Food As Medicine – The shorter version:

• Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut and You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment are two of Netflix’s most recent nutrition documentaries.
• Alarming trends call for action to define the future role of food in nation’s health
• Study aims to understand the barriers of food prescription programs
• Five reasons why the current ‘Food Is Medicine’ solutions are falling short

Food as Medicine – The longer version:

Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut (running time: 1 hr 19 mins), Netflix’s newest nutrition documentary, stresses the importance of a healthy gut as the foundation for a healthy life. It gives a very good and clear explanation of why fiber is such an essential part of our diet (btw, Americans exceed their protein consumption by 35% BUT only 7% of Americans eat enough fiber!)

You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment  (four episodes ranging from 44-60 mins each) follows a group of identical twins who change their diets and lifestyles for eight weeks in a scientific experiment designed to explore how foods impact the body in more ways than physical [Spoiler: a healthy diet makes a huge difference on every single fitness/health measurement!].

Alarming trends call for action to define the future role of food in nation’s health

According to a new national poll of public attitudes on food and nutrition, nearly 7 in 10 (68%) respondents recognize healthy eating habits as an important factor in improving a person’s chance for a long and healthy life. Yet more than half (53%) say the United States is not making enough progress for nutritious food to be more accessible and affordable.

• More than 6 in 10 U.S. adults are projected to have some form of cardiovascular disease by 2050 – up from about half of all adults currently.
• Obesity rates will increase nearly 40% in adults – from 43.6% to 60.6%, and by more than 60% in children, from 20.6% to 33% by 2050.
• The highest growth of obesity prevalence is expected to be among adults 20-44 and 45-64 years old. In children, a steep growth of obesity is projected in all age groups.
• By 2050, more than 150 million people (close to half of the nation’s population) will have a poor diet – the most prevalent factor affecting health conditions such as hypertension, obesity and diabetes.

Study aims to understand the barriers of food prescription services

Study aims to understand the barriers of food prescription programs

Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid approved an amendment to New York state’s Medicaid 1115 waiver. Public Health researchers say it means Medicaid will start paying for social needs, including food, transportation, housing and other things that could affect their medical outcomes.

The highlight for those in public health is that people covered by Medicaid will be able to get fruits and vegetables prescribed to you like you would medicine. Jill Tirabassi, a principal investigator of the study, says “Primarily in behaviors that we choose to do every single day: what we eat, how we sleep [and] how we exercise. And so a study like this really focuses on the integration of how the healthcare system can actually help us make healthier food choices.”

Why Current ‘Food Is Medicine’ Solutions Are Falling Short

This is not new news but this article explains and dissects the issues and challenges surrounding Food as Medicine approaches. It outlines five major food problems that are impeding the effectiveness of this movement and strategic plan:

• Food Problem 1: Food Recommendations Contradict Food Subsidies

The federal government’s nutrition recommendations contradict the types of crops it subsidizes. The message to eat more produce has been promoted by the federal government for decades through campaigns such as “5-A-Day” in the early 1990s and “MyPlate” in the 2000s. At the same time, the federal government subsidizes agricultural production through commodity and crop insurance subsidies to maintain farmers’ revenue, control levels of food production, and keep costs of foods such as corn, soy, and wheat (and processed foods made from them) low. Unfortunately, the types of foods that receive most of the subsidies contradict the promotion of fresh produce, with nearly one-third of subsidies directed to the production of industrialized meat and dairy and only 4 percent going toward fruits and vegetables. 

• Food Problem 2: Food Acculturation And Assimilation Can Lead To Poorer Health

The concept of “food acculturation” describes the adaptation of migrants’ dietary habits to their new environments; this can involve finding new ways to prepare traditional foods, eliminating certain foods that are no longer available to migrants, or adopting entirely new foods. While food acculturation is a natural response to changing environments and is crucial for survival, it can become a concern when the new environment’s dietary and lifestyle practices are potentially harmful. 

“The cause of obesity and associated diseases has as much to do with the human reaction to overfeeding as it does with the production of foods that are being overfed and ultra-processed.”

• Food Problem 3: Culinary Education Is Effective But Time Consuming

Modern education empowers students to engage with material through hands-on experiences and activities to improve memory, retention, and application of the material. Unfortunately, innovations in pedagogy do not always translate into health care. Patient education around diet often consists of a printed handout and, sometimes, a referral to a registered dietitian. But even with a referral, nutrition counseling may be limited to a duration of just a few months. 

Group cooking classes help build community, provide peer support, and create extrinsic motivators to enhance learning. However, most culinary medicine programs are only available on a limited basis (for example, once per week), and many people face barriers to regular participation such as time, transportation, and family responsibilities.

• Food Problem 4: Medically Tailored Meals Are A Temporary Fix

The use of medically tailored meals, another FIM method, has been well-documented and associated with reductions in health care use. However, this approach does not allow for developing new culinary skills or forming (and then maintaining) new dietary habits; when the service ends, consumers may revert to their former eating patterns. Moreover, medically tailored meal programs are costly—which is burdensome to patients if not covered by insurance.

• Food Problem 5: Food Funding Is Not Sustainable

A final problem is the lack of clinical integration and sustainable funding sources for FIM services. In traditional health care models, services delivered are documented in medical records and coded for billing either at the individual’s expense or reimbursed by a third-party payer (that is, an insurer). However, there is currently limited standardization in screening, documentation, and medical billing codes for FIM services (such as culinary medicine or medically tailored foods). Most health systems charge patients out of pocket for these services or offer them for free thanks to philanthropic fundraising. Despite many examples of creative workaround solutions, there lacks a turn-key approach that can be systemized and scaled across health care settings.

To reach a solution that can address the five problems described above and be integrated into daily living while cultivating lasting behavior, several changes are needed:

• While current efforts mentioned above should continue and expand, new innovations should focus on making individual efforts easier and fit better into daily living through a spectrum of services, from prepared meals to hands-on learning. Programs can exist in health care, community and faith-based organizations, technology, and so forth.
• FIM interventions should be integrated into clinical care models, supported by ACOs, and reimbursed through third-party payers to enhance the efficacy of services.
• Locally sourced and sustainable ingredients must be the foundation of FIM. All efforts should help mobilize local businesses and create economic growth—especially among marginalized populations.
• The descriptors “personalized” and “culturally appropriate” should be incorporated into FIM. Initiatives should be defined by lived experiences and designed and evaluated based on community members’ input—thereby creating a paradigm shift from a top-down to a bottom-up, community-led approach.

