I like to celebrate when folks in our community do something great about food and nutrition.

I attended the 10th annual meeting of the North Carolina Prevention Partners and was pleased to learn that Pitt Community College was honored with an award: "Winner's Circle Healthy Dining Excellence: Pitt Community College." PCC, with the leadership and persistence of Debra McGowan, became the pacesetter among community colleges in making healthy food choices the norm. Debra and the Pitt team helped the campus food-service vendor, wellness team and others fully embrace making healthy food more available, and, more obvious, to give consumers a chance to choose the healthier option.

PCC has joined Pitt County Schools, Pitt County Memorial Hospital and restaurants including Chefs 505, Chico's, China 10 and Cubbies in Winterville in identifying healthy options for their customers. You can also ask for a brochure at McDonald's that lists the items that meet the Winners Circle criteria. ECU Dining also identifies heart-healthy foods. Please compliment these establishments for helping you identify healthy food.

As you travel throughout North Carolina, you can find the names of other Winner's Circle restaurants by visiting the Web site www.winnerscirclehealthydining.com.

Food Literacy

Congratulations to our new Food Literacy Partners graduates. Recently Michelle Piscorik, Secunda Arnold, John Waters, Joanne Stallings, Angel Wiggins, Coletta Danneker, Elizabeth Daniels, Deb Pomeroy, Cora Neelon, Phyllis Barrett, and Mary Patterson completed our 20-hour training program in food and nutrition education for the public.

We look forward to these new graduates working with us to serve the needs of our community. They will provide at least 20 hours of community service. They join more than 300 other Pitt County residents who have enjoyed the training.

And we are pleased to announce that the Pitt Memorial Hospital Foundation will again fund, in part, the program for 2008-2009. If you want us to contact you when we set our training dates, let Mallory Rimmer know via e-mail at rimmerm@ecu.edu. One of our projects was at North Pitt High School this year. We are planning to go to Farmville Central High School in 2008-2009 and will need helpers.

Q Any hints on how to keep my grocery budget under control? Prices seem to be sky rocketing. — M.M., Greenville

A My colleague Alice Henneman has collected some tips to save money while shopping. I have encouraged you to keep a grocery list before. Alice says you should do it to help save trips to the store and save gas. And the less you shop, the less likely you will make an impulse purchase. Keep a grocery list where it's easily accessible, such as on the fridge and remember to take it with you to the grocery store. Stick to your list for added savings, but do stay flexible if you encounter a sale. Alice says you might save $1 or more for the gas to drive 4 miles for an extra trip to the store and $2.50 on an impulse snack purchase.

She says to think about checking your garbage. We lose money whenever we toss food because it spoiled before we got around to eating it. If leftovers get the "heave ho" because they're left too long, we're putting money in the garbage can.

Make planning to avoid tossing foods a priority. If you find wilted lettuce is a frequent occupant of your garbage can, serve more salads at the beginning of the week. If you use the lettuce instead of tossing it, you might save $1. If extra mashed potatoes get tossed because they've lingered too long in the fridge, make less next time. Or recycle them as potato patties, shepherd's pie or potato soup within a day or two of making them.

Some other ideas: Use ripe bananas in banana bread or Jell-O; add juice to smoothies or make popsicles; freeze leftovers for another meal. And check product expiration dates when you buy. Avoid buying a food that is too near or even past its prime. If it's on sale and near its expiration date, use it soon. If you avoid dumping a half gallon of soured milk down the drain, you save $2.50. It all adds up.

If you have tips, let us know so we can share them with others.

Professor Kathy Kolasa, a registered dietitian and Ph.D., works with the Family Medicine Center, Brody School of Medicine at ECU. Contact her at kolasaka@ecu.edu, or C/O The Daily Reflector, P.O. Box 1967, Greenville, NC 27835.