Seniors see results by learning about nutrition

Eight stories up, Jo Gibson has a grand view of the world. For nine years she has literally looked down on everything around her and that has given her a broad perspective on a lot of things.

From her apartment window and the bird's-eye view it gives her, Gibson and her good friend, Rose Williams, recently assisted the Pueblo Police Department with apprehension of a bank robber. Alerted by a police scanner that their neighborhood bank had been robbed, one of them kept an eye on the suspect's movements down on the ground, while the other called the police and directed them to the suspect's location where he was quickly apprehended. While, really, it was all in a day's work, the ladies are proud of the citation they received from local law-enforcement officials commending their citizen participation.

That's about how exciting each day is for Gibson and her companions in the 14-story high rise where 215 apartments house limited-resource, ethnically diverse seniors. When they aren't helping capture bank robbers or celebrating at Bronco victory parties, they often are participating in classes with Colorado State University Extension's Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program.

The goal of FSNEP is simple: help limited-resource audiences eat healthier at lower food cost. Colorado State Extension provides the nutrition and food resource management program through federal and state dollars that reach into 22 rural and urban counties. To Jo, Rose, Smitty, Peg and friends, this means they have gained valuable skills from the local FSNEP nutrition classes.

"I have learned so much," Gibson said. "I learned how to read food labels, so now I take my time when I shop -- and I read everything. It has helped lower my blood pressure because I watch for products low in sodium and sugar and high in nutrients."

For a year now, since the classes began, she not only studies product labels at the grocery store, she exercises through a water-aerobics class with several friends.

"The class is tough," she states. "The instructor really works us to death." But she knows these things have contributed to her lower blood pressure and good reports at the doctor's office. "I feel like I'm in control of my health," she said. "The FSNEP program has really helped some of my friends with high cholesterol and diabetes. Another friend, whose husband had undergone heart by-pass surgery, thought the program was great because it helped her create a menu plan for him."

Gibson, who was born and raised in New York City, moved to Colorado in 1959 with her husband and two small children. The spunk and resilience she inherited back in Brooklyn from her Spanish mother and her Puerto Rican father, a chef at the Waldorf Astoria, are still evident in her energy level and leadership role among the apartment dwellers.

Gibson cooks for herself and says she is always looking for creative things to do with fruits and vegetables. "I still eat a lot of rice and beans like we did at home," she said. "But now I know they are really good for you because they equal a complete protein," she jokes with Ginger Lenzmeier, FSNEP agent in Pueblo County.

"We have a good time with this nutrition stuff. Ginger makes it fun and easy to learn," Gibson said. "My eating habits have changed and I know those of us in the program have learned to eat better. My most important lesson was learning to pay attention to those food labels," she said. "I now use my dollars better at the grocery store so they can stretch for all those other things I want to do."

Partners in EFNEP: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Colorado State University Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition; Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program; local organizations including Azteca Senior Apartments, Pueblo.

For more information, contact your local Colorado State University Extension office.

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