Dignity Health Santa Cruz & NorCal SCI Host Cooking Demo for Healthy Eating Post-SCI
Melissa & Arash hosting the cooking demo at Dignity Health in Santa Cruz on June 3rd
On June 3rd, Dignity Health Santa Cruz – which provides PT, OT, exercise, peer support and other services to people with SCI and disabilities in Santa Cruz county – teamed up with NorCal SCI Executive Director Arash Bayatmakou to host an in-person cooking demonstration to promote healthy eating.
With the plethora of digestive and nutritional challenges that face most survivors of SCI such as weight gain, slowed metabolism, UTIs, incontinence, and bladder and bowel management, the need for healthy cooking and eating continues to be a priority for people with SCI and wheelchair users in general. This was an opportunity for both Dignity Health SC and NorCal SCI to provide people with ideas and knowledge for healthier food choices.
As a passionate and lifelong home cook who had to relearn how to work the kitchen following his SCI in 2012, Arash cooked live in the center’s kitchen and shared a couple of simple recipes for healthy, tasty, and nutritious summer eating. He was joined by Registered Dietician and Wellness Coach Melissa DeVera who provided the nutritional facts and answered questions from the audience.
Arash cooked a Coconut, Sweet Potato, Tofu & Spinach Stew along with a Summer Quinoa Salad with Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Basil and Feta. The demonstration was attended by various members of the community in person and was also broadcast live on zoom (recording link below).
They were also joined by the Teen Kitchen Project – a local 501c3 organization providing groceries and meals to people in need – who shared resources on their food delivery programs for Santa Cruz County residents.
If you’re interested in learning more about healthy adaptive cooking and eating, NorCal SCI has an entire library of videos available. If you’d like to watch a recording of the cooking demo, check out this link.
Roger McKowan (Dignity Health SC), Arash Bayatmakou (NorCal SCI), Karen Nauenberg (Dignity Health SC) with Lezinah Ncube and Ali McCargo from Teen Kitchen Project