Students get first-hand look at barriers to healthy eating
Small group discussions with nutrition and medical students, and participants in the Chicago Community Kitchens program, which trains unemployed and underemployed individuals to work in food service.
Advising patients to modify their diet won’t help if they don’t have access to healthy food, and wouldn’t know how to prepare it if they did.
“You can’t just tell somebody, ‘you need to eat better.’ You should be aware of the barriers they face and the community resources available for them,” said Kirsten Straughan, clinical assistant professor and director of the nutrition science program.
UIC nutrition students and medical students got a first-hand look at these issues on a recent visit to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, which partners with 700 agencies to distribute about 70 million pounds of food in Cook County each year.