March is National Nutrition Month and North Dakotans are reminded of ways to better manage their health through personalized diet plans that emphasize flexibility without all the pressure.
In a post-pandemic world, people may be trying to kick the unhealthy eating habits they developed during the early stages of COVID-19. Or perhaps the crisis has inspired them to pay more attention to preventing diseases and improving their health.
Bailey Holmquist, a registered dietitian based in Fargo, said cutting back on processed foods should play a role. There are certain proteins that you should take into account.
“I tell my patients, ‘Do what you can, but if we can get good grass-fed meat, pasture-raised eggs and wild-caught fish,’” Holmquist outlined. “So that we get the most nutrients from those animals.”
But if such items aren’t in your budget, or you don’t have time to look for them, she recommends buying whatever protein is most readily available. Canned beans are considered a good additional option. And there is affordable peanut butter made from healthy ingredients. Holmquest emphasized that it’s not about being perfect with your diet, but about focusing on consistency.
Holmquest also pointed out that specific healthy eating guidelines don’t work for everyone, and it’s important to figure out what your body can handle.
“If someone has kidney disease and they hear ‘protein,’ that’s not a good thing for them to hear,” Holmquest noted. “Because protein is very, very hard on the kidneys, if someone has reduced kidney function.”
As for fresh fruits and vegetables, she recommends rinsing them before using them, which helps remove any pesticides used to grow them. As for meal planning, Holmquest suggested keeping plenty of your favorite nutritious items in your kitchen, which will make it easier to whip up something healthy on a busy evening.
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Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious food during the summer.
Federal officials have approved the Badger State’s plan to join a new program that includes dozens of other states. Governor Tony Evers has said Wisconsin will be the first state to greenlight the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer program, with 36 other states set to launch this summer. Eligible households will receive pre-loaded debit cards that families can use to purchase groceries.
Shelly Fortner, executive director of The Hunger Task Force of La Crosse, applauded the move, noting that half of the children in the local school district already qualify for free, reduced-price lunches during school.
“We have low-income families – most of them working, by the way – but just can’t put that extra meal on the table for kids who are home during the summer months,” she said.
This new permanent program, approved by Congress, is similar to the increased access to meals the federal government has provided during the pandemic. Across Wisconsin, there are designated eating areas for these children when school is not in session, but proponents of the new effort say it offers more flexibility, especially for households with limited transportation options.
State officials have pointed out that most families already enrolled in the National School Lunch Program will automatically receive the summer benefits.
Fortner said access to meals helps children learn. For the summer, she said, the extra access will keep them active.
“We’ve had a lot of information about sedentary activities like video games and TV and all that,” he said, “but our kids are getting outside more now, and they need that energy to keep that going.”
She added that this should help promote healthy, lifelong habits in children and prevent them from starting the next school year slowly. The state provides a one-time summer benefit of $120 for each eligible child. The money is expected to be available by the end of June.
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Colorado is working to boost the state’s agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious food into school cafeterias — and a new online tool could get more school districts on board.
The effort is a key part of the Healthy School Meals for All initiative that voters approved in 2022.
Taylor Frederick – culinary programs manager at Nourish Colorado – said school meals have identified best practices in recent years that can be adopted by other school districts, including how to work with local farms and ranches.
“How to find your local producer,” Frederick said, “and even how to put in specific bids for specific local items, and how to incorporate these kinds of things into your menus.”
The new Colorado Local Food Program Guidebook, available online at “guidebook.nourishcolorado.org,” provides tips and resources for launching and supporting farm-to-school programs.
The guide also provides ways for parents and community members to connect with their local school district to encourage them to participate in the voluntary program or make menu recommendations.
Frederick explained that the guide starts with a short quiz that helps users find the right resources.
For example, food manufacturers who want to sell their products to reliable children’s customers can learn how school district cafeterias operate and purchase food.
“To better understand the channels of the school market,” Frederick said, “the bidding process, the price points that school districts are working with, their timing, and a little bit about their menus and products that they’re looking for.”
He said school meal operators can also get tips on how to transition from serving canned and processed foods to preparing meals with fresh ingredients through a series of training videos.
“There are different types of kitchen equipment that can be in the schools, we have training videos on that,” Frederick said. “Some vegetable cooking techniques. Those were the big things that school districts and school meal authorities really said they wanted.”
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During National Nutrition Month, groups like Virginia Fresh Match offer people healthy, fresh food options.
Since 2009, the coalition of farmers markets and mobile food stores has been helping people on SNAP or EBT access healthier foods. Some groups have found that almost 24% of the benefits are used for healthy food, while they are more often spent on sweet snacks, ready meals and meat.
Elizabeth Borst, director of advocacy for Virginia Fresh Match, said everyone should have the opportunity to access healthy food.
“Just making sure that people both have access to high-quality food and that quality food is affordable for them,” Borst explains. “Fresh fruit and vegetables can often be the last thing people choose when they are on a very limited budget, so we want to make sure this is accessible to people.”
The consumer price index shows that food prices increased dramatically between 2022 and 2023, but prices decreased slightly in 2024.
Food insecurity has long been a problem for Virginians. Hunger Free America’s 2023 annual hunger survey found that nearly 774,000 people in Virginia are food insecure. Borst emphasized that her group is focusing on its “food is medicine” work to ensure no one goes hungry.
While Virginia Fresh Match has been able to accomplish a lot in its multi-year history, there have also been some challenges. Borst noted that a long-term challenge is financing sustainability. Like the rest of the world, the pandemic posed a significant hurdle for them, although it did bring some interesting changes.
“We just had a huge bump in our repayments and usage of the program,” Borst emphasized. “That really didn’t decrease, even though the allocation of SNAP benefits decreased by 40% after emergency pandemic benefits ended.”
Emergency allocations provided an additional $95 per month to all SNAP recipients, impacting 470,000 families across the state.
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