We've got a few real exciting projects happening at TRC at the moment. We're working with YMCA Australia to develop a Nutrition Education and Afternoon Snack Program for the Remote Pools Project (RPP).
The RPP is about promoting healthy communities in remote Australia, specifically focussing on closing the gap in health inequality for First Nations People. They've been achieving great success by providing access to clean pools and swim training. Now, we're working with them to extend this service to include some basic nutrition and cooking education, which will culminate in the children eating a nourishing afternoon snack they've been involved in making. We also want to make it so easy that these snacks can be made at home too.
Penny, our amazing Darwin based Certified Instructor, has been out to Santa Teresa (remote from Alice Springs) visiting community. She's been learning more about our First Nations people in the region, the challenges they are facing and also visiting their Outback store to see what food is available. To say we've learnt a lot from this consultation is an understatement.
Now Penny is at the stage of developing simple recipes using ingredients available at the store. We also have to ensure the recipes require minimal equipment because many homes don't have a lot of cooking equipment or facilities. The first language for the community is Arrernte, so the recipes need to be more pictorial than in English. This is where I'd love your help.
Would you mind asking your children to test drive the design of the recipe card for us. We're trying to work out which is the simplest format to follow - there's 3 different but similar templates. If you could ask your children which one they found easier to follow and then let me know - reply to support@therootcause.com.au with which option number they prefer.
You may also like to ask them to make it themselves. It will be a great snack they can continue to make for themselves during the school holidays.
The recipe is for a nutritious afternoon tea snack - tomatoey tuna, with cheese and crackers. Please note, some of these ingredients are not what you or I may choose for our own family, but for these children, it is a step up in nutrition. With that said, in the grand scheme of things, if having these ingredients allows your kids to make a snack on their own, it's better than them asking you to make them something or them asking for a bag of chips during the holidays.
Of course, we will be test driving the recipe design with the community in late September, but it would be great to test drive the idea first.
Click here or the image above to download the recipe sheets options.
I appreciate your help with this.