Employees at the Questar III Main Office have some help in making healthy food choices at work. Students in Lindsay Estaris’ class at Rensselaer Academy have made a set of index cards which lists the nutritional values for every item in the vending machine.
The cards were a project done in conjunction with the Questar III Wellness Committee. Rensselaer Academy Principal Karla McDowell asked Estaris if her class would be interested in doing the project, and the students jumped right in.
The class had photos of everything in the vending machine, and used the website MyFitnessPal.com to locate the nutritional information for each snack. Each student researched several items, then the class worked as a group to put the nutrition values onto index cards along with a photo of each item and laminated them.
Estaris’ students have had quite a bit of practice making healthy food choices even before taking on this project.
The class cooks a meal each Friday, but they do more than just the actual cooking. They research recipes and use “my plate” as a basis to make sure what they’re cooking is balanced and nutritious.
They also talk in class about the importance of making sure what they’re eating is healthy and making smart choices when it comes to their food. They learn about how certain food choices have impacts on their life long term, and that choosing to be healthy means watching what and how much you eat, as well as things like sugar, fat content, and calories.
