Podcasts about Wholesome Wave

This week on the Titans of Food Service podcast, Nick Portillo speaks with Michel Nischan, a four-time James Beard Award Winner and chef. Michel shares his journey from working on his grandfather's farm to becoming a celebrated chef and influential advocate for food equity and sustainability. Michel talks about co-founding Wholesome Wave and Wholesome Crave, and working with the late actor Paul Newman on the Dressing Room restaurant. Nick and Michel discuss the importance of being curious about other cultures' cuisines and Michel's commitment to using food as a tool for positive social change. Quotes"You need to be able to channel your talent into making customers happy instead of creating things that only intrigue you." -Michel Nischan"If you don't make an effort to genuinely know all of your different customers and respect and meet them where they're at and be able to have really open conversations, regardless. Regardless of their ideology or whatever it is, you need to be welcoming to everybody." -Michel NischanTIMESTAMPS(00:02) Michel's Impact on Food Equity and Sustainability(03:48) Michel's Journey from Farm Life to Four James Beard Awards(14:24) Authenticity in Restaurant Concepts and Cultural Sensitivity(18:24) Mentors and Milestones in a Chef's Journey(25:08) Michel Nischan on Authenticity and American Heritage Cuisine(28:08) From Dressing Room Restaurant to Wholesome Wave's National Impact(33:00) The Power of Food in Transforming Health and Society(37:05) Connecting with Chef Michel Nischan Through Social MediaRESOURCESPortillo SalesCONTACT Nick: nick.portillo@portillosales.com

Join Kelly Brownell in a conversation with Michael Dimock, Executive Director of Roots of Change, about transforming food systems through innovative policies. Discover how Roots of Change collaborates with various stakeholders to create nutrition incentive programs and support sustainable agriculture, focusing on community-first approaches. Learn about pioneering projects, insights into policy influence, and the future of agricultural practices. This episode provides an optimistic view of the evolving food system landscape and the potential for significant positive change. Interview Summary Why don't we begin by you explaining what Roots of Change does. What's the mission and role of the organization? Yes. We were originally founded by a group of philanthropic foundations that were very interested in food system change but had not seen much success in years. So we were really designed to be a catalyst to ignite the growth of what we would call the Good Food Movement. For 10 years, we were actually a philanthropic fund investing in different projects that built the power of the food movement. And then implemented projects that would catalyze change. That would show how you could scale change fairly rapidly by building collaboration. So that's really what we've been doing. And in 2013, the philanthropic fund ended, we'd spent down all the money. So we joined the Public Health Institute at that time because public health is such an incredibly important engine for food system change because the food system impacts public health so greatly. We've been since that time focused on policy change and implementing model demonstration projects. Thanks for that explanation. You talked about catalyzing change for transforming the food system. What sort of changes have you emphasized? We've been focused on a few key things. I would say that one of the most important for us has been healthy food access. And doing that through the creation of nutrition incentive programs. And the reason we're interested in that is, all the changes that we pursue are aimed to hit several different levers of change simultaneously. By building nutrition incentive programs, you help the small and midsize farmers who are supplying local grocery stores, the farmers markets, and at the same time, you're creating the funding for low-income families to actually purchase organic, regenerative, sustainable agriculture. From their local market. You get a lot of payoff for that kind of action. You mentioned incentives. How do incentives fit into this? There is a program, a federal program called the GUSNIP. Named after Gus Schumacher, who was Undersecretary at USDA during the Clinton years, and actually worked with us early on. And so that program is a pool of funding through the Farm Bill that is given as grants to either states or nonprofits that are creating these programs where a family comes in with their SNAP benefits, and their purchasing power is doubled. They're given matching dollars to buy fruits and vegetables from a farmer's market, a local store, grocery store. So it's an incentive to purchase fresh nutritious food. And so, we have worked on the original federal policy. We're one of the first demonstration projects to show how you do nutrition incentives working with folks in the upper Midwest and in the East. And then we created an analog. California also has a matching fund which helps us pull more money from the federal level. So, we can really get a big impact at the local level. And we built that California program as well. We've been really deep in nutrition incentives. But we also work on farmer farmworker protections from heat. It's a big problem out here in the West. Increasing temperatures. We're working with different scientists, epidemiologists, and farmers to figure out best management practices or technologies that keep farmers cool. And then we also work on programs to provide incentives for ranchers to produce regenerative meat, that is grass-finished meat. So, those are the three areas working in right now. But we're also just starting a project. I have a meeting today with the California Department of Food and Agriculture to develop a plan for mid and small-scale infrastructure for regional food systems in the state of California to be achieved by 2040. One thing I really like about your approach is the lining up of incentives to produce food in a way that's better for both human health and the environment. Because so many incentives are lined up the other way. Obviously, the food industry wants to make as much money as they can, and that comes from highly processed foods that aren't very good for health. And then the same sort of incentives lines up for agriculture to do industrial forms of agriculture where you maximize the yield per acre. To turn that around is really going to be a major effort. One thing I like about your approach is that you're trying different things that can become models for what could be used in a very broad scale in terms of public policy. I really admire that and like what you're doing. Do you have an overall strategy for helping bring about change? One of the things that we did in 2010-11 is we did a deep analysis of the food system and did a systems dynamic map of the entire food system. Working with leaders, Secretary of Agriculture for California, farmers - big size, small size, organic, conventional, with food justice folks. And we looked at where are the real intervention points. One of the things that we really realize is that, as you were pointing out, the current incentives are for industrialization, basically. And so, the question is, how do you actually change that? And policy is one important lever for doing that. So, we work a lot on trying to change the policy levers to create incentives for what we would call healthy and resilient agriculture. Tell me more about how you go about doing that. I'd love to hear when you're done with that, how you go about doing that with policymakers. Well, I'll jump right in on that. Let's look at what we did with nutrition incentives. So, working with Fair Food Network out of the upper