Health, Nutrition, and Physical Activity
Our overall health is affected by the food we eat and our physical activity. With proper diet and exercise, we reduce our risks for chronic diseases such as heart disease, many cancers, type 2 diabetes, anemia, and bone loss. A nutritious diet can also help reduce high blood pressure, lower cholesterol, manage arthritis, and manage diabetes. Physical activity strengthens bones and muscles, improves cardiovascular health, protects against many health conditions, increases energy, controls weight, and improves mental health and mood. The trick to staying healthy is all about finding a balance of food and physical activity that works for you.
Kansas citizens want reliable research-based information about their food supply. Busy families want to prepare quick, easy, nutritious meals. Helping Kansans eat more healthfully and increase physical activity can improve their quality of life now and in the future, and reduce health care costs. Learning to eat healthfully can also stretch family food budgets.
January is National Soup Month
When the cold weather is in abundance (and unfortunately, it is!), what better way to sit down and warm up with a nice, hot bowl of soup?
Did you know that evidence of the existence of soup can be found as far back as 20,000 B.C.? Boiling was not a common cooking technique until the invention of waterproof containers (which probably came in the form of clay vessels). Animal hides and watertight baskets of bark or reeds were used before this. To boil the water, hot rocks were used.
History tells us that soup was first known as "sop", which was a piece of bread served with some kind of broth. People used to pour sop over a piece of bread or over broken off chunks of bread in a platter allowing it to soak up all of the broth and then they would eat it. As time went by, sop was placed in deeper bowls and the liquid became the focal point instead of the bread as it once was. "Sop" soon became "Soup" and the bread was then dipped in soup or thick stew. Now the word sop is a definition of sopping up food.
Dr. John T. Dorrance was a chemist who invented condensed soup in 1897 for the Joseph A. Campbell Preserve Company. It was so popular that in 1922 the company officially7 adopted "Soup" as it's middle name and is now known as the Campbell Soup Company.
Check out our November - January FCS Newsletter to learn how to make your own "cream of" soups. Then read "Soup for Supper" for more great soup recipes to try!
Cooking Turkey Safely
The holidays are upon us and that means gathering around the table with family and friends for good food and conversation. Don't let the conversation be about feeling sick - keep foodborne illnesses away by using safe food handling methods. Check out our Food Safety web page for more information.