To offer a real-world example that meets at least two of those criteria, Boston Medical Center has invested into Nubian Markets, a Black-owned venture, to create a local grocery store offering fresh foods sourced ethically and primarily from within New England, scratch-made prepared meals, and a café. Patients can be referred to the market for medically tailored foods, and culinary skills are taught through a women-founded mobile application.

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Food as Medicine News – The shorter version:

• Meals made with fresh, whole foods could transform our healthcare system
• Over half of Stockton, California’s residents are diabetic or prediabetic. A prescribed meal program aims to change that.
• The Project Food Box program provides medically tailored food boxes to clients of California’s MediCal insurance program.
• And, in our Local Bites section: the Charlotte Hungerford Hospital’s recently opened “Food4Health” clinic is designed like a mini-grocery store offering fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthy items for patients with chronic diseases where nutrition is an important key in management.

Food As Medicine News – The longer version:

Meals made with fresh, whole foods could transform our healthcare system

Congressman James P. McGovern (D-MA), the Chairman of the Committee on Rules, founder and co-chair of the House Hunger Caucus, and sits on the House Subcommittee on Nutrition, says that even though, “research shows better diets can prevent and even reverse chronic illness, saving billions of dollars and helping countless patients… the science is light-years ahead of the public policy on this issue. Instead of acknowledging the link between poor nutrition and chronic illness, federal programs like Medicare often incentivize costly treatments and expensive prescription drugs.”

McGovern has introduced a new bipartisan bill in Congress with Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan), officially called the Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Demonstration Pilot Act. “It relies on a simple idea: Caregivers should be able to provide nutritious, dietitian-approved meals directly to the homes of seniors with chronic health conditions. It’s that simple.”

Over half of Stockton, California’s residents are diabetic or prediabetic. A prescribed meal program aims to change that.

Over half of Stockton, California’s 320,000 residents are diabetic or prediabetic, according to the Public Health Institute. “The Healthy Food Rx program aims to help change that, recognizing the large body of research linking food insecurity and diabetes. So far, the approach — delivering meal kits with enough food for two meals and pantry staples, paired with nutrition fact sheets and cooking lessons — appears promising in managing diabetes…Along with addressing the sharp rates of diabetes in Stockton, a larger goal of the program is to build the case for a program like this to be treated as medicine.”

A study of 450 program participants found a clinically significant decrease in A1C levels (which measures the percentage of your red blood cells that have sugar-coated hemoglobin) — an average 0.8 percent decline — within 12 months for participants with uncontrolled diabetes. The study participants also reported that the dietary shifts helped them exercise and take health education classes more often.

The Project Food Box program provides medically tailored food boxes to clients of California’s MediCal insurance program.

As an outgrowth of the USDA’s pandemic-era Farmers to Families Food Box program, the Project Food Box program of SunTerra seized on the inefficiencies to direct low-cost produce to food banks. “Reluctant to drop Farmers to Families when Covid funding dried up, the most recent iteration of the program, SunTerra, provides medically tailored food boxes to clients of California’s MediCal insurance program. Steve Brazeel, Founder and CEO of SunTerra Produce, is showing that there is a role for farmers to play in the Food is Medicine.”

California residents enrolled in Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid healthcare program, can fill out a form requesting regular deliveries of medically tailored grocery boxes. They must include their Medi-Cal identification number and list the chronic diseases that afflict them. Via phone, one of the team’s registered dieticians confirms an applicant’s eligibility and learns more about their chronic illnesses, their relationship to food, and any cultural food preferences. 

Since its founding in 2020, Project FoodBox has delivered over five million boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables to families in need through its network of healthcare companies, food banks, faith-based organizations and nonprofits.

Local BitesFun

Opened in December 2023, the Charlotte Hungerford Hospital’s new “Food4Health” clinic is designed like a mini-grocery store offering fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthy items for patients with chronic diseases where nutrition is an important key in management. Falling under the umbrella of the Hartford Hospital’s “Food4Health” program, the Charlotte Hungerford’s Food4Health’s Director, Registered Dietitian Carla Angevine, is very hopeful.

Referred patients who suffer from high risk chronic health conditions, like diabetes, heart disease, and obesity, are given a “prescription” to access the Food4Health clinic once a week for six months to “shop” for fruits, veggies, and healthy foods for them and their families (the patients are not charged for the food). 

On the first visit, the staff reviews the patient’s prescription with the patient, helps them set goals, and helps them shops for the food their doctor has recommended. At minimum, the patients must visit the clinic two times a month to ensure the consistency necessary to see improvements with their condition.

Not only can patients shop for items on their grocery list but the staff will also point out and educate the patients about new foods and offer recipes. The staff even note if the patients are avoiding specific foods and try to understand why. Angevine says, “We get to know our patients, strike up conversations, build trust, and, most importantly, build relationships.”

Food4Health’s grocery store offers fresh produce, whole grains, whole grain cereal, low sodium canned goods, olive oil, vinegar, and spices. “As we get into the growing season, we will order more from our local Food Hub.” The Northwest Connecticut FoodHub works with farmers all over northwest Connecticut picking up their fresh, locally grown produce, and delivering it to food pantries (as donations) and wholesale customers, such as schools, grocery stores, restaurants, and now hospitals like Charlotte Hungerford (we profiled the Northwest Connecticut FoodHub and it’s founder Renee Girous in this blog nearly a year ago).

“It’s really important people understand how much food insecurity affects your health. People with food insecurity, often because of access and transportation issues, are typically limited to low-nutrient and calorie-dense foods, which may result in chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes,” said Angevine.

Beyond helping patients in their six months with the clinic (which they can renew to one year), the program also helps them transition out of the program. “If they are not on SNAP, we help them apply. We make sure to have a discussion on how to best utilize their dollars to incorporate the healthy foods they need.”

