Fresh Eating

Community members must eat healthily and use food initiatives to combat obesity.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, 60 percent of adults in Pennsylvania are overweight. The Department of Health reports that many of the people in this percentile are seriously overweight or obese, putting them at risk for developing serious health problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and cancer.

The department suggests even losing a small amount of weight can improve the health conditions of people who fall in these categories.

Losing weight is not just a matter of exercising and dieting; the freshness and nutrition of the food are also important factors in weight loss.

To help provide North Philadelphia residents with healthy eating options, St. Christopher’s Foundation for Children and Women’s Community Revitalization Project created Farm to Families [“Farm foods transform local ‘food drought,’” Page 1].

The program allows residents to buy $5, $10 and $15 food boxes, which contain  fruits, vegetables and other  healthy foods.

The accessibility and affordability of this food is important for residents in North Philadelphia. Jan Shaeffer, the executive director of St. Christopher’s, said the organization kept hearing the word “obesity” in association with the North Philadelphia community, which is why it aimed to provide quality groceries at a cheap cost.

The Temple News  reminds readers that healthy eating is not only important for North Philadelphians, but for students, people in all of Philadelphia and around the world.

Not everyone is able to afford the high prices of Whole Foods. Locations of supermarkets and food stores, such as Fresh Grocer or the Reading Terminal Market, are accessible for many students and Philadelphians but are not accessible for everyone, including those with disabilities or without access to transportation. It is for reasons like these that Farm to Families and other similar programs are important for community members.

The Temple News commends St. Christopher’s Foundation for Children and the Women’s Community Revitalization Project for launching such a beneficial program, and such initiatives to promote healthy eating in the community  should continue to grow.