While Louisiana is famous for its rich food, the same can’t be said for the health of its residents. Many families struggle to incorporate enough fruits and vegetables into their diets. One study shows less than six percent of Louisiana’s children eat the recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables. Scientists at LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center hope a new program called The Rolling Store can help change that for residents of a dozen Baton Rouge-area neighborhoods.
“One frequently cited barrier to incorporating fruits and vegetables – a key to good health – into our daily lives is not knowing how to cook vegetables or use them in easily prepared and inexpensive ways,” said Jennifer Rood, PhD, associate executive director for Core Services and Resources at Pennington Biomedical. “Among other things, eating fruits and vegetables helps people maintain a healthy weight while reducing the risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and high blood pressure.”
Over the next year, Pennington Biomedical researchers plan to hold monthly Rolling Store Healthy Cooking Demonstrations and Screenings in 12 low-income areas. Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome, Pennington Biomedical Executive Director John Kirwan, PhD, and Rood spoke at the first event.
The events will include:
-Presentations about the importance of eating fruits and vegetables, information about buying seasonally to get the best value in fruits and vegetables.
-Cooking demonstrations on easy ways to prepare several types of fruits and vegetables.
-Ways the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits can be used to make a budget stretch farther.
-Free health screenings for blood pressure, blood sugar, and body fat. Pennington Biomedical personnel will review the results with each participant and refer those with abnormal results to their physicians for follow-up care.
“We anticipate that participants who increase fruits and vegetables in their diet will have similar results to those in one of our pilot studies, namely, weight loss and decreased body mass index (BMI), as well as significant improvements in self-esteem and emotional well-being,” Rood said.
After each cooking demonstration, participants will get to eat the food that has been prepared and will be given additional fruits and vegetables to take home. Participants will also receive printed recipes developed by Pennington Biomedical’s Metabolic Kitchen.
Events are set for:
Oct. 14, 3-5 p.m., 230 Renee Drive, Baton Rouge. Shepherd’s Market Choice Food Pantry
Nov. 2, 9-11 a.m., 1217 S. Burnside Ave., Gonzales. First Baptist Church of Gonzales
Nov. 26, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., 4000 Gus Young Ave., Baton Rouge. Martin Luther King Thanksgiving Basket Giveaway, sponsor.
For more information about The Rolling Store and upcoming events, call (225) 763-2524 or email Jennifer.Rood@pbrc.edu.
The program was made possible by a grant from the Huey and Angelina Wilson Foundation.