Despite just beginning, Angevine is very hopeful. “My hope is through the program, as a patient’s health is improved they will have increased economic opportunities that will in return improve their food security status.”

The post FOOD AS MEDICINE: DIGESTIBLE BITES (WITH A SERVING OF LOCAL BITES) – MARCH 2024 appeared first on Food Rescue US.

The shorter version:

• If the government recognizes that “food is medicine,” why aren’t they taking hunger more seriously? A Salon article points out that “despite all the evidence suggesting how much of an impact connecting Americans with nutritious, culturally-appropriate food could have, two of the most important anti-hunger programs in the United States have come under increased fire from conservative lawmakers.” 
• Colombia passes ambitious “junk food law” to tackle lifestyle diseases. The Latin American country is one of the first in the world to introduce a health tax targeting ultra-processed foods!
• SNAP recipients may struggle to meet dietary goals, especially in food deserts. A new study from the University of Notre Dame found that SNAP participants in low-income households may not be able to meet the nutrition levels set by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA).
• Mass General Brigham’s Teaching Kitchen prescribes food as medicine. Patients who are prescribed food can pick up bags of fresh produce at the hospital’s attached pantry and sample dishes made with the ingredients are available at the kitchen next door.
• Supermodel Gisele Bündchen weighs in on the value of food: “Food is medicine. For me, eating quality foods and [sourcing] high-quality supplements is key, because this is my temple.”

The longer version:

If the government recognizes that “food is medicine,” why aren’t they taking hunger more seriously?

Despite the fact that no one would dispute that all Americans should have access to healthy food, a Salon article points out that “two of the most important anti-hunger programs in the United States have come under increased fire from conservative lawmakers.” 

• Prior to the pandemic, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (or SNAP) required that people younger than 50 who met certain requirements had to volunteer, work or receive job training for 80 hours a month in order to receive regular assistance. The new budget cuts package raised the age of recipients required to work to 55 and, according to The Center for Public Integrity, made it harder for states to waive work rules in areas with high unemployment.
• The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC, may not receive the funding it needs to adequately serve participants. “In a December press release, the USDA itself wrote that WIC costs are higher this year than last year, in part because more eligible people are signing up for the program meaning, per the organization, that “more pregnant women, new mothers, infants, and children are getting access to nutritious food and important health resources they need to thrive.’”

Colombia passes ambitious ‘junk food law’ to tackle lifestyle diseases

The Latin American country is one of the first in the world to introduce a health tax targeting ultra-processed foods. “Colombia has implemented a “junk food law” whose tax system aims to curb consumption of processed food and sugary drinks. The tax will target ultra-processed foods with an additional 10% surcharge, which will progressively increase to 20% in 2025.”

The revenue raised by the ultra-processed food tax will be used to subsidize healthy food options, either by directly reducing the retail price or providing vouchers or discounts to consumers. “The tax targets ultra-processed products defined as industrially manufactured ready-to-eat foods, as well as those high in salt and saturated fat; some traditional Colombian foods, for example salchichón sausage, will be excluded from the tax.”

The average Colombian consumes more salt than any Latin American country. “Nearly a third of adults in the country have high blood pressure. We want to avoid following the path of rich industrialized nations like the United States, where diet-linked diseases are a big problem,” said Beatriz Champagne, executive director of the Coalition for Americas’ Health, a Latin American advocacy group.

SNAP recipients may struggle to meet dietary goals, especially in food deserts. A new study from the University of Notre Dame found that SNAP participants in low-income households may not be able to meet the nutrition levels set by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). “What we found was vitamins and minerals are very difficult to actually hit the dietary guidelines on,” said Joe Germino, a doctoral student in the Lucy Institute’s DIAL Lab who is advised by Chawla. “You have to make a conscious decision to go and find food items that are cheap enough and actually match your budget. It just adds another layer of complexity to an already difficult problem when you’re living in a food desert.”

The project will culminate with an app that employs optimization methods to recommend and suggest healthier food items to people based on their dietary goals and their budgets. 

Mass General Brigham’s Teaching Kitchen prescribes food as medicine

Mass General Revere HealthCare Center just opened a new attached kitchen “that looks like the set of a Food Network show…It means thinking about food and nutrition in the same way we think about medications and surgeries,” explained Dr. Jacob Mirsky, a primary care physician and medical director for the Teaching Kitchen. Patients who are prescribed food can pick up bags of fresh produce at an attached pantry, and then sample dishes made with the ingredients next door at the kitchen.

Thanks,
Michelle Colman
Food Rescue US – Fairfield County Food as Medicine Liaison

The post FOOD AS MEDICINE: DIGESTIBLE BITES – FEBRUARY 2024 appeared first on Food Rescue US.

• “You are What You Eat” four episode series tracks four sets of twins on two strict diets (one vegan and one “healthy” omnivore) with outlined exercise regimes. The finale reveals the twins’ before and after biometrics! Spoiler: food is medicine! 
• The World Economic Forum believes, “Right now, food as medicine is having a moment. But for that moment to turn into a global movement, we need to do more to make sure everyone, everywhere, has access to nutritious food and the tools to support their health through nutrition.” They have four recommendations (below).
• MIT released a study showing only a very modest impact of food as medicine to treat diabetes. Drat. 

The longer version:

• Netflix is food as medicine crazy! In addition to Dan Buettner’s Blue Zone series we mentioned in our last newsletter, now there’s an equally intriguing “You are What You Eat” four episode series that tracks four sets of twins on two strict diet and exercise regimes and reveals their before and after biometrics! Spoiler: food is medicine! The series is based on this Stanford study if you want to learn more.
• The World Economic Forum believes, “Right now, food as medicine is having a moment. But for that moment to turn into a global movement, we need to do more to make sure everyone, everywhere, has access to nutritious food and the tools to support their health through nutrition. That’s how we’ll make food the medicine of the future – and help more people worldwide lead healthier lives.” They have four recommendations:
  • Data: To be truly accessible, food as medicine needs to be covered by public and private insurance or government programmes. And the only way that will happen is if we have conclusive evidence that these programmes both improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.
  • Tools: While technology allows doctors to prescribe a diet – and patients to fill that prescription with nutritious food – we need to make the process even easier. And the private sector should lead the way.
  • Access: Too often, people and communities who would benefit significantly from nutritious food either don’t have access to it or can’t afford it.
  • Collaboration: We need even more cross-sector collaboration.
• MIT just released a study suggesting we need to keep examining how nutrition can combat a pervasive disease. “A new health care program attempting to treat diabetes by means of improved nutrition shows a very modest impact, according to the first fully randomized clinical trial on the subject.” 

