By Both Long, Modern Languages Faculty

Eat This, Not That!
What we eat determines who we are. Our mental and physical performance on a day-to-day basis is heavily reliant on what we use for “fuel.” Our bodies really are our temples, and we should take care of it with the right stuff. But what is the right stuff? How do we get it? Does it taste good? In my Saturday course Eat This, Not That!, students learn about nutrition and how to construct a healthy lifestyle by understanding how much our food choices impact our bodies. The curriculum offers an exploration of each of the nutrient groups and its importance to our diet. Students study current dietary trends and fads regarding diet recommendations and food policies.

Our students were asked to begin their Saturday class studies by thinking deeply about the eating habits of their peers and members of the community. Each student was able to quickly identify somebody in their life that did not eat consciously or somebody whose health they were worried about. In realizing that diet and well being were problems that affected many in our lives, we then took our first steps to identify some common denominators between the different case studies. The biggest problem that surfaced was the fact that people do not want to give up their favorite foods because they do not know of any other healthy alternatives or, even worse, they do not even know how easy it is to make different healthy dishes. Our goal as a class is to make healthy eating easier, more fun, and more accessible.

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We want to eliminate the false notion that eating healthy means that a person only eats bland vegetables and salads–we want to look at all of the favorite foods and find healthy versions or alternatives of foods like waffles, yogurts, or desserts. Our current step in this journey is realizing that we have the capacity to eat with full consciousness of what our body needs. The next step in the process is showing our peers how easy and fun it is to eat cleanly.

Both Long is a member of the Modern Languages department and teaches Spanish. He works in the Community and Equity Office and coaches soccer. He earned his BA in Hispanic Studies from Boston College.