What We Learned and What You Should Know: Food as Medicine
The Bottom-Line
The Academy has officially defined the term Food as Medicine as “a philosophy where food and nutrition aids individuals through interventions that support health and wellness.” There are four focus areas: prevention, disease management, to improve nutrition security, and to promote food safety.
More Details
While most people visit their doctor once or twice a year, they visit the grocery store and restaurants weekly. Therefore, implementing Food as Medicine concepts in retail settings, “provides a unique opportunity for RDs to address gaps in health care equity and improve public health by providing much-needed access points and the ability for nutrition professionals to meet consumers where they are on a regular basis, and importantly, where they are making food decisions, and provide innovative, nutrition-focused programming.”
FLIK RDs have been helping to implement Food as Medicine concepts in your FLIK café for years with financial incentives, rewards programs, product placement, nutrition education, recipe cards, Teaching Kitchens, and more… bringing wellness to where you are – at work!
Here are some examples of Food as Medicine initiatives you may be familiar with and may even be taking advantage of in your community: eating yogurt for gut health, swapping saturated fats for unsaturated fats for improved cardiovascular health, limiting sodium intake to help lower high blood pressure, implementing “nudges” like product placement or incentive programs to change purchasing habits, providing a prescription program for buying more fruits and vegetables at the grocery store, writing food safety standards into recipes, and providing medically tailored meals at food pantries.
Take Action
Look for and take advantage of any opportunities where you shop for food or eat food in place to help positively improve your well being. Don’t see any where you live, work, play, shop, or dine? Ask! Tell your grocery store what you need to make buying the healthier choice the easy choice (especially if they employ a Registered Dietitian). Tell your favorite restaurants to hold off on the bread basket, offer more veggie dishes, and serve mini desserts. Call your local representative to let them know how important initiatives like a produce prescription program are to you and your community.
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At FLIK Hospitality Group we believe in great food, great service, and great people. Our wellness first approach ensures our food supports healthy and delicious choices, specially curated by our team of culinary experts and registered dietitians. At FLIK, we believe in seasonality in sourcing our ingredients and providing a customized approach to the culinary and hospitality needs of each client. Our dedication to providing quality hospitality service is unparalleled in the industry.
Have feedback or questions for our team? Email us at flikblog@compass-usa.com.