Fresh Focus Podcast: NNM® Series EP# 77
Host: Jaime Ruisi and Selena Saulsbery
Title: “Tips on how to be more sustainable”

SS: Hello and Welcome to another episode of Fresh Focus, I'm Selena. I work at the St Louis VA and I’ve been with the VA for 4 years. In the upcoming episodes, we’ll delve into a variety of topics revolving around sustainability in cooking, shopping, and other fun tips to help support the earth and perhaps, also your wallet. I’m sitting here today with fellow dietitian, Jaime.

JR: hello! What a fun way to start the day talking with you. I love the Fresh Focus podcast.
SS: want to tell everyone what you do at the VA and how long have you worked at the VA?
JR: oh yes, I am an outpatient PACT dietitian at the Tampa VA down in Florida I’ve been with Tampa almost 6 months but I’ve been with the VA system for 2 ½ years so I started my VA career in Philadelphia and then decided to come down to some warmer weather.
SS: absolutely love the warmer weather very different than ST. Louis. I was just telling a Veteran earlier that March is National Nutrition Month. So in case anyone hasn’t heard that yet…. Each year, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics launches a different theme for National Nutrition Month to promote nutrition education. The campaign was first launched in 1973 as a National Nutrition Week and then became a month-long observance in 1980 in response to growing interest in nutrition. So Go nutrition!
JR: I agree I love to hear that and its probably one of my favorite time of the year. I know us dietitians get excited about this and I probably have said this every year but this year’s theme really is a good one.

SS: I agree, “Beyond the Table.” Is the theme this year. highlighting the farm-to-fork aspect of nutrition, addresses the various ways and places to eat (at home and on the go), emphasizes
sustainability efforts, which is what today’s episode is all about. Jaime and I are part of the GEMS here at the VA, short for Green Environmental Management System as part of the VA Medical Health Care System. We were so excited to learn about this year’s NNM topic as we are so passionate about sustainability. How would you define sustainability for those who have heard the term but aren’t quite sure what it is.

JR: I’m super excited about this theme this year. I define it as the ability to maintain or support a process continuously over time is how I relay what it means to veterans I work with. I like to share that as a member of the GEMS committee, we meet monthly to discuss how we can improve our environmental impacts in the nutrition and food service setting. It’s a nice collaboration between dietitians across the country to support sustainability initiatives through the VHA – on a national level. We often can integrate our ideas with existing VA programs, like Healthy Teaching Kitchen and we’re excited about the new practical plant based cooking cookbook that is available to download online at www.nutrition.va.gov/recipes.
SS: absolutely, and definitely check it out lots of great recipes and information in there. So, Jaime, let’s get into some of our favorite sustainability tips. What would you say your top 3 or 4 tips are when you are talking with a veteran and their families or what would you have them start with to learn more toward being more sustainable.
JR: oh gosh, ok my top 3 tips for being more sustainable would be , reducing food waste, eating more plant based food items and learning to cook and prepare more food at home. Best way to start that is by writing a shopping list prior to grocery shopping!!
SS: yes- definitely a necessary first step.
JR: yes, when walking around the grocery store, there are too many enticing options that lead us to stray from what we need or had intended to buy. This often leads to lots of ingredients without an actual meal to make… and lots of food waste by the end of the week. By writing a shopping list FIRST, I can cross things off my list as I go, and this helps me stay on track with what I need to nourish my family without letting unnecessary foods go to waste.
SS: yeah, I live by my grocery list! Its just way too easy to say I’ll just run in for one thing but if you run in without a plan you will buy more items that you maybe you don’t need and that can put you over your food budget and you don’t have a plan to utilize those items that can lead to them going bad in your fridge. What’s another step you might tell folks.

JR: yeah, sometimes, we just can’t help but have leftovers and unused foods, so this is a great time to open your freezer. So have some containers handy. Any foods that are about to meet their expiration date or are going to go uneaten for an extended period, need to be stashed in the freezer. I can later pull these items out for later use, without them having to go in the trash. And that can be fun too and help at some of those times when food budget needs to really be tightened, you can make it a fun thing…. Going into your freezer and pulling out some items you haven’t had in a while and use those for a meal for the week.

SS: oh yeah, I’m a fan of using leftover chili on top of veggie dogs or a chili mac throughout the week. How about you?
JR: That sounds so good, That’s such a good idea! I have to jot that down now. There are so many ways to get creative. I often try to make an omelet using leftovers or take them for lunch. I do hear a lot from Veterans that dates and labels on food items can be a bit tricky to understand. What do you usually tell your Veterans, Selena?
SS: yeah, it can be tricky, I was talking to a veteran and their spouse the other day telling them I always try to keep foods with the earliest expiration dates front and center in my fridge or pantry. This way it can inspire you to use the food or put it into the freezer to extend its shelf life so we don’t forget about it.

JR: that’s a good point yeah, and yes using this year’s NNM theme, “Beyond the Table” we want to help inspire listeners at home too. Sustainability and good nutrition is more than what we cook – it’s how we shop, what we buy, how we store our foods, how we dispose of our foods.. and all of this information needs to be promoted and shared with our communities in order to make a global impact.
SS: Exactly, I love hearing from Veterans who share their experiences of visiting local farmers markets, choosing more plant-based foods, taking Healthy Teaching Kitchen classes and learning how to cook with plant-based proteins … and even loving tofu which is one of my favorites.
JR: yes, I completely agree, I shared one of my favorite recipes with a veteran who said he was going to have it tonight for dinner, something quick and easy and delicious not to mention plant based and budget friendly! Black bean and sweet potato quesadillas the recipe is from the cookbook found online and you can really gear it to your taste preference, if you want extra spice add some more seasoning, 1 sweet potato, 1 can of black beans, tortillas, some spices and maybe some shredded cheese if you want and dinner is done in less than 30 minutes!
SS: oh my gosh so easy and quick too, yes lots of fun creative ways to incorporate these ingredients. just like the vegetable stir fry over rice, you can use frozen vegetables any vegetables you have in your freezer to make a great dish to have and something easy to put together.
JR: yes, absolutely, I love a good easy meal, and always reach out to a local VA dietitian for more tips and recipe ideas too!
SS: yeah, Jamie, This has been so much fun to talk about! Thank you for being on with me Jamie. And thank you to everyone listening. Keep following along through this month’s Fresh Focus podcast episodes to celebrate National Nutrition Month and get more sustainability tips from our GEMS committee! Thank you for listening to Fresh Focus. Be sure to leave a review, subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts and stay tuned for future episodes!