Thanks,

Michelle Colman

Food Rescue US – Fairfield County Food as Medicine Liaison

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like last month’s Food As Medicine post. 

The post Food as Medicine: Digestible Bites – January 2024 appeared first on Food Rescue US.

• A newly launched, first-of-its-kind Food is Medicine Institute institute aims to address a glaring gap in the medical system by working to integrate food-based nutrition interventions into health care to treat disease and advance health equity. 
• USDA invests $52 million to improve dietary health and access to fresh fruits and vegetables for eligible families.

The longer version:

The Food is Medicine Institute Launch

A newly launched, first-of-its-kind institute aims to address a glaring gap in the medical system by working to integrate food-based nutrition interventions into health care to treat disease and advance health equity. 

The Food is Medicine Institute at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University establishes a university-wide initiative aimed at transforming health care through scalable food-based interventions such as: medically tailored meals and prescriptions for produce; nutrition education for doctors; and clinical care, electronic health record, and reimbursement pathways for nutrition-based tools to help treat or prevent diet-related illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers and complications during pregnancy. The Institute will advance Food is Medicine research, patient care, and community and policy engagement nationwide and beyond, and be a leader in educating the next generation of professionals in the Food is Medicine space.

USDA invests $52 million to improve dietary health

Some exciting news this week from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA  just announced a $52 million investment to improve dietary health and access to fresh fruits and vegetables for eligible families. The funds support efforts across three National Institute of Food and Agriculture competitive grant programs that make up the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program. 

Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young, the USDA Chief Scientist and Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics commented, “Investments like this enable people to afford and eat healthy fresh fruits and vegetables so they don’t have to make a choice between healthy eating and cheaper less healthier options.”

The objectives of the new program called NTAE (which stands “Nutrition Incentive Program Training, Technical Assistance, Evaluation, and Information”, of course!) are to create an integrated system of implementation and evaluation support, integrating engagement of GusNIP audiences into 2.0 governance, providing and continuously improving training and technical assistance services, assembling partnerships and technologies, conducting an evaluation of existing projects, and advancing the evidence with continued scientific rigor.

In 2.0, the NTAE will contribute to the long-term goal of making safe, nutritious food available to all Americans.

Local Bites

After years of working in pharmaceuticals, with a focus on patient education and community engagement, Douglas Ordoñez combined his passions for improving health and strengthening communities to join the Food Farmacy of Greater Danbury. 

This charming Tennessee transplant is dedicated to his Danbury community and fashioned the food farmacy in a southern country store vibe, “with a little bit of everything.” Ordoñez is determined to not just to fill medical “prescriptions” with nutritious food but to provide resources, education, and community to inspire lifelong healthy habits to patients and their families. 

As the project manager of the Food Farmacy of Greater Danbury, Ordoñez oversees a massive collaborative effort between United Way, Nuvance Health, Connecticut Institute for Communities, Community Action Agency of Western CT and UConn Extension. With a $1,050,000 grant through Congressionally Directed Spending, thanks to the support of Senator Murphy and Senator Blumenthal, Ordoñez and his collaborators launched the Food Farmacy on November 1st. 

The Food Farmacy is a grocery-style food pantry located inside the Danbury Community Center, at 12 Boughton Street. Physicians and health care providers prescribe healthy foods over a nine-month period for 100 participants chosen from the Connecticut Institute For Communities (CFIC) and Danbury Hospital/Nuvance Health system. The participants are identified based on medical diagnosis and screening for food insecurity and are contacted by Community Health Workers from both organizations and asked if they would like to participate in the program.

Food Rescue US had the great pleasure of talking to Ordoñez about his goals, lessons learned, the important significance of food to identity, and some of his favorite foods. 

Food Rescue US: Food Farmacy is such a great example of collaboration. Can you give some tips from your experience?

Douglas Ordoñez: I have to say it is a combination of communication and patience. Every single partner we work with has their own system. So, working together isn’t just about maneuvering through your systems but dealing with others’ processes. As a collaborative team, our steering committee meets once a week. When we confront issues, like HIPAA compliance or patient data, we can say, “Here is the issue, let’s discuss as a team. Do we need to bring in someone else?” Everyone shares their ideas, contacts, and solutions. That is what is so great about having these partners. 

Unfortunately, in our country, healthy food is much more expensive than processed foods. We want to do more than just provide people with food, we want to provide nutritious food. That is a big challenge.

FRUS: Did you model the store off of others (either specific grocery stores or other food farmacies)?

DO: A bit of both. Our focus is on a specific medical need, so that really has influenced the way we stock what we offer, what fruits and vegetables, canned goods, low sodium, and low fat foods we offer, while trying to avoid sugar, when we can. 

I visited two food farmacies in Poughkeepsie and Hartford to see how they were set up and what I could adjust for our specific community’s needs. Both were extremely generous in sharing their experiences and one of the biggest takeaways I had from those visits was to make this a place people want to come to. I wanted to make it comfortable so that coming here is something they want to do and not feel it was charity or feel any pressure or shame. I was thinking, “Where would I like to shop?” Growing up in Tennessee, I was inspired by the old time country stores which had a little bit of everything. That’s what I tried to create here. We decorated with rustic-looking wood furniture to make our small space feel “farm” inspired. I really felt it was important to consider that emotional aspect and to create a specific vibe.

FRUS: What is on offer at the farmacy?

DO: We have a 360 degree approach to care. People can come in and shop here but we also ask them to meet with a nutrition consultant once a month in order to better understand how to do things like plan a balanced meal and read a label. It’s amazing how someone might look at a label and think it is low salt but forget to look at the serving size. We also have access to a social worker if they need additional social support to combat issues that may be affecting their food budget. 

