Food Is Medicine, the health education program that Florida Hospital Carrollwood started in Hillsborough County two years ago, expands to St. Petersburg this month.
Produced by downtown St. Pete's Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and the University of Florida IFAS Extension Family Nutrition Program, among other local partners, the Pinellas program continues the original's mission to provide free health education, screenings and food access to communities identified as "food deserts." The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food deserts as "low-income communities that lack ready access to healthy food."
A grant from the cathedral is funding Food Is Medicine's first year in St. Pete neighborhood Campbell Park.
"Something like Food Is Medicine and being involved in it as a church just seems really holistic to me," said Rev. Canon Katie Churchwell, program organizer and Cathedral Church of Saint Peter's canon for community formation, in a statement. "It's just empowering people to make the best choices they can using the tools that they have to be able to make those choices."
Free to SNAP eligible parents, the program is broken down into six-week cycles of two-hour classes, hosted once a week. The first series — titled Cooking Matters for Families — runs from 5:45 to 7:45 p.m. Aug. 16 at the Campbell Park Recreation Center. Participants receive groceries and a $10 voucher for the on-site Gulfport Produce stand during every class, and a BayCare health screening, given at the beginning and end of each cycle, monitors their progress along the way.
Food Is Medicine has served 1,700-plus people since its inception. According to program data, 46 percent of participants decreased their blood sugar levels, while 52 percent lowered their BMIs. Food Is Medicine attributes this to increased food access and changes in behavior, including food selection, preparation and consumption.
This article appears in Aug 10-17, 2017.