The balancing act of creating healthy, budget-friendly family meals is on the menu at St. Clair County Library System on Feb. 25, when MSU Extension hosts the Healthy Choices for Everybody program.
The program will take place from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 25 and March 4 and 11 at the Port Huron Main Library. Healthy Choices for Everybody is taught by Carol Bublitz, a community nutrition instructor at the MSU Extension St. Clair County Office. It encourages adults to learn how to cook and eat healthily on a budget, as well as how to keep food safe.
Reading food labels, the importance of whole grains, reducing sodium and understanding added sugars will also be taught through the course. Additionally, some basics of physical activity will be taught.
Mike Mercatante, the library’s community relations coordinator, said via email that the library has worked with Bublitz previously on healthy eating programs. This included a fall 2024 program called Eat Like Spock, Healthy Living. He anticipated that registration spaces in the current Healthy Choices for Everybody program would fill up quickly.
“The SCCLS likes to offer a wide variety of programming to our patrons. Nutrition and healthy lifestyles are important to all of us, and the new year is usually a time when people make resolutions to improve their lives,” Mercatante said. “It seemed like a good idea to time this series early in the year. Working with Carol in the past, we knew she would be able to put on a great program for the community.”
Bublitz said MSU Extension St. Clair County offers Healthy Choices for Everybody as part of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) food assistance program. She said the information in the program is for the general public, but as the program is funded by SNAP, the goal is that half of the audience consists of people who are eligible for or use food assistance.
Bublitz also said nutrition information presented in the Healthy Choices program can help bring people up to date on nutritional guidelines and standards, which change every five to 10 years.
“The guidelines have changed over time. Much of what we learned in the past has not been fine tuned or polished up, and I bring it up to current standards. For example, when I was raising my children there were four food groups. Now there are five,” Bublitz said.
The focus, she said, is on creating MyPlate meals following U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines. Those who attend the Healthy Choices for Everybody program will learn how to prepare meals to suit their own tastes with accessible ingredients, while keeping them affordable and healthful.
“So most of the meals, like a MyPlate meal, has each of the five food groups. It’s not high in added sugar or saturated fat or sodium. It’s something that is wallet friendly and something yummy,” Bublitz said.
Those who attend the presentation will also receive information about food storage, food shopping and online resources about preparing healthy meals affordably. Avoiding cross contamination, cleanliness and cooking food to the correct temperature are also addressed. An MSU Extension food safety hotline number is provided, so that anyone who runs into an additional question while cooking at home can easily get an answer.
Bublitz said she likes to glean information from the attendees and adjust her presentation according to their interests and learning preferences.
“It depends on how the group likes to learn. Sometimes I do things like bring in food packages and do a mock shop. Sometimes I bring in store fliers and talk about them. Sometimes we do little games designed to help people make budget friendly choices,” Bublitz said.
For audiences with a family-friendly focus, Bublitz said she includes information about understanding how food is marketed to kids. She teaches families how to use this information to make meals more appealing to kids, such as cool names for dishes and meal presentation focused on color, flavor and texture.
Bublitz will also address how to read and better understand food labels. She said those who attend the Healthy Choices for Everybody program will learn shortcuts for reading food labels to save time while shopping.
“They will learn the difference between naturally occurring sugar and added sugar, how to identify added sugars and how they can use food labels to reduce the amount of added sugar in what they consume,” Bublitz said.
To register for Healthy Choices for Everybody visit stclaircountylibrary.org/events or call 810-987-7323.
Nicole Tuttle is a freelance reporter for The Voice.
