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Brooklyn Nonprofit Teaches How to Eat Healthfully on Just $4-a-Day

By Camille Bautista | November 13, 2014 8:39am
 Leanne Brown, author of cookbook "Good and Cheap," will teach individuals how to eat healthfully on $4-a-day during a cooking demonstration and book signing event in Bed-Stuy on Nov. 13. 
Leanne Brown, author of cookbook "Good and Cheap," will teach individuals how to eat healthfully on $4-a-day during a cooking demonstration and book signing event in Bed-Stuy on Nov. 13. 
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BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Bed-Stuy residents are being taught how to eat flavorful, nutritious meals for just $4 a day. 

Food author Leanne Brown and the Northeast Brooklyn Housing Development Corporation will host a book signing and cooking event Thursday for “Good and Cheap,” a cookbook filled with cost-saving, food shopping tips for individuals on a budget.

The recipes are geared toward those in SNAP, the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — also known as food stamps.

As of Nov. 7, more than 46.5 million people received SNAP benefits for the 2014 fiscal year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Under the program, participants are allotted $4 per person, per day.

Brown’s cookbook initially started as her capstone project during her time at New York University. After she posted free PDFs on her website, thousands of the guides were downloaded in the first couple of weeks, she writes in her book.

But she wanted to make it available in print for people without access to computers — the ones who could really benefit from the information, said Bianca Bockman, NEBHDCo.’s Community Healthy Food Advocate.

“Working with low-income people, we think it’s really important to have this in print for those who need it,” Bockman said. “But it’s also filled with useful information for anyone who wants to eat well.”

In “Good and Cheap,” Brown suggests cutting out packaged drinks, buying basics like flour and canned vegetables and trying out other proteins like eggs, dried beans and tofu.

Thursday’s event at 376 Throop Avenue’s Demonstration Kitchen will feature catered dishes for up to 40 people using recipes from the book.

One of NEBHDC’s community chefs will participate in a cooking demonstration during which attendees can help create a meal.

Recipes include half-veggie burgers (a mix of vegetables and turkey), broccoli and apple salad, cornmeal-crusted vegetables and caramelized bananas for desert. For preparation costs, each demonstration dish ranges between 35 and 90 cents per serving.

Brown will also host a Q&A and book signing following the four-course meal.

The event starts at 6:30 p.m. at 376 Throop Ave. To RSVP or for more information on “Good and Cheap” at the Demonstration Kitchen, contact Anise Hines at NEBHDCo. at 718-453-9490 ext. 218 or 917-417-8393.