Food Is Medicine 2019

Over 200 people came to The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) on Thursday, October 17 for our 7th annual Food Is Medicine fundraiser.

Most attendees were doctors, nurses, researchers and other healthcare professionals. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center once again served as the main sponsor of the event.

The goal of the night was to educate people about the role a good diet plays in someone’s health and what GBFB is doing to get more nutritious food to our agencies and improve the health of our clients.

“Because we believe not only that Food is Medicine, but that Food Is Health—we distributed over 20 million pounds of fresh produce this year,” said Carol Tienken, GBFB COO and Senior Vice President of Distribution Services.

Tienken awarded our partner agency Cambridge Health Alliance with the event’s community champion award, signifying their dedication and commitment to our work. Cambridge Health Alliance – Revere is the site of one of GBFB’s eight Healthcare Center Mobile Markets, as well as a partner in our research work about the impact our food has on our clients.

The keynote speaker from the event was Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and the dean of the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition. Dr. Mozaffarian spoke about the connection between poor nutrition and poor health, and how people who are struggling often have the least amount of access to healthy food.

“The poorest people have the least healthy food and it leads to a vicious cycle of poverty—kids who can’t learn, parents who are sick, and it keeps them down. This is hands down the single biggest health issue in our country and the single biggest health issue on our planet—it is the lack of availability of nutritious food.” ~ Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian

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If you were unable to attend, but still would like to support GBFB please consider a donation.