People usually go to the Y to burn calories — not consume them.
But last Friday, about two dozen people came to the Gateway YWCA on South Main Street for its first potluck dinner.
The potluck was timed to coincide with Childhood Obesity Awareness Month.
“One thing we’ve been doing with youth is find ways to reinforce healthy eating and fitness,” said Christy Respess, the CEO of the YWCA of Winston-Salem. “We thought, ‘What is a way to bring families together?’ And we thought of a potluck.”
But because potlucks often have high-calorie, fattening foods, the Y specifically asked families to bring only healthy, nutritious dishes.
Increasingly, the Gateway Y has incorporated food and diet into its programs.
When the 90,000-square-foot building was built in 2007, a large demonstration kitchen with four ranges was included in the plans.
The Y is using the kitchen for cooking classes that focus on good nutrition, including some by Julie Lanford, a registered dietitian at Cancer Services.
In August, folks from Whole Foods Market conducted classes every Wednesday.
The Y also serves as a drop-off point for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) from Harmony Ridge Farms of Tobaccoville. Harmony Ridge has signed up a handful of Y members to buy weekly deliveries of vegetables that they can pick up while they are at the Y working out.
The Y also partnered with Harmony Ridge to supply free vegetables to low-income families, and to give them classes to make sure they knew how to prepare them.
The Y recently surveyed members, asking them about their interest in healthy food. As a result, Respess said that the Y is looking for caterers or others who might deliver healthy, prepared meals that members could pick up after working out to take home for dinner.
For a small potluck, there was a lot of food Friday. I was particularly impressed by how many people took the “healthy” instructions to heart. The table was laden with green vegetables — sautéed spinach, green beans, broccoli and spinach salads, sautéed peppers and onions — and only one dessert aside from containers of fresh melons and other fruit.
Yes, one batch of chicken still had the skin, but nothing was fried or overly high in fat — with the possible exception of chicken Alfredo.
Other dishes included fresh tomatoes, rice, pasta salad, rosemary chicken, and ravioli with vegetables and pesto.
Jesse Propsner, who comes to the Y to swim, brought salad and potatoes au gratin. He also brought his wife, Hayley, and stepdaughter, 13-year-old Nessa Moore. “It was amazing,” Nessa said of the spread.
Propsner said he’d like to see the Y do another potluck. “I think the more they do it, the better they’ll get at it,” he said.
Maria Graham, who made the ravioli, was there with her husband, Brad Ellis, and their 5-year-old son, Nate. The family was a recipient of Harmony Ridge’s free vegetables and the cooking classes that came along with them.
“I actually didn’t really know how to cook before, so I learned to cook in the kitchen here,” Graham said.
Tynetta Vincent, who made the sautéed spinach and roasted acorn squash, said she started to change her diet when she decided to lose weight a few years ago. “I lost 60 pounds, and I had to learn to cook healthy,” she said. “Luckily, my sister is a health buff.”
Respess said that an important part of the potluck was the fellowship. “For families who don’t have a lot of money, it’s fun to get out and to have them sit down to a family meal,” she said.
Respess said that health and wellness has always incorporated diet and nutrition, but the Y is emphasizing those aspects more.
“Now you hear a lot about comprehensive-wellness programs. It’s about balance, and it’s very holistic, looking at everything in one’s life.”
This kind of approach makes sense, Respess said, if only from a practical perspective. “Knowing how busy families are, we’re trying to make Gateway a one-stop shop.”
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