Almost New Year’s Eve 2008

We’ve spent the larger part of the day preparing for News Year’s Eve. The unit is relatively quiet amd Alix is the only staff member here.  We spent the morning making  banana nut cake, and there is a carrot cake in the refrigerator  We’ve also made some lovely friut salad.  We turn over the unit  at 5′00 to  to people who willbe serving dessert. The festivities will begin in the KDRf and move up  here to the wellness unit.

I can’t believe  it’s almost  2008.  I’m looking forward  to the New Year.  Here in the Wellness Unit, we have some New Year’s Resolutions.  Hamid resolves to lose weight.  By 2009 he will be super-fit. Likewise, by 2009 David will be very buff.  Alix resolves to get into a nice routine of kitchen unit work every day up in the Wellness Unit.  One of the big resolutions floating around our unit is to make the juice bar into a wonderful habit.  Ateeta resolves to take the meditation/yoga workshop that our unit is putting together.  On a personal level, Ateeta hopes that she takes steps toward a very healthy lifestyle.  It’s gonna be a great 2008 for the Wellness Unit!  Happy New Year!

Juice!

We’re prepping to open up our juice bar on January 10th.  We’ve finally finalized the recipes for our juice offerings.  For all of you curious cats out there in cyber space, I’m posting the recipes below:

 orange carrot juice

2 carrots

2 oranges

greeeeeen juice

a small handful of parsley

half an apple

one piece/stalk of celery

a half-inch long piece of ginger

two big handfuls of greens

one teaspoon of lemon juice

v5 juice

two tomatoes

one piece/stalk of celery

one handful of spinach

one eighth of a beet

one carrot

In our v5 juice, we’re thinking about blanching the tomatos before juicing them to bring out the best flavor.  We still have to come up with a delicious smoothie recipe.  Hopefully it will include bananas (though people who are allergic or just hate potassium will be able to ask for us to leave them out!) and be a really, really delicious breakfast treat.

yes, worms

It’s been a wintery week up at High Point, and all the snow and ice ALMOST put a cramp in our gardening style. We were not able to visit the farm last week because of bad driving conditions, so we couldn’t get our winter seeds started in the garden room – and we were starting to get scared because of the compost piling up at the bottom of our fridge. It was a sad situation, but we rallied and ventured out to Queens to East Coast Hydroponics. We wanted to get some advice about hydroponics systems we could use in the unit and up at High Point to grow greens to eat. When Ralph, the resident hydroponics expert, started explaining the details of hydroponic chemistry, it seemed a little daunting. He emphasized the fact that you needed to check the Ph of the plants at least once a day, and this is tough for us over the weekends. However, we looked around the store and found two large black bins… WORM BINS. It seemed like a perfect time to get this project going, as we’d talked about it for months and months. We went ahead and ordered one pound of red wrigglers and purchased two worm bins that can be used for composting.
A few days later we returned to the store to pick up our worms. We had to prepare the bins before putting the worms in, and it went like this:
- first you shred a lot of newspaper and fill the bins three-quarters of the way full
-you moisten all the newspaper and mix in a few cups of dirt to help the worms get going
- next comes the worms. We split our pound of worms into the two bins.
- then for the compost. We put about 8 cups of compost in each bin, then covered everything will more newspaper and soil.
Hamid did a great job preparing the bins, and used his animal care expertise to make our new red friends comfortable.
It was interesting to see the worms burrow down and get to work right away.

We got a good book about Vermiculture by a woman named Mary Appelhof. She’s been composting with worms for more than 25 years! She had lots of important advice about how to maintain the bins without bad odors or mess. And so far so good. In just a few days, our worms seem to have gotten bigger and multiplied. They seem to be enjoying their new homes and all the soft pulpy stuff we’ve been feeding to them (residue from the juicer).

Abi was in the unit and seems to be sold on the idea. Hopefully next month we’ll get the farm set up with a worm condo of its own.

We’re still not sure how much soil the worms will make and how quickly they multiply. But it’s safe to say that pretty soon we’ll have excellent potting soil and organic fertilizer for Horticulture to use. And for folks to take home for their house plants.

More news on the worms soon!

