Food services sous-chef Brendan Kobzan and marketing coordinator for food services Lisa Barker showcased Keep Calm and Eat Healthy in ACCE building Dec. 2, promoting the importance of a healthy diet for students.
In front of a live audience, the chef prepared two recipes including a fresh quinoa salad and a blueberry salsa served with chicken and tortilla chips.
“Quinoa is an extremely healthy thing to have and not enough people are aware of it,” said Kobzan. “This just opens that opportunity for people to try, hopefully they’ll take it and start making it at home.”
The event included step-by-step instructions from Kobzan. He spent two hours cooking while explaining various tips and facts pertaining to the ingredients involved.
After each recipe was completed, the audience was welcomed up to the front to try samples and ask the chef questions.
Both were a hit with the audience – some even coming back for seconds.
“That was nice, it was different, it was healthy,” said Tyrone Deshauer, first-year paramedic student. “Very unique, it had a little bit of lime in there, it was nice with the crunch of the chips.”
With positive feedback, the goals Keep Calm and Eat Healthy tries to meet are not far ahead. Barker explained that events like this are crucial in spreading the word about a smart diet and ways to access better food.
“The purpose of the event is to educate students on healthy eating, we do have healthy options available on campus but also it’s easy to make your own,” said Barker.
Students are notorious for picking up the easy, quick option when it comes to food.
As a chef, Kobzan sees this first hand and recognizes the most common issues.
“Excess is where things start to go wrong,” said Kobzan. “For example, they’ll have way too much fatty foods, not enough protein, too much carbohydrates and they’ll eat a massive portion. That’s going to cause things down the road.”
But with the proper knowledge, students can begin to lead a healthier lifestyle.
“Eating healthy is something that will help prevent illnesses,” said Kobzan. “If you can learn that early on and get into it, I think it’s very important.”