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Shirley’s joins healthy eating program
Shirley’s operations manager Noelle Macario is flanked by REACH program coordinator Becky Robles, right, and Public Health director Margaret Aldan, left, at the Shirley’s branch in Susupe. (Kimberly A. Bautista)
The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. recently added a family favorite restaurant to its relatively new health program.
Shirley’s Coffee Shop was officially accepted into the REACH Biba healthy program of CHCC.
The REACH Biba healthy program was a program created three years ago in order to promote healthy eating in the Commonwealth. According to program coordinator Becky Robles, REACH stands for Racial Ethnic Approach to Community Health. The program’s main purpose is to reach out to restaurants on island and encourage them to join the program. Restaurants who have joined or are interested in participating in the program would alter items on their menu to make them healthier, or the restaurant could add a whole new dish to their menu that meets the criteria of the REACH program.
Shirley’s, according to Robles, is a family restaurant on island that is widely known. Having Shirley’s join the program means more families would be offered healthy options.
According to Shirley’s operations manager Noelle Macario, it took a year for the restaurant to be officially part of the REACH Biba Healthy program because of all the requirements that they needed approved for their new menu.
Shirley’s added four new dishes to their menu that encourages healthy eating. The four additional meals are marked with the REACH Biba health insignia.
According to Macario, it took a while for the recipes to be approved because of the process the food needed to undergo.
Shirley’s cooks were required to create new healthy dishes that contain little to no sodium, no MSG, and to substitute fried sides with salads or fruits.
According to Robles, restaurants interested in joining the program should check out the REACH website, http://reachcnmi.wixsite.com/reach/about-czre for additional information.
