This week the TCSA is hosting its first Healthy Living campaign. In the past the TCSA has been actively involved in the food services. Some of you will recall the Raw Deal study the TCSA published in 2012 that exposed many of the issues then present in our food services model. The TCSA runs numerous campaigns focused on the mental and overall well-being of students, but specific methods to better achieve a healthy living lifestyle have not been previously addressed.

“After advising with the executives, we have decided that an active lifestyle and healthy eating habits are in fact the integral components of the health and academic success of the students and that these topics deserve a special attention,” replied Anna Leonova, Vice President University & College Affairs, when asked about the importance of the topic.

The goal of the week-long campaign is to promote the benefits of an active lifestyle, not in a generic way, but from a scientific point of view. Dean of Nursing Dr. Kirsten Woodend, Kinesiology professor Dr. Ingrid Brenner, chemistry professor Dr. Anthony Chibba, Gzowski College athletics representative Hannah Cahill, and Trent Excalibur rower Matthew Seaby are part of the professional team that will help send the message out to students. With the onset of midterms, essays and cold weather, we fortunate to now also have a lot of support from Trent’s Food Services during Healthy Food Week. The week unfolds as follows.

Monday November 7th

“Healthy Monday” will see no fries or onion rings on campus. Today, Symons campus will be deep-fryer free. Leonova explains, “Deep-frying is a separate issue on its own. I am very interested in gathering the feedback after this pilot project. Deep-frying is something many schools have already gotten rid of and I am very interested if our community is ready to make a step forward as well”

Tuesday November 8th

A Biochemistry seminar with Dr. Chibba will take place at 12 pm in OC 208. Dr. Chibba will focus on the chemical aspects of fast-food and the diseases associated with the consumption of it. He will explain what the chemical composition of trans fat is and answer any questions about fast food. The aim of the seminar is to make students aware of the consequences of consuming these types of food. Leonova adds, “There is an outrageous amount of purchased fast food items on campus every year.”

The TCSA is also collaborating with the Athletics Department in facilitating two fitness classes: HIIT circuit training on Tuesday at 8 pm and the boxing class on Thursday at 8 pm.

Wednesday November 9th

There will be a nursing seminar with Dr. Woodend at 2 pm in BL 103. This session will focus on the effects of healthy eating on learning capabilities and mental heath. In the evening, from 5-7pm, the Seasoned Spoon is welcoming everybody to their Kombucha-making workshop. Kombucha is a fermented tea with plenty of health benefits.

Thursday November 10th

The “Fitness Foods” seminar will cover nutrition myths and facts at 4:30 pm in CC307. The university’s dietitian will be presenting about artificial protein shakes, steroids, food supplements, and more. “All of these products are widely used by the students,” points out Leonova. “The consumption of such products can be very dangerous and we wanted to create a special awareness.”

This same afternoon at 5:00 pm in CC 307, Dr. Brenner will be hosting a Kinesiology seminar to talk about the importance of physical activity on physical and mental health.

Friday November 11th

A group of Trent athletes led by Seaby will be sharing their knowledge and experience about varsity teams: the process of getting involved, the benefits of being an athlete, the layouts of the varsity season, and more from the life of the athletes.

Throughout the week students will have a chance to get stamps in their special passports as they attend the seminars and events. On Friday, right after the final seminar, the TCSA will be collecting the passports for the raffle with a chance to win a SportCheck gift card.

The TCSA will gather feedback from the week, provide different materials to students and inform students about the services they can receive as members of the TCSA. At the same time, the ‘Leave the Pack Behind’ campaign, a campus smoking program which provides information for smokers and non-smokers, will also be happening to create more awareness of healthy living throughout the whole week. You can find more information and the full schedule on the TCSA Facebook page.