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Churches work to improve blacks' health through diet

Web posted May 5, 1998

Associated Press

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Sunday dinner at black churches will never be the same if some health activists have their way.

Instead of heart-clogging dishes like fatback, a group formed through South Carolina's African Methodist Episcopal churches wants people update those menus with tasty, reduced-fat recipes and menus.

``We can save lives with all the information we are sharing with you today,'' said Jeannette Jordan, who organized a program this weekend at Morris Brown AME Church. ``The fat in our diet is the culprit for every major chronic disease.''

The program was put on by the AME Church Cancer Control Education Centered Program, a joint effort between the AME Church of South Carolina and the Medical University of South Carolina's Hollings Cancer Center.

The group plans to continue the program in South Carolina's AME churches next year, then take the program nationwide.

Jordan said lowering fat intake and eating less smoked and salted foods would help prevent cancer and a high-fiber diet would stave off colon cancer.

Jordan also said many people eat more protein than they need. She encouraged the substitution of beans and peas for meat whenever possible.

``I was brought up to `eat everything on your plate,' even if you were full,'' said the Rev. Allen Parrott of Morris Brown AME. ``So we've got to break those bad habits, and that takes time and education. But that's where we're going.''

Jordan said the statewide program's goal was to produce a low-fat cookbook that contains reduced-fat versions of traditional church favorites.

Cook Delores Jones spoke about fat-free and low-fat recipe substitutions.

Three tablespoons of cocoa and one tablespoon of oil can be substituted for one ounce of baking chocolate and equal parts of fat-free mayonnaise and nonfat yogurt can sometimes substitute for margarine, she said.

She also said that fatback, ham hocks or pigtails can be replaced by strips of turkey or ham in many traditional recipes.

DeBorah McCollum-Mims, a registered nurse, suggested boiling meat, chicken or fish bones, then cooking rice in the broth to enrich it with calcium from the bones.

She also said that the harder the cheese, the less fat it contains.