<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/how-prescription-meal-kits-are-helping-fight-diabetes/>
"Recently, at age 72, Shane Bailey changed her grocery store routine. Her first
stop is now the produce section to pick up kale, her new favorite food. She
prepares it with collard greens, mixes it into stir-fries, and boils it in
vegetable broth. Another new love is white sweet potatoes mashed with a dab of
butter. She also has a new go-to sandwich: avocado, low-fat mayonnaise, white
onions, and alfalfa sprouts between toasted rye bread. “Oh my God, it’s to die
for,” she said. She then raves about donut peaches. “Google it!” she insisted.
“It looks like a donut, but it’s a peach.”
Bailey was introduced to these new kitchen staples through a prescription meal
kit delivery program, known as Healthy Food Rx. A collaboration between local
community organizations, the Public Health Institute (PHI), and a large
philanthropic fund, the 12-month program delivered meal kits twice monthly for
adults with diabetes in Stockton, California. Although the city is located at
the top San Joaquin Valley, a major agricultural region, fresh produce is
sparse and people in many Stockton neighborhoods struggle with food insecurity.
Over half of the town’s 320,000 residents are diabetic or prediabetic,
according to PHI. 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. It’s part of a nationwide food as medicine movement to prescribe
nutritious foods, recognizing the medical capacity of food to help manage or
prevent chronic diseases.
So far, the majority of programs under this banner prescribe fruits and
vegetables or medically tailored meals that have been pre-prepared and designed
to support a particular condition. While home-delivered meal kits have yet to
gain widespread traction as a medical intervention, advocates hope that it
could offer a more educational approach — while eliminating transportation
issues — to supporting people with chronic diseases, which is nearly half of
the US population."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
