The healing power of the ‘Food is Medicine’ movement

Food & Friends provides nutritional medical therapy to help critically ill, diet-challenged people in underserved communities in the DC Area.

The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has brought food insecurity to the fore, including poignant images of people waiting in mile-long lines in pantries across the country.

While harrowing, these images tell only part of a nuanced story of food insecurity and food disparities in the United States. For decades, underlying conditions associated with food insecurity have made underserved communities more susceptible to serious illness and death.

Food & Friends is a Washington, DC area organization that directly addresses this deeply ingrained problem of disease and food insecurity. As the only community-based organization in the DC region that prepares nutritional, home-cooked meals for people with life-threatening diseases, Food & Friends plays a central role in the growing “Food is Medicine” movement – and promotes the idea that nutrition can be an important one Be part of medical treatment – to help patients feel better, connect them to caring neighbors, and empower them to manage their condition.

“Our mission is to improve the lives and health of people with serious illnesses that limit their ability to feed themselves,” said Carrie Stoltzfus, Executive Director at Food & Friends. “It’s bigger than just providing food. Our meal and nutritional services support disease management and improve health outcomes and quality of life for customers. ”

Food scarcity increases the risk of illness

Diet is a powerful predictor of wellbeing and disease prevention. But for those living in “food deserts” – places where access to fresh, healthy food is scarce – a nutritious diet can be prohibitively expensive and difficult to maintain. Especially for seriously ill people who can even run into barriers to shopping and cooking themselves in the vicinity of a supermarket.

When supermarkets selling fresh groceries are a long drive away, many people eat out of necessity at fast food restaurants or convenience stores. The inability to go out and get healthy meals can be another barrier to a nutritious diet – for example, people who deal with diseases like cancer at home often cannot get to a pantry or grocery store. After all, many people already struggling with income equality often face other pressing issues like evictions that put nutrition and health care on hold.

Unfortunately, eating an insecure diet can lead to a variety of health risks. People who do not have access to healthy food often consume high levels of saturated fats, sugars, and refined carbohydrates, which can make conditions like type 2 diabetes worse and increase the risk of cancer.

Solutions that are supported by the “Food is Medicine” movement

Food & Friends has been at the forefront of the Food is Medicine movement for more than three decades. As a leading member of the national Food is Medicine Coalition (FIMC), Food & Friends offers and advocates comprehensive food and nutritional interventions backed by solid evidence. As a FIMC partner, Food & Friends works to promote public policies that support the delivery of medically-tailored meals and serves as a key partner to health systems by caring for critically ill patients.

Food & Friends’ unique approach to customer care includes Medical Nutritional Therapy (MNT), where registered nutritionists directly help customers understand how food affects their illness and health. By helping patients eat healthier and bring nutritious foods within reach, symptoms of illness can be alleviated, limited or reversed.

“The concept of MNT is more specific than the broader spectrum of nutritional advice,” explains Stoltzfus. “It can help patients manage the symptoms of the disease, manage the side effects of therapies like chemotherapy, weight stabilization, and so on.”

Guided by this philosophy, Food & Friends offers three important services to improve the life and health of people with HIV / AIDS, cancer and other serious diseases that limit their ability to feed themselves.

First, the organization prepares and delivers specialized meals and groceries – based on 12 medically tailored meal plans – tailored to the specific needs of each of its customers. For example, if a person has the side effects of chemotherapy, Food & Friends will send them a nutrition plan that can help them feel better by reducing nausea and stomach acid. Service participants receive up to 18 meals delivered to their homes once a week from Monday to Saturday. Each meal plan includes items for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as liquid dietary supplements as needed. The food-to-go program, which is delivered every two weeks, includes fresh products, frozen meat such as fish and poultry, freshly prepared frozen soups and starters as well as pantry items and a recipe booklet.

Food & Friends also offers nutritional advice and wellness training that improves the quality of life for every customer. The organization conducts nearly 1,500 nutritional assessments annually and provides each customer with a registered nutritionist who will provide them with the nutritional knowledge they need to continue best practices after they have left the service.

Customers like Tanya Smalls, who is struggling with type 2 diabetes and asthma, confirm the positive influence of the nutritionists of the Food & Friends Community. “It’s like [my community dietitian, Becca Kahn] and I’ve known each other all our lives like I might be her grandmother, ”said Smalls. “She listens to me and doesn’t rush me through like a number in a suitcase. I need to eat right and no longer hate what I have to do. I owe that to Becca. She saved my life. ”

Food & Friends creates a strong sense of community for both customers and volunteers, reducing the social isolation that often accompanies serious illness and providing meaningful opportunities for neighbors to help neighbors in need. For the more than 30% of customers who say they have no family or friends to talk to when they feel lonely, the Food & Friends staff and volunteers provide a kind face, an empathetic ear, and a Connection to a compassionate community of support.

The work is not only rewarding but also effective. 81 percent of customers report improved health during a Food & Friends program. More than seven in ten said that Food & Friends’ services made it easier for them to follow their doctor’s instructions – and more than half reported improved blood pressure and fewer illnesses or infections. Medical service providers and healthcare professionals anywhere in the DC region can refer eligible customers.

Emphasis on the human element

In addition to community engagement, Food & Friends’ other core values ​​include compassion, dignity, diversity, excellence, reliability and accountability. Part of the organization’s mission includes an empathic approach to interacting with customers, including in-depth discussions about their lived experiences, their own food traditions and nutrition education.

“We are called Food & Friends for a good reason,” says Stoltzfus. “Our relationships with our customers are very important to us. We do this because we care deeply about the people we serve, as well as the compassionate community of volunteers who make our mission possible. ”

Food & Friends volunteers are an important part of the organization’s efforts. More than 8,500 volunteers annually help – they handle over 60% of all food deliveries – and the Washington, DC City Paper reader survey has named Food & Friends the “Best Place to Volunteer in DC” for four years in a row.

The DC community has also recognized the importance of Food & Friends work to enable customers to feel better about themselves and deal with their illnesses. Christopher J. King, Dr Disadvantaged patients recover and thrive.

“The CDC says that health equity is achieved when everyone has the opportunity to reach their full health potential,” said King, “and no one is disadvantaged because of their social position or other socially-related circumstances to achieve that potential. [To get there,] We need to uncover the root causes of poor health and connect patients with community-based resources that remove barriers to healthy living. “

A focus like Food & Friends on the human element of health care, according to Karen Dale, market president of AmeriHealth Caritas, District of Columbia, is critical to the success of programs that focus on historically marginalized communities – who often have suspicions about general health have care.

“If people feel that the system is not a place to welcome, or feel like they belong, or to be heard or celebrated, it is game over,” she said.

“Eventually, [partnering with an organization like Food & Friends] it’s about more than just food. It’s about how we help people get what they need and more, by doing it with compassion. “

Find out more about how Food & Friends operates the DC area and get involved Voluntarily donate your time or donate or transfer a patient.

source https://www.bisayanews.com/2021/10/01/the-healing-power-of-the-food-is-medicine-movement/