A great opportunity to volunteer and improve public health education in New Orleans!

Hey Health Nuts!

Are you experienced in health education, nutrition or culinary arts?

Are you motivated to help reduce obesity and hunger in New Orleans?

Come help the Edna Pilsbury WIC clinic lead grocery store shopping tours and teach families key shopping skills like buying fruits and vegetables on a budget, comparing unit prices, reading food labels and identifying whole grains.

To learn more about the program or sign up to be a tour facilitator email Davita Petty at dpetty@tulane.edu

For many people, it can sometimes be a struggle to maintain a routine of healthy eating (we definitely experience this first-hand in New Orleans!). The first step of eating healthy is learning how to shop for healthy foods at the grocery store. This can be especially difficult and overwhelming if a person has never been taught healthy shopping habits, is trying to provide for a family, and is shopping on a tight budget. Studies have shown that learning how to find good value foods at a good price has the effect of “improving sense of self-control, self-esteem, and empowerment” in regard to food shopping (Webber, 2010). Furthermore, shoppers with this opportunistic outlook increase their fruit and vegetable intake, especially when given incentives such as food vouchers through programs such as WIC (Herman, 2006).

If you are reading this blog, you are probably personally interested and actively learning about living a healthy lifestyle. Why not give back to the community by becoming involved in a program that spreads the knowledge of healthy shopping and cooking habits? I encourage anyone interested in volunteering in New Orleans to contact Davita Petty (dpetty@tulane.edu) and become involved in this organization! You will learn how to teach New Orleans families to shop for healthy foods on a budget through the WIC program. You will probably learn a lot about healthy shopping for yourself too!

Resources:

Shopping Matters Website: http://join.strength.org/site/PageNavigator/SOS/SOS_ofl_shoppingmatters_home

Herman, D. R., Harrison, G. G., & Jenks, E. (2006). Choices made by low-income women provided with an economic supplement for fresh fruit and vegetable purchase. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 106, 740–744.

Webber, C.B., Sobal J., Dollahite, J.S. (2010). Shopping for fruits and vegetables. Food and retail qualities of importance to low-income households at the grocery store. Appetite, 54, 297-303.