---

April 11, 2017

Come Sano, Vive Sano! – Pairing Cooking with Learning

At MNHC, we believe that healthy eating is a cornerstone of optimum health. With the support of a Kaiser Permanente Grant, Iran Pont, RD, Chronic Disease Coordinator, in collaboration with the MNHC Wellness department, developed Come Sano, Vive Sano (Healthy Eating, Healthy Living)  a yearlong cooking and nutrition program that is paired with education on key health topics.

Along with a hands-on cooking class using seasonal, cost-friendly, plant-based ingredients, participants engage in a health discussion lead by a guest speaker. At the end of each class, participants receive a copy of the recipe, a bag of groceries (donated by Kaiser), and an apron, kitchen tools and cutting board (donated by the San Francisco Department of Health) to be able to make the recipe at home for their families, Two weeks after the class, a health educator follows up with each participant to evaluate the program and answer any questions.

Each monthly class has 8-12 participants that have been invited from adult medicine, women’s health, pediatrics, teen clinic and Hermanos De Luna Y Sol Program.  Providers are asked to recommend patients with families whom they believe could best benefit the most.  A new set of participants is invited for each session meaning that over 100 families will be affected throughout the year.

“We designed the program to incorporate learning in a more relaxed and healing environment.  It’s a bit more therapeutic,” said Ms. Pont. “We also think it makes a lot of sense to focus on a plant-based diet rather than on animal products so that patients can balance their diets and use the foods they grew up eating such as herbs and native plants.”

Topics to be covered by guest speakers include: mental health, heart disease, nutrition, teen HIV awareness, high blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, hepatitis, breast feeding, breast cancer, obesity and others.

So far the classes have garnered lots of positive feedback from patients. “I was surprised that Magi, Knorr and Sazon Goya have so much salt in them. I have been using them for many years. From now on I will use the recommendations that have been given in the group and use more natural products such as cilantro, onion, tomato, celery, garlic and other herbs,” said one of the participants.

And the staff seems to benefit as well. “The most gratifying aspect of leading the group is to bring patients together and create community while they are cutting vegetables and sharing their memories of their families preparing meals back home,” commented Eduardo Antonio, MNHC health educator.

“We hope that the success of the classes so far will allow us to continue this program year after year,” added Ms. Pont. “After all, there will always be a need to educate patients about healthy eating.”

---