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Researchers Cook Up 'Recipe for Success'

By Michelle Hines, University Relations

American culture, with its fast food palaces and tendency toward excess, isn't always a prescription for good health. Two UNCG researchers are working to counteract that problem with a program called Recipe for Success.

Dr. Arthur Murphy and HES's Dr. Lauren Haldeman have received a $100,000 N.C. Division of Social Services contract to educate immigrants about nutrition and food safety. They will use the federal Food Stamp funds to prepare a series of booklets for low-income French and Spanish-speakers in Guilford County.

"The whole country has a nutrition problem. One problem for immigrants is that they come with a whole set of ideas of the foods they are looking for," said Murphy, who heads the anthropology department.

The pairing of Murphy and Haldeman was a neat coincidence, he explained: He had worked with a large immigrant nutrition program in Georgia and Haldeman, an assistant professor of nutrition, had worked with a similar program for Latinos in Hartford, Connecticut. "It was a sort of convergence of the two of us coming together in Greensboro."

Murphy and Haldeman, with additional help from Dr. Peter Kellett, professor of communications, have already designed a series of educational booklets in English. The booklets are mailed out to Guilford County Food Stamp recipients with children 18 and under living in the household. They offer diet and nutrition tips utilizing the USDA's current MyPyramid recommendations, assess the population's dietary habits, and include healthy recipes.

"The qualitative comments people are giving are really very positive. And they're asking for more," Haldeman said. "It's really been well received."

Now, Murphy and Haldeman will redesign them for Latino and West African populations—two of the largest immigrant groups in the Greensboro area. Last year, the booklets reached about 3,500 Food Stamp households in Guilford County. This year, they plan to reach about 4,500 homes. The text will have to be translated and modified, taking into account the individual dietary habits of each culture. The booklets will also emphasize value—making the most of taxpayer dollars.

There are also plans to expand the program to reach Southeast Asian and Arabic immigrants, and perhaps to counties outside Guilford.

"I think this program is a perfect example of Chancellor Sullivan's vision of the university trying to reach out and make an impact in the community," Murphy said.

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Page updated: 22-Feb-2007

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