Food is Medicine recognized with Spotlight Award Mention

St. Petersburg’s own Food is Medicine (FIM) program has been recognized as an Honorable Mention in Aetna Foundation’s Spotlight Award series. The award is a part of a larger national challenge, the Healthiest Cities & Counties Challenge, a partnership with Aetna Foundation, American Public Health Association (APHA) and National Associations of Counties (NACo) empowers communities to make a positive health impact. The Honorable Mention Award recognizes FIM as an early success story in the Healthiest Cities & Counties Challenge.

The goal of FIM is to improve the health of people living in food deserts. The CDC defines a food desert as an area that lacks access to affordable fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk and other foods that make up a full and healthy diet. Across the state of Florida, it is estimated that as many as 2 million people live in food deserts without reliable access to a major grocery store.

FIM offers residents access to low cost produce, increases educational opportunities and works to eliminate barriers to health, offering six weeks of evidence-based curriculum in areas such as wellness, nutrition, healthy cooking, budgeting for healthy eating, fitness, childhood obesity prevention and diabetes prevention. The program has gotten families excited about healthy cooking and using healthy alternatives.

One family who attended FIM’s cooking classes wrote a letter of gratitude saying, “Your class truly taught me how to cook healthy by measuring food, cooking with different oils, making better food choices when shopping and truly thinking of each item I buy. Thank you for making a difference in my family's life as we are visual learners and the way I cook truly matters on our health!”

FIM meets the needs of all generations through different classes, offering full lifecycle transformation of health and education. Through these courses they have not only created awareness, but have also shifted the attitudes of healthy living in the community residents.

To learn more about FIM and the Healthiest Cities & Counties Challenge click here.