The Wellness Unit is cooler…

Quite literally now that we have two new refrigerators. Yesterday they were delivered and we recount the level of teamwork involved in getting these things in the door. First there were some folks who did the research on different refrigeration units, looking at the cost, the size, and the space available in our unit. Since we are on the 5th floor, we had to make sure that the fridges would fit in the elevator (though we did shoot around the idea of letting David showcase his strength by carrying them up the stairs). Well when they were delivered yesterday, we found it difficult to get them through the front door even. After some further investigation and lifting/maneuvering we did get them inside and had tilt and nudge them, one at a time into the elevator and up to the 5th floor. Meanwhile there was a crew in the unit who was removing the old refrigerator and cleaning the walls behind it and the floor beneath it, as well as a group that was moving things around and clearing space in our “storage room” for the second (larger) refrigerator. Anyways, a few back pains later we had them in place, proud of our teamwork (a dozen or so of us) and ready to be cool.

Wellness Education in the Clubhouse

     For the past three months we have made an educational checklist of was exams and immunizations our members should have by age and gender. The information was gathered from many sources including the internet. It was looked over by a doctor. 

     There is no reason to wait to go the Doctor until something is terribly wrong with you—an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

     An example of this checklist is given below. Should you wanted to more of these checklists, post a comment and we will get in touch with you.

     

Preventative Health Care How often do you go to the doctor? You probably take better care of your car than your health!  There is no reason to wait to go to the Doctor until something is terribly wrong with you—an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  This sheet is a guideline for preventative check-ups.  It is NOT a replacement doctor’s advice: your doctor can tailor your check-ups to your specific health needs. Men Ages 18-39 Every Month

Testicular, skin, oral and breast self-exams

 Every Year

Dental Exam every 6 months

Influenza vaccine (flu shot)

Sexually Transmitted Infection screening—if there is a change in

            partners or symptoms develop.  More frequently depending on

            risk.

 Every Three Years

Blood pressure, height and weight measurements and brief

Blood test and urinalysis (cholesterol, diabetes, kidney, and thyroid)

 Every Five Years

Tuberculin skin test

 At Least Every Ten Years

Tetanus booster

 Also

Meningitis vaccine from teen to 22 years of age

 Where We Got This Information:

(http://www.edisonnj.org/health/menhealth.asp)

(http://health.discovery.com/centers/mens/articles/checkups.htm)

http://vitualis.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/print2.pdf

 

corporate wellness in the news…

I must admit it.  I am addicted to the New York Times website.  Recently, I searched the paper’s archives (newly  opened to the public free of charge!!) to see what NYT was saying about “wellness.”  I stumbled across an article entitled “Wellness Programs Try to Become Welcoming, Too” from July 22nd, 2007.  You can read the article here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/business/yourmoney/22mgmt.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

The article examines the attempts of a few corporations to integrate wellness into their workplace culture.  This article immediately resonated with me for two reasons:

1) Since beginning work at Fountain House this August, I’ve observed that in a lot of ways Fountain House reminds me of a traditional corporation–not the tiny non-profit I thought I might end up working for after graduating!  Fountain House is a very large organization, is broken up into many smaller “departments,” and has its very own bureaucracy.  Because of Fountain House’s similarities to corporations, I thought this article might shed some light on wellness strategies that would be effective both in the corporate world and in our clubhouse.

2) Fountain House runs on a work-ordered day.  This means that during the day we focus on getting our work done– serving food in the KDR, watering plants in horticulture, entering data in research.  This order of our work-ordered day seems to me to be based on a corporate model: we run 9 to 5 with a lunch break like business people– not 7 to 6 like school teachers, or 3-midnight like waiters, or more erratically like artists, though artists and schoolteachers and waiters all also order their days around work.  I’ve gotten wind of some controversy surrounding the gym component of the wellness unit because, it seems, exercise disrupts the flow of the work-ordered day.  This article, though, talks about how corporations incorporate wellness into the order of their work.

So what do I take away from this article?   Well, I learned that 50% ++ of large companies offer wellness programs in their work-ordered days.   I got a few ideas for things we could do (pedometers, anyone?) but a lot of what’s going on looks a lot like what’s already happening here at FH.  One good piece of information, though, is that just like at Fountain House, at large companies employees don’t want to be babied.  They don’t want to be coerced into eating spinach and running on treadmills by parent-like figures.  I think that the same is true of Fountain House members and staff, and like the article suggests, we should focus on carrots rather than sticks (delicious juice and a Y membership that costs $5 a month, anyone?).  Some things that these companies are doing, though, I don’t think Fountain House should take up anytime soon… like mandatory nicotine tests.  Apparently at Scotts Miracle-Gro if you smoke you’re fired.  Somehow I think that policy might result in a dramatic plunge in Fountain House’s membership and employee base…

