In late March, the PUFFA Youth hosted their monthly SALT & PUFFA gathering in West Philadelphia. A total of 51 youth participated in break dancing and school food recipe tasting. Next they are hosting an open house "Hunger Awareness" School Food Recipe Contest event for their Global Youth Service Day project. Stay tuned for more exciting news from our PUFFA youth.

Check out the video of the youth giving a break dancing demonstration.

For more information, please contact Tiffany Spraggins at tspraggins@theenterprisecentercdc.org / 215-895-4095.

An Interview with Angela Glover Blackwell

Angela Blackwell is an amazing civil advocate, and happens to be a woman of color. Check out her interview with Bill Moyers on the American Dream.

Delicious Treat Without the Guilt!

Everyone loves dessert, but no one likes the weight gain that comes along with it. A lot of people don’t even eat dessert, but I’m going to tell you a way to eat dessert without the weight gain.  All you have to do is it make it yourself!

Ingredients
Mango
Lime

Preparation

1. Position rack in upper third of oven and preheat broiler. Line a broiler pan with foil.
2. Arrange mango slices in a single layer in the prepared pan. Broil until browned in spots, 8 to 10 minutes. Squeeze lime wedges over the broiled mango and serve.

Tips for Cutting a Mango

1. Slice both ends off the mango, revealing the long, slender seed inside. Set the fruit upright on a work surface and remove the skin with a sharp knife.
2. With the seed perpendicular to you, slice the fruit from both sides of the seed, yielding two large pieces.
3. Turn the seed parallel to you and slice the two smaller pieces of fruit from each side.
4. Cut the fruit into the desired shape.

Nutrition Information
Per serving: 69 calories; 0 g fat ( 0 g sat , 0 g mono ); 0 mg cholesterol; 18 g carbohydrates; 0 g added sugars; 1 g protein; 2 g fiber; 2 mg sodium; 167 mg potassium

Give this a try or let us know about your own ideas for healthy dessert!!

Help Restore Parks and Recreation Funding!

Parks and Recreation has been chronically underfunded for decades. The current proposed budget flat lines it. We need to invest more – not less – into our Parks and Recreation. The Parks Alliance and dozens of allied organizations are calling on City Council and the Mayor to restore $8 million to the Department of Parks and Recreation’s budget for FY 2013.  This will take us back to what was promised for FY 2009 but never delivered.

Philadelphia Parks Alliance is calling on the Mayor and City Council restore $8 million in promised funding to Parks and Recreation in Philadelphia.  Can you come and help support the Parks Alliance?

City Council Budget Hearing
On Dept. of Parks and Recreation
TUESDAY, APRIL 17th
10am – Noon
City Hall, Room 400

In addtion, the Philadelphia Parks Alliance is joining forces with organizations across Pennsylvania to halt the massive cuts to parks and recreation in the proposed state budget.

 

Let your voice be heard! Sign this petition with your name, zip code, and email!

The Governor has proposed  to totally eliminate all parks, conservation, and recreation funding from Pennsylvania’s Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation fund. Keystone is the only dedicated state fund that provides a guaranteed allocation to community recreation, park and conservation projects. From 1994-2011 Philadelphia benefited from over $21 million in Keystone grant funds including funding for recreation centers, parks, trails, neighborhood parks, conservation plans, and playgrounds. If passed by the State House and Senate, this will be the biggest cut to conservation funding ever proposed in Pennsylvania. For more information visit http://conservationadvocate.org/keystone-fund/.

Together we can STOP THE CUTS!

Help reach 5,000 signatures in a single day!

You should try something new!

There is a story of about a kid name James.  One day, after school he was very hungry, but he barely had any money. On his walk home, there was always a cart with a man selling fruit, the fruit that this man was selling weren’t familiar to James   Even though he was very hungry, James wasn’t in the mood for fruit that day.  He thought about passing the store to get some chips but then he thought, "I ate McDonald’s yesterday for lunch and, I had pizza for dinner.”  He realized it isn’t a good idea to keep eating unhealthy! So he went to the store, but instead of chips, he bought a bottle of milk, and then he walked to the cart and he bought one piece fruit that he has never tried or seen before , this fruit was the papaya. When he got home he made a smoothie and he realized that the papaya not only had a delicious taste but was also very rich in nutrients.

