Why Health & Nutrition Matter
Food insecurity, nutrition, and health are closely connected. People facing food insecurity may have limited options for nutritious foods and healthy eating. Poor nutrition increases the risk of health issues like diabetes and hypertension. Food insecurity makes managing a chronic disease even harder.
Creating healthy communities requires access to culturally diverse, nutritious foods. At Circle of Concern, we empower our neighbors with wholesome foods that reflect their food traditions and positively impact their health and nutrition.
Our professional pantry team works tirelessly to source the best food options and pricing working with food banks, area grocers and suppliers, community gardens and others to ensure that our client families can choose from an array of fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy and protein items, whole grain breads and a variety of shelf-stable food items. We want families to access foods that fight disease and promote wellness.
We partner with area universities and others, providing nutrition education, food demonstrations and healthy recipes; and utilize guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s My Plate initiative.
MyPlate is part of a larger communication initiative based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans with the goal of helping consumers make better food choices. MyPlate reminds Americans to eat healthfully; it is not intended to change consumer behavior alone. MyPlate illustrates the five food groups using a familiar mealtime visual, a plate setting, that encourages us to consume a balance eating pattern that works with a variety of foods of your choice.
