Much of the discussion about healthy eating focuses on cutting back on salt in one’s diet. Reducing salt intake for adults helps to reduce blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and coronary heart attack. The problem is that salt is a simple, low-cost, easily accessible flavor enhancer. So, if you cut salt from your diet, how do you flavor your food? Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s Community Health Education program is tackling that question head on by beginning to include a flavorful variety of spices and oils in monthly distributions of Grocery Bags for Seniors.
Grocery Bags for Seniors (GBS) provides an assortment of nutritious shelf-stable foods and fresh produce for door-to-door delivery in low-income senior communities. Food Shuttle volunteers pack and deliver 1,587 bags each month for distribution to 29 sites in Wake and Nash counties.
In November, along with canned goods and fresh veggies, GBS seniors will receive containers of garlic powder, red pepper flakes, paprika, onion powder, oregano, and olive oil. A handout explaining the health benefits of these spices will also be included, as will information on common foods that can be eaten with them. In the months to come, GBS will contain recipe cards featuring dishes that include use of the provided spices.
“We encourage our seniors to use less salt,” says Kylee McCombs, Director of Community Health and Nutrition at the Food Shuttle. “Now, we’re giving them the resources to do so while preparing their meals more flavorfully.”
Another distribution of different spices will be included in the April Grocery Bags for Seniors delivery.