Diabetes and sugar

So many people have diabetes these days.Though it is a

most thoughtful situation. I know that those who has diabetes should and do know such that you do have to watch your daily intake of foods that contain sugar and the like. I know some of those who has diabetes do not really take into accustom that if you do not take care of yourself whether it’s diabetes or something else that you can end up doing yourself really great damage. I also know that those who doesn’t has any one to watch over them and see to it that you must watch your deit and intake of sugar and the like you seem to have sugar or even foods that has sugar or something sweet or sweeter that you are not suppose to have they’re not fully aware of what they are causing. Thoughit’s very easy to find the right diet and stick to it. I  say if you care about yourself you will do what you have to do and take the necessare steps to make yourself better and to stay that way. ou must take a leap and look out for yourself when there is no one else to do so. You do not want to cause yourself to have a mishap because this is only going to end up being a bad thing for you and you are and will be only blaming yourself. So  eat right and take care of whatever you have to and execise; even if it’s just  three days a week because you will find out that if will do you some good.

The current situation

We have a new juicer and whomever wants to learn how to use it will have that opportunity. We have also been looking at lockers and as a unit decision we will be purchasing the  items for people in need of it during their workout routines. Member participation has been increasing in the gym arena. Many members have been working towards their fitness goals and are moving in the direction they desire . Of course I am one of those members who are seeing results as the weeks progress and time rolls on by.

A WELLNESS UNIT DECISION

A cafe day was initiated by the wellness unit several weeks ago and was successful in bringing a substantial number of members to share heathful food such as soup, muffins and granola bars, as well as several entrees. However, upon group discussion by the unit, it was noted that unit work was concentrated on the day preceding cafe day rather than throughout the week. A project that could engage members and staff in the work ordered day throughout the entire week was sought. Anne raised the idea of a daily juice bar that could provide fresh juices as well as items such as muffins, granola bars and yogurt. The juice bar time itself as well as preparation for it would occur daily. There was much discussion of this plan, since it would involve discontinuing cafe day. After several days of discussion, a vote was taken. The decision to begin a daily juice bar prevailed, despite some opposition. It was, however, a decision that could by lived with by everyone in the unit. A search for a commercial juicer was initiated and one was located in the food industry area of the Bowery. Now the unit must decide the hours of the project as well as other details. Reaching consensus is the goal.

The Quest For Juice

What is health without juice?  Nutritional guidelines do say that you should get your daily servings of fruit from sources other than juice for maximum health, but honestly, I cannot think “wellness” without conjuring the image of exercisers in leotards bopping to the beat of aerobic music and then cooling down with a nice fresh glass of an alfalfa-celery-carrot-grapefruit liquid concoction.

Thus, it became clear that juice was the essential ingredient missing from the menus in  the Wellness Unit.  It wasn’t that we didn’t have a juicer; we did.  I believe our current juicer is the Greenstar juicer, which came complete with a DVD explaining that juice was fundamentally tied to the words of Jesus and that carrot juice is the cure to colon cancer.  Religiosity aside, this juicer is pretty good.  Anne has mastered the art of making juice with our juicer– with fresh high point apples, delicious.  I, however, seem to be more challenged in the art of juice making.  More than once, Hamid and I spent an afternoon up to our elbows in pear guts as the juicer slowly ground its way through the fruit, yielding little liquid at a slow pace.

In order to expand our juice repertoire, it became clear that a faster, more efficient juicer was necessary.  Thus, I began my foray into the Internet subculture of juice fanatics.   At first I only looked at product and price lists.  I was dismayed to find that the commercial juicers in health food stores, which I’d been jealously eying, cost upwards of 2,000 dollars!  I moved on to reading the message boards, product reviews, and heated debates which abound in juice-maniac cyber-culture.  To masticate or not to masticate?  That is the question.  And is the attachment for wheat-grass juicing really worth it?  How can we REALLY measure the efficiency of a juicer?
But, after reading several websites, I was surprised to find that a consensus emerged.  The world seems to agree that the Breville Juice Fountain Elite 800JEXL, with its stainless steel exterior, 1000 watt motor, and three-inch wide, off-center, feeding tube is the way to go.  This baby can apparently juice whole apples and celery stalks in a matter of seconds.  It’s pulp to juice ratio appears favorable.  And its pricetag, $300, while steep, looks thrifty when compared to the $2000 cost of some comparable machines.

Needless to say, I am pretty excited.  Now the real work can begin.  To buy online, or from a restaurant supply store in the Bowery?  And what juices to make?  Now that we’ve found the juicer of our dreams, we just need to get it and get started on some juice-oriented unit work!  That, and perhaps we should invest in some Spandex and aerobics videos circa 1983…