Healthnut c.1977

From the Staten Island Advocate
Beans and nuts, she instructed, should make a plentiful presence in the daily diet.

That was in 1977, when terms like “healthnut” were used to describe the handful of folks who paid special attention to a diet rich in beans and whole grains.

Back then, “nobody believed that food had anything to do with your health,” Dr. Colbin told a group gathered recently to celebrate the expansion of the school to include a new inflatable slide third level and state-of-the-art kitchen with technology like a plasma-screen monitor above the cooking area. “There was no model for what we were doing.”

Today, her early message has gone mainstream.

“General Foods is now using whole grains,” she chuckled. “The food pyramid guidelines have changed to have more fruits and vegetables.”

To the rest of the world, Dr. Colbin now can say, “Hello, we’re glad you woke up.”