FOOD AS MEDICINE
Good food is a basic prescription for good health. Access to fresh fruits and vegetables is essential to growing healthy families, kids, and communities. Get most of your vitamins and minerals by enjoying many colorful foods daily.
The Change
Food is more than just fuel for our bodies. What we eat influences our whole self: from supporting digestive and cardiovascular systems, to regulating our sleep and moods. Good food can be as essential to our health as the medicines prescribed to us by doctors. And doctors and hospitals are catching on!
Change Maker: Angela Barker with her grandson Lloyd, Mandela Partners at Highland Hospital
Angela Barker and her grandson, Lloyd, have improved their health by stocking up on fresh foods at the community produce stand at Highland Hospital in Oakland, California. Angela Barker was a participant and mentor in the innovative Bite-to-Balance program at Highland Hospital. The program, which was run by the nonprofit Mandela Partners, combined healthy food access, nutrition education, and cooking classes to combat the effects of adult and pediatric diet-related disease. Mandela Partners also enrolled patients in FreshCreds, which continues to provide a 50% discount on fruits and vegetables at local corner stores and community produce stands throughout Oakland. Since the program ended, Angela continues to be a weekly customer and fruit and vegetable champion at the Mandela Partners produce stand at her grandson's school.
Eating a rainbow of nourishing foods helps prevent diseases, increases our energy, and keeps us feeling and living well. Now, that’s taking your health into your own hands!
Visit mandelapartners.org
Learn More & Take Action
