Liver? Fish? Meatloaf? Yuck! Who wants to eat healthy if that’s what’s on the menu? Luckily, there are plenty of ways to get nutritious, delicious foods without even changing much in your diet. All you have to do is care about your food choices and make sure to balance your diet, and maybe even experiment with cooking your own food.
Edina students who have good eating habits enjoy cooking. Sophomore Julia Bolter’s favorite “from-scratch” meal is homemade lasagna, while senior Reid Mosimann’s favorite meal is gnocchi, which is an Italian dumpling dish, similar to pasta, made from potatoes. To make them even healthier, Mosimann cooks them with veggies. For more of a quick healthy snack, senior Ted McKlveen suggests eating apples, bell peppers, or his favorite, a spinach salad with strawberries.
Even though these students may be some of EHS’ healthiest eaters, they admit to junking out every now and then. But take advice from Mosimann and try to limit junk food to times when you’re out with friends and have been maintaining a balanced diet beforehand.
Another way to eat healthy and control the junk is to find alternatives to your favorite cravings. “When I’m craving something sweet, I’ll grab a bowl of fresh watermelon instead of a bowl of ice-cream,” Bolter said. Mosimann explained, “When I want something ice-creamy, I’ll go for some Greek yogurt with fresh fruit on top. Or if I want something sugary, I’ll grab myself a sucker, which isn’t ‘healthy’ but it’s better than having a whole bag of Twizzlers. If I’m craving something salty, I’ll take pita chips instead of potato chips, and if I really want something bubbly like pop, I usually have sparkling lemonade.”
Other students are working on new ideas for healthier ‘school lunch’ food in the cafeteria. Youth Serving Youth has a group called the “Healthy Food Club,” which wants to put a healthier variety of foods in the lunch line. This group is new this year, and hasn’t had their first meeting yet, so their goals aren’t official. The group’s two senior leaders, Britta Halvorson and Rebecca Johnson, are excited to get started and have plenty of ideas. One idea, Halvorson explained, is that the group would like to add a salad bar to the lunch line. If you’re interested in making food more healthy at school, join YSY’s new Healthy Food Club.
