INUVIK - The tables were lined with colourful foods and snacks that looked so appetizing, one might forget they were walking into a healthy eating clinic.

At age six, Marie Carpenter already knows the value of healthy food as she makes her own trail mix at a healthy eating clinic on Thursday, March 17. - Kira Curtis/NNSL photo

The room by regional nutritionist Beth Oehler's office at the Inuvik Regional Hospital was decorated with spinach greens, almond browns and berry reds on Thursday, March 17.

She was there to demonstrate some quick, easy and healthy snack options with the highlight being smoothies.

"To get her to eat, everything goes in the blender," said Yvonne Doolittle, mom to six-year-old and smoothie expert Marie Carpenter.

She came out to learn some new healthy ideas for her family. She said her most important tool for healthy snacking is her Magic Bullet blender, "especially with the little Bullets." Doolittle said it is easy to get her kids involved in making quick snacks or breakfasts.

"If you have more kids you can give them variety and it's almost like an ice cream bar but a smoothie bar. They really like that and if they have something that they really like then they can change it up and make their own."

Doolittle makes sure there are only healthy choices available, so her kids always have a choice and it's never the wrong one. She said it's much easier than people think - you don't have to slave away cooking all day.

"There's no effort," she said. "There's never a question about it that it's good. It's always a healthy choice."

The problem all Northern communities face though is the cost of fresh fruits and vegetables and many of the healthier food items.

"It's cheaper to buy a bag of chips than a potato," said Maria Storr, who was among the group of 10 who came to be nutritionally inspired. "It's terrible."

Oehler provided ideas on how to get around the fresh produce prices but still eat healthy.

"Frozen fruits and vegetables can have as much or more nutrition than fresh," Oehler said.

Looking around at the confused faces in the room, she explained fruits and vegetables have the most nutritional value when they are picked. As the days pass from when it was picked, they lose nutrition. Frozen produce is usually frozen shortly after picking, sealing the nutrients in.

Another idea is to freeze bananas when they start to turn brown to save for smoothies or baking. Oehler showed this off by making one of her favourite smoothies: banana, kiwi, apple juice and spinach. That's right, spinach, and everyone in the room drank it including six-year-old Marie.

"A big thing too is reading the labels and trying to make sure that, for kids especially, the first three ingredients aren't sugar," Doolittle said. "That's the big thing for me for everything. She's been weaned off of sugary cereals."

Oehler hopes people share these ideas and will be out and about at community events inspiring healthy eating through Inuvik and the Beaufort Delta.

"If people are getting together for other reasons, then having some healthy snacks available or things like that is a good way too," she said.

Oehler finished the evening session off with peanut butter and banana, and peanut butter and apple sandwiches, instead of sugary jams.

"It's totally doable," Doolittle stated. "It's just right there and it's easy to grab."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.