Story of Lana Sweeten-ShultsPhotos by Elizabeth TinajeroGCU News Bureau “Wait! Let’s see if I say ‘aubergine’ correctly, ”explained Brianna Castro as she shuffled from The Bean Counter Kitchen on Grand Canyon University’s 27th Avenue complex. Canyon 49 Grill Sous Chef Mike Willison and Brianna Castro, a learning advocate in the Learning Lounge, collaborated on a virtual cooking demonstration that will be part of Phoenix Food Day. After a quick glance at her cell phone to look up the Spanish translation “berenjena”, she was back on set and ready to go. Castro, a junior English secondary school graduate, spends much of her time at GCU as a Learning Advocate or LEAD in the Learning Lounge. Here college scholars, many of whom receive the Students Inspiring Students (including Castro) scholarship, give K-12 students from the area. But a recent video shoot was all about using their teaching and translation skills to help Phoenix Food Day and Healthfest, a community-building fall healthy eating festival that is due to open this year due to COVID. its community atmosphere served in a different way -19. The event, now a drive-thru experience peppered with virtual cooking demonstrations and goody bag giveaways, takes place on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Cartwright Community Garden, 4208 N. 51st Avenue. Castro stood next to Canyon 49 Grill Sous Chef Mike Willison, who spread generously fried beans, enchilada sauce, cumin, and more on eggplant strips to create his bean, cheese, and eggplant enchiladas. Castro translated the chef’s comments from English into Spanish. While he was cooking, Castro translated his commentary into Spanish to reach the Spanish speakers for the event. It will be one of several cooking segments that will be published as part of the event’s virtual offering on the Phoenix Food Day website (see flyer here). Families who have pre-registered can also drive by to pick up grocery boxes and goody bags with recipes, garden sets, gift cards and health and wellness vouchers. Canyon 49 Grill will bring a voucher in the goody bag and the Learning Lounge will include a flyer to inform the neighborhood about the academic support that is being offered to K-12 students. This is the third year the university has been participating in Phoenix City’s Phoenix Food Day and the Junior League of Phoenix Health Festival. The festival aims to inspire people to change their view of food. “It all started with Gus the Garden Bus,” said Debbie Accomazzo, Community Relations Manager, of GCU’s involvement in the event. It was in 2018 when firefighters responded to a fire on an empty lot that had engulfed a Cartwright Elementary School District mobile garden called the Gus the Garden Bus. On the bus, the students learned about plant science and healthy eating. Chef Mike’s dish: Bean, Cheese, Eggplant Enchiladas. Rather than make that vision go away because the school didn’t have the funds to replace the bus, Phoenix Fire Captain and GCU alumnus Austin Moreland gathered his firefighters, the police, the city, the school district – and his alma mater – for help. The result: a new garden bus, raised beds and the arrival of Phoenix Food Day at Cartwright Community Garden, where the event has been inspiring healthy eating for three years. Accomazzo said Phoenix Food Day goes hand in hand with recent efforts by the university like Canyon Urban Farms, where fresh produce is grown and shared with the community. Canyon Urban Farms Manager Nathan Cooper checks the harvest in the land north of the Agave Apartments. “We have Canyon Urban Farms here, so the idea of healthy eating, farm-to-table, local shopping goes very well with what we’re doing here in relation to our businesses,” said Accomazzo. Castro also fitted in well with the business of filming cooking segments, as she once thought of being a newscaster in front of the camera. The Washington High School graduate couldn’t have imagined that her job in the Learning Lounge, where she teaches students, would also be in front of the camera, this time teaching healthy eating. “That’s why I LOVE my job in the lounge, because that’s what I want,” says Castro, who will combine her love of communication with supporting children as a future English teacher at a high school. Accomazzo said Castro shared at planning meetings the importance of food price to her family in deciding which meals to land on the table. She also talked about how many families are not using the sophisticated kitchen gadgets that chefs could use in their own kitchens. Accomazzo found Castro’s words instructive. “She’s the target family,” said Accomazzo, adding that it was invaluable that Castro translated the cooking segments into Spanish to help GCU and Phoenix Food Day reach these target families. “We live in the Canyon Corridor in a very diverse community. We have to be part of this community. So if we want to bring something into the community, we have to make sure that the community receives it. If Brianna is part of it, it’ll be adopted. ”In addition to translating comments into Spanish, Castro also helped Chef Chris Lenza add ingredients to his cauliflower rice dish. In addition to his collaboration with Willison, Castro translated the commentary by Chris Lenza, most recently Executive Chef at Café Allegro in the Musical Instrument Museum. For his cooking segment, Lenza prepared a cauliflower rice dish with hominy, coriander and paprika. “I’ve always been interested in healthy eating … but also in local ingredients and the nutrition of our community and our youth,” said Lenza. He often gives cooking demonstrations for K-12 teenagers and advocates preparing their own dishes – buying their own dry beans, cooking them, seasoning them – instead of buying them processed in a can. The Buy Fresh approach allows you to control sodium levels, fat content, and more. The member of the planning committee for the Phoenix Food Day Dr. Paris Masek, President of Green on Purpose and founding member of the Maricopa County Food System Coalition, has led the food demonstrations for Phoenix Food Day for several years. “I’m a big believer in eating local, fresh, and nutritious foods,” said Masek. The former fish biologist brings together local farmers who dumped unused produce with local restaurateurs who could use the freshly grown vegetables but don’t have time to make it to a multitude of local farms every day. Masek’s knowledge of local food systems is why Rosanne Albright, the Phoenix City Environmental Programs Coordinator, asked him to attend the event. He said Americans have got used to buying from supermarkets that don’t always stock local or fresh produce. The USDA views it locally as something that comes from within a 350 mile radius. So by the time a banana makes it to the supermarket, it may be a week or two old. “The system is so ingrained that … if I need bananas, I can get them 12 months a year. So since World War II we have moved away from seasonal food and local food because we are used to walking to the supermarket at any time of the year to buy whatever you need, ”he said. “Many of these ideas and practices (via buying local and seasonal produce) are in line with what Phoenix Food Day is talking about.” He added how medical problems like diabetes and obesity can be related to our diet. His advice: grow your own garden. Go to the farmers market. “Why does it take a pandemic to start the process?” Willison of Canyon 49 Grill said when choosing his dish, bean and cheese eggplant enchiladas, he wanted to use what he could find in the garden and prepare something wanted that he thought the community would like. The team ended the video with the traditional Phoenix Food Day apple crunch. “When people see healthy food, they think it has to be harder than it is,” he said, adding, “Keep it simple.” Castro also helped Willison and Lenza with an important tribute to Phoenix Food Day: the apple crunch. It’s when everyone at the festival grinds an apple at the same time. The apple crunch also found its way into the virtual cooking demonstration. It is the symbolic sound of fresh food that is the focus of Phoenix Food Day. It’s an apple for the future teacher – and for these cooking teachers – who all have a love of community. Lana Sweeten-Shults, senior author of the AVV, can be reached at [email protected] or at 602-639-7901. *** WHEN YOU GO What: Phoenix Food Day in the City of Phoenix and Junior League of Phoenix Healthfest Where: Cartwright Community Garden, 4208 N. 51st Avenue When: 9 am-1pm Saturday Admission: Free, however pre-registration is required for the Drive -Through-Event Information: https://www.phoenix.gov/oep/foodday *** Related Content: GCU Today: GCU Cooks Support for Phoenix Food Day GCU Today: Hope is planted in a Maryvale Community Garden
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