March 5^th through 9^th is National Breakfast week. Breakfast gives you energy to start the day. A healthy breakfast is important for everyone. Get the morning nutrition you need with these quick breakfast ideas.

WASHINGTON, March 1, 2012 – Beginning today, consumers will have convenient access to important nutritional information about the raw meat and poultry products they most frequently purchase, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced. Under a new FSIS rule, packages of ground or chopped meat and poultry, such as hamburger or ground turkey, will now feature nutrition facts panels on their labels. Additionally, 40 of the most popular whole, raw cuts of meat and poultry, such as chicken breast or steak, will also have nutritional information either on the package labels or on display to consumers at the store.

CCEFM is proud to join the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association) during March in celebrating National Nutrition Month^®. This year’s National Nutrition Month theme is “Get Your Plate in Shape” and encourages consumers to remember to include a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and dairy on their plates every day.

 Before you eat, think about what goes on your plate or in your bowl. Foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, low-fat dairy products and lean protein foods contain the nutrients you need without too many calories. Over the day, include foods from all the food groups. Try the following tips to “Get Your Plate in Shape.”

Everyone knows eating fish is good for you. The fats in certain fish are a great source of Omega-3 fatty acids that research has shown may help prevent heart disease, diabetes, some types of cancers, and arthritis. Omega-3 fatty acids may also help in the prevention of Alzheimer’s and help prevent blood clots that cause stroke. Omega-3’s help to raise our HDL or good cholesterol and may even help prevent hearing loss.

 Fish high in Omega-3 fatty acids include salmon, mackerel, herring, lake trout, sardines, and albacore tuna. The latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which are published by the Department of Health and Human Services and by the Department of Agriculture, emphasize the importance of eating fish at least twice a week.

The 29 days of February are dedicated to raising awareness of the leading cause of death in America, heart disease, and learning more about how you and your family can follow a heart-healthy diet.

As with many celebrations in our lives, Valentine's Day has its own pitfalls in the food department. There's chocolate and other gooey goodies and there's the wonderful dinner surprise with aloved one.

When dining out there are a few things you can do to make this or any celebration a carefree one at the table.

• Check out the appetizer menu - you might find something there you can order instead of a entrée (beware of fried appetizers).
• Ask for the lunch portion. (You might have to pay dinner prices, but it beats the extra calories.)
• Resign from the "clean your plate club" - when you've eaten enough, leave the rest or ask for a "doggie bag."
• Always ask for salad dressing to be served "on the side" so you can add only as much as you want. Instead of pouring the dressing on, try dipping your fork in the dressing then eat your salad.
• Order an item from the menu instead of the "all you can eat" buffet choice.

Don't practice these tips only at celebration times! They are good rules to practice every time you dine out.

The more ongoing stress children are exposed to, the greater the odds they will become obese by adolescence, reports Cornell environmental psychologist Gary Evans in the journal Pediatrics (129:1).

Nine-year-old children who were chronically exposed to such stressors as poverty, crowded housing and family turmoil gain more weight and were significantly heavier by age 13 than they would have been otherwise, the study found. The reason, Evans and his co-authors suggest, is that ongoing stress makes it tougher for children to control their behavior and emotions -- or self-regulate. That, in turn, can lead to obesity by their teen years.

"These children are heavier, and they gain weight faster as they grow up. A very good predictor of adults' ability to follow healthy habits is their ability to self-regulate. It seems reasonable that the origins of that are probably in childhood. This [research] is starting to lay that out," said Evans, the Elizabeth Lee Vincent Professor of Human Ecology in the Departments of Design and Environmental Analysis and of Human Development in Cornell's College of Human Ecology.

In a year when cantaloupe tainted with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes killed 30 people, the discovery of a compound that controls this deadly bacteria -- and possibly others -- is great news.

Cornell researchers have identified a compound called fluoro-phenyl-styrene-
sulfonamide (FPSS) that is safe for mammals but stops Listeria in its tracks. It interrupts a mechanism that controls genes that are expressed when the bacterium experiences a rapid change in its environment.

The discovery, reported in the November/December issue of mBio, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology, offers new directions for basic research on how L. monocytogenes and other bacteria survive in a wide range of rapidly changing hostile conditions, from fluctuating temperatures to the low pH levels found in the human stomach. Also, there is a strong possibility that FPSS eventually may be developed as a drug to combat listeriosis and other bacterial infections.

"This is absolutely the most exciting work in my career to date," said Kathryn Boor, Cornell professor of food science, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the paper's senior author. Mary Elizabeth Palmer, Ph.D. '09, a former graduate student in Boor's lab and now at Vitamin Research Products in Carson City, Nevada, is the lead author.

A slow cooker can be a great tool to help you prepare and serve nutritious and delicious meals for your family, but it is important to handle food safely. Check out this link to learn about food safety and your slow cooker.

Click here.

Download these tips to help you get your slow cooker working for you!

Stick to Your List!

Plan out your meals ahead of time and make a grocery list. You will save money by buying only what you need. Don’t shop when you’re hungry. Shopping after eating will make it easier to pass on the tempting snack foods.  You’ll have more of your food budget for vegetables and fruits.

Keep it Simple!

Buy vegetables and fruits in their simplest form. Pre-cut, pre-washed, ready-to-eat, and processed foods are convenient but often cost much more than when purchased in their basic form.

Download more tips to help you shop for fruits and vegetables.