FOOD & HEALTH
Helping Hands Community Garden
This garden is located on Viking Lane near Huntington North High School. It is a collaboration between Purdue Extension, Lions Club, Huntington County Community School Corporation and Stan Bippus, with many local business donating plants and seeds.
If you are interested in helping to maintain or teach others about the garden, please contact Karen Hinshaw at 260-358-4826 or by email at kdhinsha@purdue.edu.
The garden is open for harvesting!
We will be open for harvest on Mondays and Fridays each week from 9:00am-11:00am. If you cannot come during these times, please call our office to schedule a time to harvest with us, 260-358-4826.
Click here for the form to complete if you would like to volunteer at the garden.
Cooking with Love is a cooking class that started meeting once a month in June of 2009. Love INC, Purdue Extension's Family Nutrition Program and A lo Nuestro collaborated to meet a need in the community. The class began to teach Love INC clients how to use tortilla flour they were receiving from the food pantry. The cooking class has expanded due to demand and requests for more classes. In January 2010, there were enough participants interested that four classes were being offered each month. In September 2010, a fifth class started in Warren, Indiana in coordination with the Bread of Life Food Pantry. Starting in September of 2012 six classes are offered each month.
To sign up to attend a class, please call Purdue Extension at 260-358-4826 or email kdhinsha@purdue.edu.
Exploring the Food Pyramid with Professor Popcorn
Purdue Extension in Huntington County is collaborating with Parkview Huntington YMCA, United Way of Huntington County and Parkview Hospital Foundation to teach every student at Andrews Elementary School about health and wellness. Each student is able to participate in physical fitness with YMCA staff and nutrition education with Extension staff. This program began in November 2010 and continues throughout the school year. The curriculum utilized for nutrition education is Exploring the Food Pyramid with Professor Popcorn.
Dining with Diabetes Cooking Classes
Ø 8.1% of Indiana’s adults (400,000) reported having been diagnosed with diabetes compared to the national average of 7.5%.
Ø It is estimated that 3% of the Indiana population has undiagnosed diabetes.
Ø Diabetes was the 6th leading cause of death in Indiana in 2005. It was the 4th leading cause of death for African Americans, 7th for Caucasians, and 6th for Hispanic/Latinos.
Ø Individuals with diabetes incurred an average expenditure of $11,744 per year ($6,649 attributed to diabetes), which is about 2.3 times higher than what expenditures would be in the absence of diabetes. Assuming that the 400,000 Indiana adults with diagnosed diabetes have similar medical costs, over 4.5 billion dollars would have been spent on medical care with about 2.7 billion dollars directly attributed to diabetes in 2006.
To help address this health issue, a Dining with Diabetes Cooking Class is offered through the Huntington County Purdue Extension Office and Parkview Huntington Hospital. For more information, please call 260-358-4826 or email kdhinsha@purdue.edu.
Recipes
Click links below to view recipes
Mexican Chicken Soup
Helpful Links
Grocery Shopping on a Budget
Family Nutrition Program
Food Safety
Freezing Fruit at Home
Freezing Vegetables at Home
Drying Foods at Home