Beginning in 2024, we will offer cooking classes working with the wonderful Heather Peracchio MS, RDN, CD-N from the UCONN extension in Bethel. We really want to address the whole family, not just the specific patient. We want to help influence healthy eating and behavior to the next generation. If the parents know how to offer healthy meals, the kids will eat healthier.

We want to teach our customers how to use ingredients never used before. Beyond that, we want to show them how we can take what they’re used to and make it healthier. We stock a lot of herbs and seasonings. In Danbury we are lucky to have such a diverse population, but that can also be challenging when stocking things like low sodium versions of  Sazon seasoning, soy sauce, worcester sauce, etc. We want to offer what is familiar but help shift their behaviors. 

Previously, I worked in pharmaceuticals with a focus on obesity. It’s important for people to understand that salt is an important micronutrient that our body needs and healthy fats are also important for our bodies to function.  The problem is that scientists have taken over food in the lab and made these highly processed, extremely inexpensive options that have way too much of both salt and fat. It’s literally when too much of a good thing becomes bad. 

FRUS: What’s your best piece of advice going into the holiday season?

DO: When people say “but this is traditional” I say new traditions are started every day! As a southern boy, I love my traditions. Food is a great way to connect emotionally to the family I am missing. But when food traditions are unhealthy, I say, let’s start a new one and make it healthier and special. So when I make collard greens to feel closer to home, I don’t use ham hocks, I use smoked turkey legs or wings as they have less fat. I am also really sensitive about respecting people’s cultures. We want to offer better, culturally significant options.

Thanks,

Michelle Colman

Food Rescue US – Fairfield County Food as Medicine Liaison

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like last month’s Food As Medicine post.

The post Food as Medicine: Digestible Bites (with a big serving of Local Bites) – November 2023 appeared first on Food Rescue US.

• Check out the excellent Netflix docu-series, “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones,” where NatGeo reporter Dan Buettner, travels around the world to discover five unique communities where people live extraordinarily long and vibrant lives. Spoiler: FOOD IS MEDICINE!
• New presidential advisory puts food at the heart of U.S. health policy.
• Mexican consumers are beginning to see warning labels on packages of food and drink warning excessive in sugars, sodium, saturated fats, trans-fats and/or calories in products.
• Local Bites: We talk to Danbury Farmers’ Market Community Collaborative’s Peggy Zamore. Peggy explains how she became the collaborative’s Director/Nutritionist, how they walk the walk not just talk the talk, gives advice on what to do when summer farmers’ markets close for the season, and more!  

The longer version

Secrets of Blue Zones

In the excellent Netflix docu-series, “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones,” host, author, and NatGeo reporter Dan Buettner, travels around the world to discover five unique communities where people live extraordinarily long and vibrant lives. Spoiler: FOOD IS MEDICINE! 

In addition to an active lifestyle and strong community ties, local, fresh food is a major component of longevity. After visiting each locale, Buettner analyzes the data and determines what habits all these communities share. Warning: I can’t stop eating sweet potatoes after watching this! 

And, an added benefit (beyond learning how to live to 100!) is that Marion Nestle, our favorite public health expert/food politics queen, makes an appearance in the documentary… and also in Mexico (Marion is clearly following the Blue Zone formula because at 87 she’s everywhere! Read below).

Front-of-package labeling advances in the Americas

Mexican consumers are now seeing warning labels on packages of food and drink products sold at supermarkets and grocery stores. The labels – black octagons with white lettering on the main face of the package– indicate whether the product is excessive in sugars, sodium, saturated fats, trans-fats and/or calories. This is considered the most advanced and comprehensive regulation worldwide. 

       See labels:

       Translation: High in Calories, High in Sugars, High in Sodium, High in Saturated Fats

On a recent trip to Mexico, the amazing Nestle reported, “Mexico has high obesity prevalence, especially in children (~35%).  Public health officials hope the warning labels will alert the public to avoid overconsuming processed foods. Despite the fact that she found, “Food companies are doing everything they can to hide the warning labels. They make sure the warnings are hidden when they stock the packages on shelves,” she goes on to report, “The warnings must be working. Food companies are evading, undermining, and fighting the new regulations. Several lawsuits are in progress. I will be following their progress with great interest.”

At 87 years old, Nestle is fighting the good fight as strong as ever. Go, Marion, go!

New presidential advisory puts food at the heart of U.S. health policy

The American Heart Association recommends approaches to build a robust evidence base for increasing adoption of clinical Food Is Medicine programs in the U.S.

“This presidential advisory offers an overview of the state of the field of Food Is Medicine and a road map for a new research initiative that strategically approaches the outstanding questions in the field while prioritizing a human-centered design approach to achieve high rates of patient engagement and sustained behavior change. This will ideally happen in the context of broader efforts to use a health equity–centered approach to enhance the ways in which our food system and related policies support improvements in health.”

An estimated 90% of the $4.3 trillion annual cost of healthcare in the U.S. is spent on medical care for chronic diseases. Unhealthy food intake is a major risk factor for many of these diseases. Healthy food is not accessible or affordable for many people in the U.S., making it difficult to apply clinical food-based interventions that treat and prevent disease. Recent research demonstrates that health care systems may be able to help patients access healthy foods, resulting in improved health, reduced need for health care and better cost-effectiveness.

Local Bites

This month we connected with Danbury Farmers’ Market Community Collaborative’s Peggy Zamore. Peggy has many impressive initials after her name (RD, MPH, CD-N) and is the dedicated Director/Nutritionist at the collaborative. 

Food Rescue (FR): What is your professional background?     

Peggy Zamore (PZ): I have a Masters in Public Health Nutrition and I’m a registered dietitian so my mission is to get folks, especially those who are financially challenged, to eat a better diet, i.e. much more fresh, local delicious fruits, veggies and other farm products, to either prevent lots of diseases or to manage the ones they already have. 

Thus our mission statement (“to provide equitable access to fresh food”) and all the incentive programs to encourage and enable this behavior change We walk the walk – not just talk the talk. We provide folks with the resources to eat the way that would be best for them- and for the most part – how they really want to be eating. Affording the food is usually the barrier. 

