Overview:
Discover how Peace Winds Japan’s "FROM SEEDS TO PLATE" initiative is promoting healthy eating and local vegetable consumption in Ngeremlengui State through community cooking events with Embassy Chef Katsuyama.
To encourage behavioral changes and promote healthy eating habits, Peace Winds Japan, Palau Office, registered as a Local NGO in Palau since 2021, under a project fully funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan continues to collaborate with pilot State Governments and involve the local communities there in with cooking events featuring healthy yet tasty vegetables filled recipes that are affordable and easily obtained locally.
On Friday, October 30th with the collaboration of the Embassy of Japan, Chef Katsuyama and First Secretary Yoshida, assisted the cooking event for the evening. The recipe created by the chef for the evening was Tuna Dumpling, a variety of vegetables filled dumpling that was not only simple and cheap but was also easy to make that the children participating in the event greatly enjoyed. Around 30 people were gathered to participate in the hands-on preparation, cooking and eventually enjoying the simple meal prepared at the Old Age Center in Ngeremlengui State.
Repeat participants had expressed positive reviews of these community-based cooking events as they are reportedly learning new information related to healthy eating. All recipes used so far are either created or approved by a certified nutritionist in Japan. Prepared dishes are consumed in appropriate portion sizes as recommended by Public Health’s healthy plate division. Some participants say that they are motivated to reduce their sugar, salt, and oil intake and to try to increase vegetables in their daily meals. PWJ continues to seek and integrate in these events, tasty vegetable recipes that the children have fun creating and enjoy eating.
With “FROM SEEDS TO PLATE” PWJ incorporates the vegetables from the tabletop gardens at the 3 pilot states of Ngeremlengui, Ngchesar, and Ngatpang into the recipes being used during the scheduled cooking events for each state respectively. During these cooking events, the participants especially the children not only learn to cut vegetables into appropriate cooking sizes, but will also learn what nutrients and or minerals could be received from using such ingredients in the current recipe being used. Enjoying learning and eating vegetables this way, these children participants’ views will gradually be molded to accept vegetables as crucial part of their daily diet.
PWJ continues to strive to gain valuable insights into local food practices, locally obtained ingredients and create nutrition based yet tasty recipes for all participants to learn from and to enjoy. Reflections from both participants and PWJ are compiled and shared on PWJ’s Facebook page and are accessible for anyone in Palau that may be interested in healthy eating insights and behavioral changes that would enhance the prevention of NDCs.