The Reccorder on
The CEO of Food is Medicine Brie Cox brought this food to allow personnel and students in Highland County Public Schools to build their own healthy snack last Wednesday, April 16. (Recorder photo by Becky Arcure)
MONTEREY – Last Wednesday, April 16, Food is Medicine CEO, Brie Cox, visited Highland County Public Schools to talk about healthy choices for a healthier living experience. She brought food and snacks for the teachers and students to group into the three categories of protein, fiber, and fat they could eat.
The Food and Medicine Coalition is a nonprofit for medically tailored meals and groceries, which equips nonprofits to launch new medically tailored meal programs. The group is leading a movement and is deeply connected to strengthening the evidence for life-saving food is medicine interventions.
Cox, who said she had worked in the health care field for years, explained there are family meals and breakfast one can fix for $20 or less.
She handed out flyers providing examples of meals like creamy tuna pasta and beef lentil stew, complete with the price of each ingredient and the recipe. Other examples included chicken fried rice, beef and cheese burritos, a breakfast scramble with veggies, and oat and yogurt pancakes.
Speaking virtually, Jess Slesch, a coalition dietitian, said, “Breakfast is a pretty important meal, and it’s important to eat something with high protein during the first hour of waking to help keep the energy in your body until lunch.”
Carbohydrates affect blood glucose and energy time, meaning one’s energy is gone within three hours if one is only eating carbohydrates. If you are eating protein, your energy will last for up to five hours and if you’re eating fats, your energy will last longer, about six hours. “Make sure to pair all three to keep energy throughout the day,” said Slesch.
You can build a healthy lunch using the plate method, which is 50 percent fruits and vegetables, 25 percent protein, and 25 percent fiber-rich carbs like sweet potatoes at a cost-efficient rate to stay healthy.
“All three foods have good things for your body, carbs, protein, and fats and you need to eat all of them to stay healthy,” said Slesch.
To learn more, visit: fimcoalition.org/.