A very important part of why I do what I do is to support local agriculture. It’s a win-win with so many reasons to eat local!  Our mission is truly to provide equitable access to fresh local food,  grown in a sustainable way as close to organic as possible.

FR: How did you come to Danbury Farmers’ Market?  

PZ: I live in the area and was working for Wholesome Wave. I started a small incentive program in 2009. Then, I began fundraising for our own program with the help of CityCenter Danbury – which houses the market. 

FR: What is your favorite part about the market?  

PZ: Providing the incentives, hearing such positive feedback re how important it is to them – and seeing folks leave with bags of fresh produce  

FR: What do you customers’ do once the summer bounty is over?  

PZ: Hopefully, continue to buy and eat fresh produce – even if it is imported.

More info about the Danbury Farmers’ Market Community Collaborative

Every Saturday, from June through October, the Danbury Farmers’ Market Community Collaborative (DFMCC) enables everyone to share in the excitement and benefits of fresh local fruits, vegetables and  specialty food items.

For those with limited resources, providing additional cash (purchasing power) is the best incentive to increase buying and then eating of local fresh fruits and vegetables. Using a market coin system, DFMCC enables Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly know as Food Stamps) recipients to use their benefits at the market and matches an unlimited amount per market to buy nutritious food. DFMCC also matches Senior and Women, Infant & Children’s program (WIC) Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program Cards (FMNP).

For those not receiving government food assistance, Fruit and Veggie Health Certificates are available through some community organizations including a community health center and Association of Religious Communities, as part of some of their summer health programs.

Vets will be provided $10 in market produce coins at the market.  ID is required

Thanks,

Michelle Colman

Food Rescue US – Fairfield County Food as Medicine Liaison

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like last month’s Food As Medicine post. 

The post Food as Medicine: Digestible Bites (with a side of Local Bites) – October 2023 appeared first on Food Rescue US.

The shorter version:

• Almost every locally grown vegetable in Connecticut is in season right now!
• When doctors and health-care providers “prescribed” fruits and vegetables, patients lost weight and experienced significantly lowered blood pressure.
• A UConn grad built a hydroponic garden on the roof of Hartford Hospital to combat food insecurity.
• Making plant-based meals the default in hospital meals reduced food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 36% in NYC!

The longer version:

Did you know that just about every locally grown vegetable in Connecticut is considered to be in season right now? Check out the Connecticut Department of Agriculture’s Crop Availability Calendar and get inspired!  Please read on for Local Bites below for a list of CT farmers’ markets that participate in the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program.

Fruit and vegetable ‘prescriptions’ may lead to better heart health

When doctors and health-care providers prescribed fruits and vegetables (F&V), patients ate more produce, lost weight and experienced significant reductions in blood pressure, according to a new study. The study’s conclusion states: “In this large, multisite evaluation, produce prescriptions were associated with significant improvements in F&V intake, food security, and health status for adults and children, and clinically relevant improvements in glycated hemoglobin, blood pressure, and BMI for adults with poor cardiometabolic health.”

UConn grad builds hydroponic garden on roof of Hartford Hospital to combat food insecurity

Hartford Hospital’s new rooftop garden was designed by LEVO, a Connecticut firm founded by a 24-year-old UConn graduate, Christian Heiden. “Bell peppers, tomatoes, and beans hang from PVC pipes and look ready for harvest. The hospital says too many urban patients don’t have access to fresh produce and that affects health outcomes. The hydroponic garden opened just a few weeks ago and what’s grown here will be given away. Heiden designed the system so that the water recycles from a reservoir at the base up through pipes and eventually cascades back down to the reservoir.”

In the article, Hartford Hospital’s food as medicine consultant David Juros commented, “Food insecurity impacts health. It’s becoming more and more important to really get to the root cause of some of the chronic diet related diseases and help patients who don’t have the ability to be able to get the food they need for their families. We harvested 175 heads of lettuce two weeks ago and gave those out over the past two weeks to all of our patients.”

How New York’s Public Hospitals Cut Carbon Emissions: More Vegetables

Making plant-based meals the default has reduced food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 36 percent, the mayor’s office said. Just don’t say “vegan.”

NYC Health + Hospitals, the country’s largest municipal health system, has made plant-based food the default for inpatient meals. That means the food contains no meat, dairy or eggs. If a patient doesn’t like the first option, the second offering is also plant-based. Anyone who wants meat has to make a special request.

According to the mayor’s office, one year after it made those sweeping changes, the hospital system has reduced its food-related carbon emissions by 36 percent.

LOCAL BITES

There are nearly 100 farmers’ markets in Connecticut. The Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) helps SNAP/WIC participants, seniors, and disabled participants to purchase eligible products from farmers using an app and/or a debit card to purchase fresh, unprocessed fruits, vegetables, eggs, and honey. 
Here is a map of all the farmers’ markets throughout the state and an alphabetical list by name, also noting the market days, times, addresses, and what benefits are accepted.

Thanks,

Michelle Colman

Food Rescue US – Fairfield County Food as Medicine Liaison

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like last month’s Food As Medicine post.

The post Food as Medicine: Digestible Bites (with a side of Local Bites) – September 2023 appeared first on Food Rescue US.

• 60% of Americans do not eat food they would describe as very nutritious due to physical and economic barriers
• A report lists four challenges to the food as medicine movement including resistance to diet restrictions and difficulty in tracking compliance.
• A new EU proposed regulation that scores food on a grading scale, adopted in many countries already, meets with growing opposition.
• An American Heart Association study found Produce Prescription Programs can save the United States at least $40 billion in medical bills.
• Why are some of the unhealthiest meals being served in Hospitals? 
• A Food Farmacy is coming soon to Connecticut!. 

The longer version:

Healthy Food Access Is Equally Important as Healthcare for 87 Percent of Americans, Danone Finds. 

87% of Americans think access to healthy food is a top priority, ranking it on par with access to healthcare. The State of Nutrition Equality Study found that 60% of Americans do not eat food they would describe as very nutritious due to physical and economic barriers, factors that disproportionately affect specific communities. A representative sample of 4,000 Americans indicated that these gaps in healthy food access have a ripple effect across families, communities, and the country.  

