Several local residents and their children were taken on a free Shopping Matters grocery tour at a Canton Kroger, where they learned how to make healthy food choices on a limited budget.

Josefina Arvizu-Villela, WIC nutritionist for the Cherokee County Health Department, teaches participants how to read food labels for nutritional values during the Shopping Matters tour.

The Shopping Matters tour was sponsored by North Georgia WIC and led by Josefina Arvizu-Villela, a WIC nutritionist based at the Cherokee County Health Department.

"Often, people don't know how to buy nutritious, yet affordable food for their family because they don't understand which foods are best, nor do they know how to make sense of the labels," Arvizu-Villela explained. "Shopping Matters empowers them to shop more effectively because it breaks it all down in a practical, sensible way."

This tour focused particularly on foods available in the Women's, Infants and Children (WIC) food package.

"Many moms I know don't pay attention to food labels or have any idea about nutrition," tour participant Katherine Garcia, of Woodstock, said. "They just buy food they think saves them money, but instead, it's often pre-processed. Today, I learned I can freeze fruits and vegetables and how to better read food labels for nutritional values."

Katherine Garcia, of Woodstock, puts her newly acquired skills to practical use while reading a food label to her daughter Kamila.

At the end of the tour, Shopping Matters participants were given a $10 Kroger gift Card and a guidebook featuring tasty, simple recipes and information provided during the tour.

"We hope to continue providing Shopping Matters tours here in Cherokee County; however, that is contingent on future collaborations with local grocery stores," said Karen Rutledge, program manager for North Georgia WIC.

Shopping Matters is a branch of Cooking Matters, part of the national organization Share Our Strength. Learning to fully utilize WIC and the SNAP program to purchase healthy, easy to cook meals is a key ingredient of the program.

Learn more about Shopping Matters and Cooking Matters at Share Our Strength's website www.nokidhungry.org.

-Story by Jennifer King, Public Information Officer/Risk Communicator, North Georgia Health District 1-2