New York City - Part Two

I am finally digesting what I did and learned on my trip to New York City.   I was privileged to visit Cornell University Cooperative Extension - New York City (CUCE-NYC) as I have mentioned in previous posts.  I want to acknowledge the amazing schedule that the team of Jackie Davis Manigaulte, Eduardo Gonzales Jr. and Michele Luc developed for the two days I spent with them in their office on East 34th St.  It was so good to speak with them in groups and as individuals and to get a good sense of what they are doing in New York City.  The parts of the visit that really stood out for me were the meetings, both in groups and individually with CUCE-NYC staff, collaborators and young people.  My memories are jumbled as I tumbled from one meeting into the next so this writing will be helpful.

It was good to start my visit with a Meet and Greet so people could get to know me and I could put names to faces.  I was delighted to be rushed off to visit KC Wagner who I wrote about earlier and then join the group for lunch.  We seemed to do lots of eating while in New York City and it was balanced each day by lots of walking!  A good balance for me.

I was able to spend time with two of the EFNEP (Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program) community educators, Marta and Gloria, who shared about the work they do in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.  I was astounded that they take their rolling carts of program materials on the busy NYC subway trains to get to their locations.  I never saw an elevator at any of the stations so I am imagining that they had to drag those materials up and down the stairs at each station.  They try not to do more than one site per day because of the time it takes to transport themselves and their materials.

Marta Garcia and Gloria Morel, CUCE-NYC EFNEP

Marta and Gloria excitedly showed me some of the props they use.  Prominent in the foreground are five samples that represent the bacteria that grows on meat that is defrosted improperly.  I took a close up so my colleagues in Bellingham can see what can be created to demonstrate food safety issues.  None of what you see is real meat. The samples were made with clay and lentils.  These samples got my attention and it has been a successful strategy in changing home food safety practices and health outcomes of family members according to some of the stories Marta and Gloria shared.

Gloria and Marta told me that among the newer immigrants to New York City are the Mexican immigrants who have come from the state of Puebla.  They were serving them through their program.  I asked them what some of the needs they saw in this community. They said they need access to health care because they do not qualify for the Affordable Healthcare Act because they are undocumented and they need to address domestic violence in that community.  When I asked Marta and Gloria about what concerns the parents were expressing they talked about a growing sense of disrespect being shown by the kids.  They attributed part of this coming from generational differences and part from environmental influences.  I heard from these fine women as I have heard from others that some youth use the threat that they will report their parents to authorities if they enforce discipline (fair or not).  "Parents need to understand the laws and know how not to give away their power."  The parents are very concerned about the focus shift from traditional values of respect and family to more material values.  I have found the nutrition education staff who work with the families and who are embedded in the communities to be great sources of insight in Arizona, California and New York City.

I think I will stop here for today.  Mike and I are going to a performance of the Mariachi Divas at our Mount Baker Theater this evening.  There will be food, drink and lots of people celebrating what is essentially an American Mexican holiday, Cinco de Mayo.  It seems like an appropriate way to honor my focus on Latino life in this country.   Interestingly, the battle 5th of May honors was fought in the state of Puebla.   The Mount Baker is a classic theater built in 1927.  It is a beautiful place to see a show and so much bigger than the theater on Broadway where we saw "It's Only a Play."  I encourage you to check out the website and to view some of the photos of this grand theater.

Rhodies in my neighborhood in all their May glory.  

Thanks for reading!