Many people know about the health benefits of eating fresh fruits and veggies, and one organization is working to bring those benefits to more people.
Nonprofit Wholesome Wave is working with healthcare providers to help encourage the preventative health benefits of eating whole foods and fresh produce. Wholesome Wave partners with doctors to “prescribe” fruits and vegetables to patients, encouraging them to eat healthy nutritious food.
According to the organization’s website, 69 percent of participants in the program reported eating more fruits and vegetables, and 47 percent had decreased their BMI.
Wholesome Wave also works to make produce more accessible for economically disadvantaged communities. Their flagship program doubles the value of SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps when used to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.
The nonprofit’s founder, Michel Nischan, is a chef who has won four James Beard awards. He has spent decades working to make healthy food accessible for everyone.
“Good, healthy, whole food is far less expensive than the treatments, therapies, and medications necessary to manage diet-related diseases,” Nischan told the NYC Food Policy Institute. “377,000 Americans will require dialysis this year at an average cost of $100,000 per patient. Imagine what would happen to obesity in underserved communities if we added $37.7B to SNAP that could only be spent on produce.”
Looking to Eat Healthier?
You can start eating a healthy whole-food plant-based diet at home and reap the health benefits of nutritious produce.
Here’s a guide on how to start an unprocessed, whole-food vegan diet with fresh fruits and veggies. And here are 15 Recipes That Prove That a Whole Foods Plant-Based Diet is Anything But Boring.
And Wholesome Wave isn’t the only organization working to make healthy food accessible for everyone. Here are 5 programs working to improve access to healthy food in NYC.
Looking for more plant-based food info? Download the Food Monster App, it’s available for both Android and iPhone. The app is loaded with thousands of allergy-friendly & vegan recipes/cooking tips. It also has hundreds of search filters and features like bookmarking and meal plans!
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