnebago County to ensure healthy places for our children to learn and grow!  

Summer Fun with the re:TH!NK Youth Coalition

The Youth Coalition has been (and will continue to be) busy this summer! Our focus has been on tobacco prevention and community education.  Many of the members of the Youth Coalition are also involved in FACT. FACT is Wisconsin's Youth Tobacco Prevention Program. A lot of the activities that the youth plan also count as FACTivisms for the Winnebago FACT group. Check out the photos below to see what we've been up to and how YOU can get involved!

World No Tobacco Day Cigarette Butt Clean Up: Menominee Park

Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death globally and is currently responsible for 10% of adult deaths worldwide.

May 31 marked World No Tobacco Day 2014. Youth Coalition members decided that a cigarette butt clean up would be a great activity to do on this day.

The group met at Menominee Park and picked up cigarette butts and related cigarette litter around Little Oshkosh, the park pathways, boat landings, picnic areas, and along the lake shore by the beach. Pictured below are Ally Molinski, Anna Carpenter (FACT Youth Advisor), Jamie Constantine, and Brenna Root (Youth Coalition Coordinator). Grace Halstead and her mom also helped out but did not make it into the photo. The cigarette butts that were picked up in the park will be added to a display the Youth Coalition will use to educate the community about the importance of tobacco free areas and the environmental impact that cigarette butts have on the environment.

Find out more information about the World Health Organzation and World No Tobacco Day across the United States here.

Environmental Scans: A Tobacco Environment Scavenger Hunt

Six youth coalition members took to the streets of Oshkosh and surveyed local convenience stores to find out what types of products the tobacco industry is tying to manipulate youth into buying. The tobacco industry, aka Big Tobacco, spends the majority of their marketing budget in the retail environment to attract new, young user to their products. Youth Coalition members did an environmental scan of their community to see how these products are being marketed in Oshkosh. Pictured below are Kaylyn Stanek, Hannah Schacherl, and Branden Udulutch. Ally and Calista Molinski and Rachel Lee also participated. 

Youth Coalition members found that Big Tobacco companies are placing their deadly products where youth will be exposed to them while shopping at gas stations. One youth member, Ally, was surprised to see the cigarillos in a colorful display right next to the door. Cigarillos are a type of "other tobacco products" and these products are targeted towards a youth audience with bright colors and fruit flavors. Find out more about Big Tobacco's Manipulicious Products here and play the Spot the Not game with FACT!

More Exciting UPCOMING Events!

Oshkosh Riverwalk Cigarette Butt Clean Up

Thursday, July 24, 2014

11:00am - 1:00pm

Meet at the Health Department, 112 Otter Ave. Wear comfortable shoes!

Pollock Pool FACTivism

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

12:00 - 2:00pm

Youth Coalition Meeting

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

New Moon Cafe, Oshkosh

For more information and if you'd like to get involved in the re:TH!NK Youth Coalition, contact Brenna Root at broot@co.winnebago.wi.us.

Substance Abuse: What if...

Even if you do not personally know of a person struggling with a substance abuse problem, we are all affected by it. We tend to focus on just the user when talking about substance abuse and addiction. But let’s stop for a minute and look at the other aspects of abuse.

When it comes to substance abuse, we tend to hold a negative view, blaming the user for their so called “moral downfalls.” What if we stopped and asked ourselves why a person started using drugs in the first place? Substance abuse and addiction are multifaceted; there is no single factor in addiction. While not all abusers become addicts, drug abuse does lead to addiction.

There are many paths that lead to addiction. While most people originally start substance use recreationally and for fun, it can quickly get out of hand. Some pathways to addiction include social and familial interactions, genetic predisposition, age at first use, method of use (injection, smoking, etc), and environmental factors. We must not forget that because a person initially chose to use a substance, doesn't mean they choose to continually use.

Of special note, one aspect of substance use is an undiagnosed mental health condition. Some individuals with a mental health disease use illicit substances to self-medicate. This can be for a variety of reasons; one example is that they do not have access to mental health services.

Addiction is a disease that, depending on the drug, can permanently change the brain’s structure and processes. It can also affect speech, memory, anxiety, and cause other mental health problems. The reasons a person started using drugs is an important factor when developing a treatment action plan for the individual. It is important to focus on the individual as a whole person and not “some junkie” addicted to a certain drug.

Now let’s look at how it is all connected. A person who is addicted to drugs, drives impaired (drugged driving) and is in a traffic accident. Whether or not a person is injured or killed, the resources and outcomes of that event resonate to different agencies. The paramedics and police become involved. Traffic is stopped and backed up; the emergency personnel are put in danger responding to the car wreck. Depending on whether or not a person is killed or extremely injured depends on the care they receive. Hospital personnel and possibly the coroner’s office become involved.

After the immediate emergency is over, law enforcement reconstructs the scene and makes arrests. The impaired driver now enters the judicial system. They can stay there for years depending on the severity of the wreck. This costs tax payers money.  If the individuals do not have auto or health insurance, your premiums will go up. If this wreck caused loss of life or limb, what of the victim’s family? How are they doing? What if a rescue worker was hit?

This is only one example of how everything is connected. We are all in the midst of addiction and most of us have no clue. Addiction affects all aspects of society. Addiction is indiscriminate. By addressing the many avenues of abuse and creating a safe place for honest dialog, we can help those who need it most.

What if...


*If you would like to become involved in addressing substance abuse in Winnebago County, we have the Substance Abuse Committee and the Winnebago Co. Heroin Task Force. We also be holding the Inaugural Rethink Addiction Run 5k September 13, 2014. For more information go to our webpage.

Sexual Health Education

Then end of each semester marks an exciting time for sexual health education in some Winnebago County high schools!  Over the last few years, we have been grateful to partner with Oshkosh and Omro 9th grade health teachers in sharing a more comprehensive sexual health education during the health classes' human growth and development units, specifically about the prevention, testing and treatment of STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections) among the age group of 15-19 year olds.  Why do we place such an important emphasis on this young age group you ask?  By law, certain diagnosed diseases have to be reported to the health department for follow up.  Chlamydia and Gonorrhea are among these.  As you can see by the graph below, we had nearly 200 reported cases of Chlamydia in 2013 in the age group of 15-19 in Winnebago County.  These are again, just the cases that were reported, which means a person would have had to actually gone in to get tested. Since STIs often have no symptoms, there are surly many more cases floating around in Winnebago County that have not been diagnosed or reported.

While in the high school classes, we discuss the importance of delaying sexual initiation of any kind, including anal, oral and vaginal sex, all of which we know can spread STIs.  We also focus on the importance of using protection if engaging in these behaviors such as male condoms, female condoms, and dental dams to aid in the prevention of STIs.  Lastly, we provide information to students on where they can get free or low cost prevention, testing and treatment services and answer any questions they may have.  We look forward to possible expansion into more high schools in Winnebago County!  Remember:

Know your status!  Get yourself tested!  Happy Summer!