In a podcast, Mount Vernon Mayor Matt Starr talked with two officials from Knox Developmental Disabilities: Brittany Coon, public outreach coordinator, and Sherrie Simmons, provider relations manager. Their discussion pertained to a new program intended to help people learn how to cook simple recipes through videos.
Easy Eats is a cooking show emphasizing affordable, easy-to-follow and tasty dishes that aren’t challenging. The show’s main aim is to help people with disabilities learn to be comfortable cooking at home and learn easy ways to cook food.
"About seven years ago, we started a program called Healthy Living Initiative, and under that program, we wanted to introduce healthy foods, making the healthy choice the easy choice to people with disabilities," Simmons said. "And none of us that created this program had nutrition or a dietitian background. We just kind of created it by the seat of our pants, and it turned out to be a phenomenal program. It made real changes in the lives of people with disabilities."
The show also encourages portion control and healthy choices.
"We actually read the label and talk about how much cereal you're supposed to put in," Simmons added. "And often it's much, much smaller than what we put on our plate normally."
Despite the emphasis on people with disabilities, the show is for anyone who wants to learn a new recipe. The team began with a few Knox Developmental Disabilities staff hosting the cooking show, then expanded to people with disabilities and local community members.
Through the Healthy Living Initiative, the show aims to assist people in making healthy choices. The show's producers plan to teach listeners how to balance the different elements in their lives and diet to live a healthy life.
Easy Eats episodes are viewable on the agency's YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@KnoxDD.
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