This is an invitation for you to join me, my fellow volunteers with the Healthy Communities Coalition, and the volunteer leaders of Project Feed the Thousands to ensure that all people in our region not only have food and drink on their tables in the coming year, but also to make sure that that sustenance nourishes their bodies and supports their health.
The types of foods we contribute to Project Feed the Thousands - or directly to our local food charity of our choice - can play a major role in breaking the link between poverty and obesity.
Numerous studies document this link. According to one report, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, “There is no question that the rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes in the United States follow a socioeconomic gradient, such that the burden of disease falls disproportionately on people with limited resources, racial-ethnic minorities, and the poor.”
The same study points to some of the causes for this relationship, including the fact that high-calorie foods composed of refined grains, added sugars, or fats are often the lowest-cost option to the consumer and that poverty and food insecurity are associated with low fruit and vegetable consumption and lower-quality diets.