Free dinner and movie; event addresses healthy eating

Small Towns
Contact(s)

Rhea Landholm, brand marketing and communications manager, rheal@cfra.org, 402.687.2100 ext 1025

NIOBRARA, NEBRASKA – A viewing of “The Magic Pill” is set for Tuesday, Aug. 21, at 5 p.m. at the Santee Community Center, 104 N Memorial Dr., in Niobrara. This free event is sponsored by the Center for Rural Affairs and the Santee Health & Wellness Center.

“The video addresses healthy eating and how changing the way a person eats, to natural food, fruits, vegetables, etc., helps many of the health issues that are common in our community,” said Lizzie Swalley, community food associate with the Center for Rural Affairs. “One issue we have is diabetes, and we’ve also had an increase in cases of ADHD and autism in our youth.”  

After the screening, a meal will be provided. Staff will complete a food demonstration using vegetables grown on the Santee Reservation, followed by a question and answer session.

“We hope this event will help reinforce our garden project so people in our community grow more vegetables and fruit,” said Swalley. “We are also introducing a new food, the Indigo potato. We are teaching our community about new foods and how to cook with them, so the foods will taste inviting.”

The Santee Garden and Market Project, a joint effort between the Center for Rural Affairs and Nebraska Indian Community College (NICC) has offered a series of garden, market, and artist trainings. The sessions include demonstrations on garden soil preparation, growing techniques for produce, and preparations for direct sales. In addition, beading and artist workshops have been held to provide resources for selling artwork or other handmade projects. The market launched in 2012 and served more than 1,000 customers during the 2017 season.

This event is made possible through a partnership with a tribal entity, the Santee Health & Wellness Center's health educator, Jay Canning. His role is to provide educational material and information to the Santee community.