[lifestyle ] West Michigan partnership aims to improve health through food boxes, lifestyle coaching

[_Happy boy]

 

Eat good, feel good!

The Food Bank Council of Michigan teamed up with South Michigan Food Bank and Grace Health to address food insecurity and encourage healthy lifestyles with the launch of the Grace Health Fresh Food Pharmacy in Battle Creek.

Made possible by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, this six-month pilot program “prescribes” home-delivered healthy food boxes for Grace Health patients every two weeks. In addition, the program offers healthy lifestyle coaching, check-ins, and support for cooking and eating healthy foods.

"The idea is that when the medical team finds individuals that can benefit from eating healthier food we can provide the foods, recipes, and things to change their lifestyle to help with medical conditions," Peter Vogel, CEO of the South Michigan Food Bank, said. "Last year we distributed more than 14 and a half million pounds of food, now we are boxing more than 5,000 boxes of food every single day."

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Focused on meeting the health care needs of underserved people in the community, Grace Health serves over 30,000 patients in Calhoun County and surrounding areas.

“We are honored to partner with Grace Health to improve the health and well-being of those in need in the Battle Creek community,” Vogel said. “We know that we can demonstrate great impact by working together.”

Eligible patients include those who:

Manage a chronic health condition, such as diabetes or heart disease, that can improve with a healthy diet.
They also must have difficulty accessing healthy food and have the ability and interest to cook fresh foods and attend coaching sessions.
Enrollment begins in Feb. with a fresh food mobile distribution kickoff event funded by the Consumers Energy Foundation at Grace Health, 181 West Emmett Street in Battle Creek, on Jan. 28 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

This mobile food distribution was available to anyone in the community in need of food. Those interested in the food pharmacy program should contact Grace Health staff at 269-965-8866 who will connect them with a program intake coordinator.

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For more information on the Food Bank Council of Michigan, visit www.fbcmich.org.