It's important to always try new things, especially when it comes to food.  Chances are you may like it and fruits and vegetables are certainly good for you!

Now that it's spring there are a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables in season.  Things like artichokes, arugula, leeks, fava beans and papayas are all great during the spring. Try a new fruit or vegetable today and tell us about it!

Up Coming SALT & PUFFA Events!!

APRIL GATHERING **SCHOOL FOOD CONTEST CELEBRATION**
WHEN: Thursday, April 26, 2012 from 5pm to 7:30 pm
WHERE: CARING PEOPLE ALLIANCE
    2407. S. Broad Street
    Philadelphia, PA 19148
(Snyder stops of Broad St Line. Walk 3 blocks south. Center is on the east side of St.)

ACTIVITIES: PUFFA Youth are hosting an open house “Hunger Awareness” School Food Recipe Contest event for their Global Youth Service Day project. Youth formulated recipes based on the “chop box” concept. There will be a grand prize and youth will take home blue ribbons. 

For more information on PUFFA, please contact tspraggins@theenterprisecentercdc.org or by phone 215-895-4095.


MAY GATHERING **DANCE MOB FOR FITNESS AWARENESS**
WHEN: Thursday, May 31, 2012 from 5pm to 7:30 pm
WHERE: Love Park (JFK Plaza) Center City Philadelphia
   1599 John F. Kennedy Boulevard
                Philadelphia, PA 19102

ACTIVITIES: PUFFA Youth will perform their choreographed piece to a timeless James Brown music selection. The performance will culminate as the core signature event to celebrate the end of the school year.

For more information on PUFFA, please contact tspraggins@theenterprisecentercdc.org or by phone 215-895-4095.

School Food Recipe Contest

On Thursday, March 29th the SALT & PUFFA Gathering was another major success. There were a grand total of 51 youth participants. The School Food Contest was a big hit!

In the kitchen, the PUFFA Youth Junior Chefs and PUFFA Nutrition Educator created a plentiful taste testing experience using brown rice, black beans, and romaine lettuce wrapped in a wheat tortilla served with a tomato and corn salsa and collards on the side. These recipes where submitted by the core PUFFA Youth using the 4-6 “chop boxes” distributed at the School Food Recipe Contest launch in February. Youth were challegened to formulate recipes from the chop boxes ingredients that totaled $5.00. The recipes were designed to feed a family of four.

In the social space, the SEPC break dancers were energetic, upbeat and positive. They captivated their peer’s attention through the initial work up session and demonstration. Under David Seng and Chan’s direction, the break dancers worked side by side with their peers to teach them the dance steps to the timeless James Brown selection “Get Up Offa that Thang”. 

We want to give UNI, Dollarboyz, SEPC Break dancers, Executive Incubator, Youth Leadership Council, and Leaders 4 Success a shout out for coming out to partipate and make this event a wonderful success!

The youth pitched in and took the lead on taking pictures and the videotaping the gathering experience so stay tuned!

PUFFA Youth Step Up and Speak Out on Vacant Land Use!

Stephenney Ariyakham from our Youth Leadership Council testified as a community member at this rally this past Tuesday about taking back our vacant land!  Stephenney identified herself proudly as a member of the Southeast Philadelphia Collaborative Youth Leadership Council and Philadelphia Urban Food and Fitness Alliance. She shared her story of how she has worked on the South Philly Teen Orchard and the transformation this space has undergone.

She also talked about how she grew up with her parents growing plants and vegetation because that is how they fed themselves before they came to the U.S. She then went on to explain how beneficial vacant lots are to the community. She talked further about PUFFA and that she learned how the produce is not always the freshest because it travels so far and that it would be better if the produce came from the nearby area. Check out this video of her testimony!

Way to go Stephenney!