The 4 Challenges Facing the Food as Medicine Movement

A PitchBook report lists the four big challenges facing the food as medicine movement:

1. Resistance to diet restrictions: Some consumers push back against food restrictions in food as medicine programs, particularly government-led programs because “they could be seen as the government telling people what to eat,” the report stated. 

2. Food quality: Some vendors offer “highly processed food.” Additives like corn syrup and preservatives are known to increase the risk of chronic diseases, and “medical and functional foods that are highly processed may face a more challenging path in receiving recommendations from care providers,” DeGagne stated.“This raises the bar for medical & functional food vendors to show their food products not only accomplish medical objectives but also limit unnecessary additive ingredients (while remaining palatable to consumers),” the report said.

3. Attribution: A balanced diet is only one factor to being healthy. Other factors that affect health include genetic risk, environmental exposure and autoimmune conditions. “Given that food as medicine must be part of a balanced approach, it may also be difficult to attribute health improvements to a single prepared-meal vendor or a limited-dollar produce subsidy,” DeGagne noted. “Additional clinical data could support greater reimbursement of food as medicine, though considering these attribution challenges, there is an element of trust at play that food-as-medicine vendors must be careful not to lose.”

4. Compliance: It is very difficult to track compliance with food as medicine programs, as there aren’t any wearable devices that can do so. This makes it even more challenging to collect clinical data and understand the impact of food as medicine programs.

Brussels should ignore industry bellyaching about food health ratings

Politicians in France, Spain and Italy are questioning/opposing a proposed EU regulation that would require food producers to put clearer labels on packaging so that consumers can make healthier choices. They are trying to prevent Brussels from adopting what was once seen as the leading system — the Nutri-Score rating, which labels items from A (green) to E (red) to indicate their nutritional profile. 

Currently used in France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg on a voluntary basis, Nutri-Score was developed by French scientists in 2017 and has been validated by peers as a quick way to guide shoppers in the grocery aisle, to combat the public health challenges of rising obesity and diabetes. The UK has its own voluntary traffic light label and Chile has a mandatory label that shows black stop signs for sugary, salty or fatty foods. Yet every time a country tries to implement “front of pack” interpretative food labeling, the industry’s lobbyists are concerned that more stringent labels will hurt sales, they question the science underpinning it and argue for exemptions.

Another article explains there is no one size fits all solution for their constituents. “Food choices are based on a variety of different factors: culture, religion, cost, availability and access, education, marketing, and appetite. The motion evokes the fact that a healthy diet requires a broad and varied approach to eating and cannot rely on scores assigned to single food packages.”

Food is Medicine Study Predicts Benefits of Implementing Produce Prescription Programs

A new study published July 7th in the Journal of the American Heart Association found Produce Prescription Programs can save the United States at least $40 billion in medical bills. While produce prescriptions have definable benefits for health, like improving blood sugar control, body weight and blood pressure levels, long-term national effects, if fully implemented, had not previously been studied. “Of the strategies that can improve nutrition and diet-related health outcomes for Americans, evidence continues to build that produce prescriptions are a terrific option,” says senior author Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and Jean Mayer Professor at the Friedman School, who is also launching a new cross-university initiative that will be the first of its kind to focus on advancing Food is Medicine. “These innovative treatments are exciting because they can not only improve health and reduce health care spending, but also reduce disparities by reaching those patients who are most in need.”

Should Hospitals Be Serving Meat When Vegan Food Heals?

Why are some of the unhealthiest meals being served to the sickest people? A rejected PETA U.K. ad highlighted the hypocrisy of the U.K.’s National Health Service for allowing bacon, sausages, and other meats to be served to hospital patients when it’s been proved that eating animals is more likely to lead to serious health conditions. The same thing is happening in hospitals across the U.S., where meals laden with animal-derived saturated fats, salt, added sugars, and cholesterol are being served to patients in hospital beds and in cafeterias. In some American hospitals, you can find fast-food restaurants with no healthy vegan options on the menu—for example, a McDonald’s inside Tampa General Hospital and a Chick-fil-A in the Detroit Medical Center.

Local Bites

A Food Farmacy Manager has been hired! A position for a Registered Dietician is OPEN.

The Food Farmacy is a new Food as Medicine initiative created in partnership with United Way of Western Connecticut and Nuvance Health that seeks to improve health outcomes and food security amongst Nuvance Health. The Food Farmacy Manager role will be responsible for overseeing the launch and operation of the Greater Danbury, CT Food Farmacy, while effectively managing grant funding and ensuring compliance with grant requirements. They will work closely with cross-functional teams, including project staff, finance, and program managers, and community partners to ensure projects are executed efficiently and grant funding is utilized effectively. 

An opportunity to be a part of this amazing initiative remains open. Nuvance is actively seeking a full time Registered Dietitian (20 hours for the Food Farmacy and 20 hours inpatient at Danbury Hospital). The Registered Dietician will be responsible for providing medical nutrition therapy including nutrition assessment, diet modification, nutrition education, and intervention for the patient population. Are you or someone you know interested in this position? Here is the job link: https://jobs.compassgroupcareers.com/job-invite/1206637/ 

Thanks,

Michelle Colman

Food Rescue US – Fairfield County Food as Medicine Liaison

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like last month’s Food As Medicine post. 

The post FOOD AS MEDICINE: DIGESTIBLE BITES – August 2023 appeared first on Food Rescue US.

Gina Smith, the Manager of Community Health Improvement for Bridgeport Hospital, is an active participant in the Health Improvement Alliance (HIA) and is thrilled to collaborate with Food Rescue US. 

HIA was formed in 2003 to address the health needs of the Greater Bridgeport community, including the seven towns of Bridgeport, Easton, Fairfield, Milford, Monroe, Stratford, and Trumbull. HIA is a voluntary group comprised of multiple subcommittees that meet several times per month to collaborate, talk, share stories and lessons, learn from one another, and advance healthy living options for our community. Bridgeport Hospital and St. Vincent’s Medical Center are founding members and also co-chair the work of HIA.

