Health through food
Healthy eating improves health
More than 1.6 million North Carolinians, including one in five children, have limited access to nutritious food.[D] This barrier can contribute to issues like heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease, driving up health care costs and deepening health disparities.[D]
To address this, we’re tackling food insecurity and chronic illnesses by making nutritious food more accessible and integrating Food is Medicine into care.
[Music]
[Screen text] Rev. Richard Joyner, Founder and Board Chair, Conetoe Family Life Center
[Rev. Richard Joyner, Founder and Board Chair, Conetoe Family Life Center]
Food is medicine is when we learn how to manage our chronic disease through these vegetables.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, we stand synonymous. And that we want to see food is medicine in every corner, every place across North Carolina.
[Screen text] Merry Davis, Director, Health Through Food Signature Initiative
[Merry Davis, Director, Health Through Food Signature Initiative]
Blue Cross affirmed our commitment to improving health through food in North Carolina. For so long, health care had a certain box of tools, and when you add food to that toolbox, there's so much more that you can do.
Increasing food is medicine in health care practice, increasing access to healthy food in communities, and it's about equipping individuals with the information and the skills they need.
People are not just receiving food, but they're receiving that kind of deep care and social support.
[Screen text] Kasheta Jackson, VP of Communication Health, Eastern Carolina University
[Kasheta Jackson, VP of Communication Health, Eastern Carolina University]
Some of us may live in food deserts and this was an opportunity to provide produce that can help reduce hypertension, diabetes, and congestive heart failure.
Having access to food truly is medicine because it affects your whole well-being.
[Screen text] Must be currently enrolled in an eligible Blue Cross NC health plan and meet certain eligibility requirements. Some plan exclusions may apply. For information regarding eligibility call NourishedRx at (844) 727-6670.
[Screen text] Kim, Blue Cross NC Member Since 2003
[Kim, Blue Cross NC Member Since 2003]
Feed Your Health is a program that Blue Cross and Blue Shield North Carolina offers.
I learned how to cook all of these fresh foods that were delivered to my house.
It’s the best thing I ever, ever did.
Like, wow.
[Screen text] Peter Skillern, CEO, Reinvestment Partners
[Peter Skillern, CEO, Reinvestment Partners]
The biggest obstacle to people eating healthy, according to surveys, is affordability. People have to be able to buy healthy foods. And that's the reason why our program provides that direct financial assistance for them to make their own choices about which foods best fit their needs.
Blue Cross is a leader not only in the state but nationally, pioneering food as medicine, both with operational support for nonprofits through pilots to determine which population needs to be served and through rigorous evaluation to determine what the health outcomes and financial savings are.
[Rev. Richard Joyner, Founder and Board Chair, Conetoe Family Life Center]
I cannot say enough about the support that that we get from Blue Cross to be able to feed 2500 families a week without people standing in line.
Blue Cross sees something in us. They see the soul of us.
This is our medicine.
[Screen text] Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina
Innovative approaches for a healthier future
Partnering with communities to make an impact
Driving better health through food
You can join us on our mission to make nutritious meals more accessible in North Carolina by participating in our food drive that's supporting food banks across the state.
When you drop off non-perishable food at one of our 12 locations, you can get up to four no-cost tickets to the NASCAR Blue Cross NC 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, October 10.[D]