May 12, 2020

Sandi Rowland:
And our guests today are Bee Moser from “SNAP Ed New York” and SueAnn Boyd from Cornell Cooperative, Extension Sullivan County. So welcome to both of you. Today we’re going to talk about how families can stretch their food budgets in these times when we’re having many more meals at home. Some families are feeling the crunch on their budgets of having to provide so many meals in their homes. So I will let each of you introduce yourselves and talk about your role in the community. Want to start with SueAnn…

SueAnn Boyd:
Hi, I’m SueAnn Boyd from Cornell Cooperative Extension in Sullivan County, and I work under a grant called ‘Creating Healthy Schools and Communities’. I am tasked with working with the school districts: Liberty Monticello, Fallsburg and Sullivan to incorporate physical activity, nutrition, and policy. Most of the work that I do is on school policy, whether it’s ‘wellness policy’ or ‘healthy meeting guidelines’ for the staff of the schools.

Sandi Rowland:
Great! Well, we’re happy to have you with us and Bee~.

Bee Moser:
Hello, my name is Bee Moser. I also work at Cornell Cooperative Extension here in Sullivan County. I’m a SNAP Ed nutritionist, and I go out into the communities and teach healthy eating, nutrition, everything that has to do with being healthy. Our three core messages are: eat more fruits and vegetables, drink more water, and this doesn’t have to do with nutrition…our third message, has to do with overall health. It has to do with add more physical activity, move more, be more active.

Sandi Rowland:
Great! So I wanted to ask you, what are some of the unique challenges that parents are facing during this time when schools are closed, but school is going on at homes and families are really sheltering in place and having to provide so many meals. What are some of the challenges that you’re seeing families are going through?

Bee Moser:
We see from the SNAP Ed side, we see more and more people applying for SNAP benefits, some of them for the first time. So we have more families that don’t know how to pay their bills. Don’t know where the next meal is coming from.

Sandi Rowland:
So do you have some suggestions and ways that families can do just that? Can help stretch their food budgets to provide nutritious meals and make sure that everybody gets fed appropriately.

Bee Moser:
First of all: the first thing you have to do to save money is make a list. So the most work you do at home before they go to the store. Before you go to the store, you make your list and you stick to it, try to find also at home, still at home, try to find the best prices. So look for sales, look for coupons. You can do all of that online nowadays. Then also it’s important to compare prices and many people don’t know that if you look at the price tag, the price tag has two numbers on it. Usually also two colors and people always go for the big number, but you have to look at the smaller number, which is the “unit price”. With this ‘unit price’, you can compare different brands and different sizes of products. What else…. You can buy in bulk. BUT ~only buy in bulk or only use your coupons if this is something you usually eat, right? It doesn’t make sense to buy something you don’t eat at home. Buy fruits and vegetables in season. When they are in season, they are usually cheaper and they have the highest nutrient value. Then if you go for a canned product, for example, canned beans. Beans are vegetables and proteins so I always call them my superheroes because they cover two food groups. So try to, if you go for canned beans, try to look for low sodium or no sodium added. This is very important: always rinse your beans.

SueAnn Boyd:
Also making, like Bee said, like doing the shopping list, plan out meals for that period of time. Try to come up with recipes that will stretch over a couple of days, like casseroles and stews for more than one meal. The leftovers of roasting a chicken and using it in several recipes. Exactly. So, and you can also go for the low cost options that you buy, like beans and lintels either dried or canned. Then when it comes to vegetables, also cabbage is a very inexpensive option. Carrots are usually cheap year round, sweet potatoes, usually as well. Again, look for low sodium canned goods. For fruits: bananas and apples are usually cheap year round and look for the season for sales and look for fruits and vegetables in season, they are usually lower price.

Sandi Rowland:
So if people are looking for recipes or some other tips on how to do the shopping, and how to feed different varieties, or for food allergies or all kinds of things, what are some resources that you all would recommend that they could go to?

Bee Moser:
SNAP Ed just launched a new statewide website, which has lots of resources. It’s www. SNAPEdNY.org . You can find recipes there. You can even print out the shopping list for those recipes. And we were talking about shopping lists today a lot. So it’s very important to have those handy.

SueAnn Boyd:
Also, at our website for CCE sullivan.org, we have recipes. If you go on the ‘Nutrition and Healthy Families’ on our website and click on the recipes, there’s all different recipes that are SNAP Ed eligible. They are from homemakers around the community. And there’s many different resources. You could even even call us for a recipe. If you have a fruit or vegetable or meat that you just don’t know what to do with, we can find a really great recipe for you. I want to mention if anyone has more questions about healthy nutrition, about food safety, about eating healthy, about fitness, you can join us every Friday in May. We are having an “office hour”. Go to either the CCE Sullivan Facebook or our CCE Sullivan website and you can sign up for that. It’s completely free. You just jump in, jump on our call. It’s an ‘Office Hour’, and you can ask your question and we are there, SueAnn and I will be there to answer it.

Sandi Rowland:
Great. Well, it’s been really a pleasure to talking to both of you and thank you so much for all the work you’re doing in our communities, helping people eat healthier, maintain food safety, and really plan and shop and eat healthy during this time of the pandemic. And of course all the work that you do throughout the year and helping to build a healthier community in Sullivan County. So thanks so much to both of you.