During National Nutrition Month this March, Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida is embracing the theme of “Beyond the Table” to showcase how the Food Bank’s work on health and hunger impacts many facets of our lives, from overall health and wellness to fueling future success.
By taking a collaborative approach, Second Harvest is working to increase access to nutritious foods, establish partnerships with healthcare practitioners and provide nutrition education classes to help improve the health and well-being of Central Florida.
Access to Nutritious Foods
Second Harvest is committed to ensuring the food available to our neighbors is nutritious by working with local farmers, vendors, retail partners and food donors to provide the community with fresh produce and nutrient-dense foods. Second Harvest is positively impacting health and nutrition by prioritizing access and building the capacity of local feeding partners to store and distribute nutritious foods.
Another way Second Harvest incorporates community health into its core work is through the development of the Nutritious Pantry Network. By leveraging its extensive network of feeding programs, a group of pantries is participating in capacity-building efforts that allow them to provide healthier foods and nutrition education for people referred from clinics, hospitals, and doctors’ offices.
Healthcare Partnerships
Since 2016, Second Harvest has been convening the Health & Hunger Task Force of Central Florida, a coalition of local healthcare providers and nutrition-focused organizations that identify opportunities to measurably impact health by using food as medicine.
One outcome of the Task Force is a concerted effort to connect with practitioners across Central Florida, including hospital systems, free and charitable clinics, federally funded health centers, and local medical practices to encourage food insecurity screening and intervention. Working together to provide screening and referral to Second Harvest local feeding partners ensures that patients experiencing food insecurity and who need support to improve food-related chronic illnesses are connected to a local feeding partner.
Another opportunity is a Medically Tailored Meals pilot program that aims to help people experiencing food insecurity and managing at least one severe illness improve their health outcomes through food. The current program allows local healthcare providers to refer eligible patients with chronic kidney disease to the food bank. Then Second Harvest designs a menu to meet that patient’s unique nutritional needs and prepares, packs and delivers the meals.
Nutrition Education
Nutrition education helps neighbors learn how food impacts health. Nutrition educators lead engaging workshops and cooking demonstrations across all seven Central Florida counties to inspire neighbors to make small changes that can positively impact their health.
Classes are available for various age groups, such as youth/teens, families with children, adults and seniors. Topics vary, including shopping and cooking healthy on a budget, reading nutrition labels, improving and maintaining a healthy gut, and more.
Your support of health and hunger initiatives makes food’s healing and restorative power possible for neighbors experiencing food insecurity at the table, and beyond.
