BATON ROUGE – Poor diet quality is a leading risk factor associated with death and disability in the United States, according to a 2018 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The report goes on to explain that eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables as part of an overall healthy diet can help protect against a number of serious and costly chronic diseases, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and obesity.
But many low-income communities in Baton Rouge lack access to fresh fruits and vegetables, leaving residents of these areas susceptible to a number of health conditions.
While fast food chains and small retail shops featuring limited amounts of canned and processed foods are often readily available in such communities, large grocery stores that sell varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables at affordable prices are a rare find.
This issue of nutritional disparity is what the City of Baton Rouge aims to eradicate by means of its Geaux Get Healthy initiative and its partnership with local organizations such as Our Lady of the Lake, Dollar General, Fresh Gardens, Top Box Foods, Baton Roots, the American Heart Association, and LSU Health Baton Rouge.
The City and its partners have collaborated to provide eligible low-income residents with the following programs:
-Door Step Delivery of Fresh Foods, a service that delivers boxes of healthy foods to a person’s home.
-A 12-week Health and Wellness program that offers cooking classes, nutrition classes, and grocery store tours.
-Access to a community garden
To determine one’s eligibility for the above programs, visit: https://www.healthybr.com/geauxgethealthy