HIA is involved in community health in a number of ways, but below is a program that Gina highlighted that is extremely relevant for our Food as Medicine theme:

Did you know there are NINE farmers markets in Bridgeport Farmers Market Collaborative?

• All nine farmers markets accept and double SNAP, as well as Farmers Market Nutrition Program, Senior, and WIC checks. They even have their own community currency called Bridgeport Bucks (Bridgeport Bucks are $5 vouchers anyone can access at thesemarkets to offset the cost of their groceries.)
• The markets are spread out through the week and across the city to make them as accessible as possible.
  • Here is a link to the master schedule and map.
  • Sign up here for their newsletter.
• The markets often host food demonstrations by local experts on how to cook and eat healthy (led by local chefs, dieticians, etc.)
• The markets not only provide food but educate about local produce, when it is available, how to cook it, recipes, etc.

Takina Pollock Shafer, Director of the Bridgeport Farmers Market Collaborative, commented, “With inflation and the cost of groceries always rising, BFMC exists to help combat nutrition insecurity in our communities by providing people direct access to fresh, CT Grown produce at Bridgeport’s farmers markets.” 

So, come out and support these amazing causes. Come enjoy one (or more) of the nine  Bridgeport Farmers’ Markets, enjoy the abundance of fresh local produce, and help these markets thrive! 

Thanks,

Michelle Colman

Food Rescue US – Fairfield County Food as Medicine Liaison

The post FOOD AS MEDICINE: LOCAL BITES – JULY 2023 appeared first on Food Rescue US.

• During the pandemic, American’s life expectancy went down. While other countries saw a rebound post-pandemic, the U.S. has not.
• Your zip code can predict your life expectancy.
• The director of UT’s Medical schools says “the present state of nutrition education in our medical schools is sad.” Thankfully, medical schools are enhancing and evolving their nutrition education.
• Nutraceuticals can replace some pharmaceuticals.
• Weight loss company Jenny Craig closes nationwide. Here’s hoping people turn to food as medicine and not drugs to lose weight.
• By 2024, all hospitals and clinics in federal payment programs must screen their patients for social determinants of health, including food insecurity.

Food as Medicine the longer version:

Living Better: What it takes to get healthy in America

NPR reports, “The pandemic was a wake-up call in many ways. Americans’ life expectancy went down during the pandemic, taking a historic turn for the worse. And while countries all over the world saw life expectancy rebound during the second year of the pandemic after the arrival of vaccines, the U.S. did not. This is especially true for Native Americans, whose life expectancy dropped to 65.2 in 2021.”

The article goes on to say, “The disparities can be seen within ZIP codes in the same state, as this life expectancy tracker shows. If you take a fairly wealthy ZIP code — 08542, for instance, in Princeton, N.J., — people who live there can expect to live to 90 years old. Meanwhile, not too far away in less affluent Camden, N.J., average life expectancy is much lower — about 74 years, which is a stark reminder that where you live influences how long you live.”

How Nutrition Education for Doctors Is Evolving

A Time magazine article highlighted Dr. Jaclyn Albin, the director of UT Southwestern Medical Center’s culinary medicine program, which offers online modules for students and practicing physicians. The purpose of the program is “to learn about nutrition and understand how to apply that education to patient scenarios. Doctors might learn how patients can use food as a nutrient source instead of or in addition to supplements, and how to accommodate food allergies in cooking. Culinary medicine, in general, has been sparking interest as a popular elective at a number of prominent schools, Albin adds, including her alma mater, George Washington University. “Experiential learning in a teaching kitchen builds not only nutrition knowledge, but also provides a way to discuss food with patients,” Albin says.

“The present state of nutrition education in our medical schools is sad,” she adds. “It’s part of a legacy of a treatment model based on pharmacology and surgery. But the emphasis on prevention and lifestyle is gaining momentum, due to many studies showing the impact of lifestyle modifications on the prevention of chronic disease.” However, Jaber notes, there’s always a lag time between science and its applications.

Nutraceuticals: What are they, Benefits and Examples

“Nutraceuticals are considered food, or obtained from food, that serves to treat and prevent diseases.” Examples include oatmeal, bamboo, ginseng, and garlic.

“The intent is to replace drugs…It has been observed that they may directly affect proteins or genes involved in cellular processes associated with diseases, although each nutraceutical acts to achieve a specific benefit. Thus, there are some diseases it can help fight: neurodegenerative diseases, obesity, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and arteriosclerosis. Some nutraceuticals have also been shown to be effective for: increase transplant acceptance, reduce swelling, improve reproductive performance, reduce infertility, and regulate the immune system.

Jenny Craig closed nationwide: A local nutritionist’s take

The closure of Jenny Craig coincides with the rising popularity of weight loss drugs. However, Pare advises against immediately turning to drugs. “I teach my clients that food is medicine and just about anything is possible with food,” said Pare. Instead of relying on drugs, she recommends exploring food as the first approach to weight loss. “I would highly encourage people to try food as medicine first,” said Pare.

The Next Big Thing in Healthcare Partnerships

“There’s no doubt that the new ability in some states to tap Medicaid money as reimbursement for nutrition services is attracting attention from the hunger-relief community. But there’s another legislative mandate that is having a more immediate impact on food-bank partnerships with healthcare organizations. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has decreed that by 2024, all hospitals and clinics in federal payment programs must screen their patients for social determinants of health, including food insecurity.”

This will require food banks to strike up relationships with local healthcare providers. While not a food bank, but rather a fresh food source for pantries and other social service agencies, Food Rescue US is already forming these important relationships. Food Rescue US sits on collaborative calls throughout Fairfield County with Dept. Of Health, hospitals, medical providers, food security organizations, etc. to ensure these connections are established.  Of course, there is a lot of work ahead but Food Rescue US is providing healthy, fresh food while educating to build long lasting, collaborative success.

Thanks,

Michelle Colman

Food Rescue US – Fairfield County Food as Medicine Liaison

If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy last month’s Food as Medicine post.

The post Food as Medicine: Digestible Bites – June 2023 appeared first on Food Rescue US.