A Better Bag of Groceries

The Healthy Pasta Night That Changed Everything

Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at 07:07 AM

This is the best story.

Meet Peter Streit.

Peter is an Assistant Manager at a Hy-Vee Supermarket in Sioux City, Iowa and he has been with the company for 20 years.  Peter has six older brothers, all of whom are Store Directors for Hy-Vee.  Peter is also a Dad to two young children:  a boy in the second grade and a girl in kindergarten.

Hy-Vee was one of the first supermarket chains in the country to put NuVal scores on their shelves.

One day, Peter was shopping (at Hy-Vee, of course) with his son, Liam. They were in the pasta aisle, and Peter was about to toss the pasta he usually bought into the shopping cart, when Liam stopped him.  “Hey, Dad,” he said.  “Why are you buying that one.  It only gets a 53.  The higher the number the better, right?  Shouldn’t we get the one that gets a 91?”  Peter could hardly argue with his son who had noticed the NuVal scores, so he put the Barilla Plus pasta in his cart.  That night, his son said, “Dad, can we have that healthy pasta for dinner?”

Well, that Healthy Pasta Night was the night that everything changed for Peter, his family and for all the first- and second-graders in Sioux City, Iowa.

Let me explain…

First, Peter started paying  more attention to the NuVal scores in his store.  Instead of his usual doughnut for breakfast, he chose a healthy yogurt and a piece of fresh fruit.  In an interview that I conducted with Peter yesterday, he told me, “I’m a Store Manager.  I’m always on the go and I’m surrounded by food all the time.  I used to just eat what smelled good.  Now, I think about the nutrition factor.”  By changing his eating habits and starting an exercise routine, Peter has lost 35 pounds to date. 

Next, Peter’s family also made major changes to their menu at home.  During our interview, Peter described breakfast at his house Before.  “My kids ate Pop Tarts, Toaster Pastries and Fruit Loops.  Now they choose from yogurt (Peter’s kids like a Blue Bunny brand that scores a 100), Bare Naked Granola, Raisin Bran, Shredded Wheat, and whole fruit, especially grapefruit.  While lunch has remained about the same for Peter’s kids (Minute Maid Kids Orange Juice with vitamins and Calcium which score a 70, fruit, and a turkey sandwich on Whole Wheat Bread), dinner has changed dramatically.  “We used to eat a lot of red meat, hamburgers and canned vegetables with added sodium.  Now, we eat a lot of fish, chicken and turkey.  We have traded up to frozen vegetables with no salt added (a lot of them score a 100) or canned vegetables with no salt added.  One of our favorite sides is Birds Eye Steamfresh Long Grain White Rice With Mixed Vegetables which scores an 89.”

Peter thought about how his son taught him how to eat more nutritiously.  It was so simple and yet it changed his family’s health and their life so dramatically.  Peter thought that more kids could teach their parents about better nutrition.  He had an idea.  What if HyVee sent some volunteers into the classrooms in Sioux City to educate children about nutrition and to teach them how to use the NuVal scores at their local grocery stores?  How cool would that be?

So, Peter talked to his son’s principal and then to Mary Jo Salem, director of elementary education for the Sioux City Community Schools.  With help from two Hy-Vee registered dietitians, Lindsay Lannan and Sarah Nelson, Peter put a program together.  Beginning this fall, every first- and second-grader in Sioux City will receive three one-hour courses, teaching them basic information about the role of diet in a healthy lifestyle.  The classes are very interactive and include great activities such as one from the Sugar Sleuth class, where the kids will measure out how many teaspoons of sugar are in gatorade, soda, juice, milk and water.  The kids will play the Nutrition By the Numbers game (much like the one on the NuVal website), where players try to figure out which products score high, medium and low.  The kids will go home with coupons for produce to encourage them to try something new, like kiwi.  The goal is to begin in the first and second grade classrooms and then to add a grade to the program each year. 

Peter and Hy-Vee are getting a ton of press about this program.  You can read more about is here in this article from Progressive Grocer. 

Peter told me, “NuVal is so simple.  With the scores, kids can educate their parents on what’s healthy and together we can make strides in preventing childhood obesity.”  I am just in awe of Peter and what he has done in Sioux City, Iowa!  And I am also sending some support his way to help Peter maintain his weight loss and continue to meet his personal goals.  “I’m about half-way there,” he told me.  “The first 25 came off really easy, the next ten were harder.”  I can tell that Peter is the kind of guy who can do anything when he puts his mind to it!

Oh – I will get in trouble if I don’t say this!  NuVal is not a weight loss program.  It is a nutritional guidance system.  Got it?  Great!

Congratulations to Peter and to everyone at Hy-Vee who is helping to make this fantastic program possible in the Sioux City School System!

Winner of Yesterday’s Giveaway

Congratulations to Commenter #30, Whitney.  You’ve won the Pasta and Sauce Giveaway.  Please email me at abetterbagofgroceries@gmail.com with your mailing address.  Thanks to all who entered!

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Tags: Hy-vee, Uncategorized