Midwest, and Wholesome Wave out East, Roots of Change did a study. We created our own nutrition incentive programs using philanthropic dollars and some USDA kind of innovative dollars, and then we studied it for two years, what the impacts were. We wrote a report then, which went to Congress, to Debbie Stabenow in Minnesota, who was the Senator there who was on the ag committee. And she began writing a bill that would say, okay, let's provide incentives for people to buy healthy food that also helped the small farmers. So that switched the incentive from the big agricultural systems to the regional food system players. That was one way we did it. The other thing that we did in California was we organized all the farmers markets to go to the State of California and say, look, if you provide this nutrition incentive program in California and analog, we'll pull down more dollars from the federal government. The California legislature said that's a great idea. They got on board. Which then helped the farmers markets to provide more funding because farmers markets are often stressed. Too many markets, so there's problems. Competition between markets. So, to provide a new market, which is low-income families who are using nutrition incentives and their SNAP dollars, that was really important for the farmer's market. Those farmer's markets became another big piece of our strategy. Our way of making change was just to build collaborations, large collaborations of people. We work with many other nonprofits and farming groups in California to approach the legislature and over the last three years we've gotten $1.3 billion dollars in investments from the state of California into sustainable agriculture and food justice. Because we're able to build these large collaborations who convince the legislators who really care about votes that there's enough people out there want to see this happen. And we have just placed a billion-dollar request on the next bond, which will be in the next election, November. This November there's the climate bond. It's called a climate bond for the State of California. Ten billion dollars, one billion of that will be dedicated to nutrition, nutritional health, farm workers, and sustainable agriculture. So, in all ways, it's about getting enough voices. So, if you look at what we're really trying to do, we're trying to build the power of what we would call the Good Food Movement. Best of luck with that billion-dollar request. I really hope that goes through. You know, in the beginning of your response to my last question, you talked about a report that you did in concert with other organizations around the country and how that became influential in the policy process. Very often, some of the people in my orbit, scientists, wonder how they can help with this kind of thing and how they can do work that makes a difference. And I've often thought that speaking with people in the policy and advocacy world, like you, turns up some really interesting questions they could help address, if they knew what those questions were. But they often aren't having those conversations because they're mainly speaking to other scientists. That's one of the reasons why I so much like having people who approach things like you do on this podcast series. Scientists aren't our only listeners, but they're among them, and it's nice to give them ideas about how they can connect their work with what's going on out there on the ground in terms of policymaking. So, you emphasize putting people in communities first. What does that mean? And how does that play out in the work you do? It's a great segue from what you were just saying about the need to combine community voices with nonprofits and scientists, academics, and people who are good at research and who are good at analysis. Back to this idea of nutrition incentives that really grew out of what community groups were doing. The IRC (the International Rescue Committee) works with immigrants from Africa, primarily at that time who were coming into San Diego. And they were farmers, mostly. They were escaping violence, war, in their countries. And they came to San Diego and the IRC worked with them to create a farmer's market, and a farm - a community farm. And those folks were the ones that were saying, this program works. And this is a really good way to solve many problems at once. So, we were hearing from community members and the nonprofit that had created this model. So, it was a way of us understanding what was actually working on the ground. So that's one example. I can also say that in 2017, 2019 and 2020, we had terrible fires here in California. We also had all that followed with COVID in 2020. We were working with the University of California at Davis. Tom Tomich, who at that time was with the Ag Sustainability Institute at UC Davis. And we were doing research on how do you deal with climate change as small farmers? And what we realized is there was this moment in time when all of these things that have been piling up were impacting the ability to get meat. You'll remember that meat disappeared from shelves for a while because all the big plants that process meat in the Midwest were shut down due to COVID. So, what we did is then went out and we interviewed ranchers up and down the State of California, and we asked them, what do you need? And are you interested in finishing animals for grass-fed markets? Are you interested in building local markets? We got a lot of feedback that led to a white paper that Roots of Change published with the University of California at Davis and put out to the world. Which led to us getting a grant to actually take some of the suggestions and the recommendations we had gotten from the producers about what to do. What's that led to now? We have built a relationship with the University of California: ten campuses, five medical systems. They have committed to buy regenerative regional meat from the State of California. That grew out of a white paper, which was fed information by the ranchers on the ground, analyzed by academics and nonprofits, and delivered in a system that's now gotten the university to make a commitment. So, it's another example of just how you can mix all these great parties to get some sustainable change at a large scale? Now that leads me pretty nicely to what my next question. And it has to do with what's needed going forward and how do these things occur in more places in a bigger way than the places they are now. Now you mentioned, for example, the regenerative agriculture pledge that got made by the University of California system. That's a big enterprise. There are a lot of people that get touched by that system. So, that's a pretty impressive example of taking an idea that might've been smaller to begin with and then became bigger. Going forward, what kind of things are going to be needed to make that kind of thing happen more often? That's a really good question. Kelly, I think that one of it is communication. I mean, perhaps some somebody will hear this and reach out to us and say, how'd you do that? And then we'll say, well…and they'll tell us what they did and we'll learn from them. One of the things I'm really interested in, always been interested in, and one of the things that Roots of Change is focused on is trying to convene people to share information. Because you build partnerships when you share information. And those partnerships can become the engines for getting the policy makers or the corporations to change their modalities. How they're doing things. Because they realize, hey, the writing is on the wall. This has to happen. We need to figure out how to get there. And sometimes it's complex to get there because the food system is very complex. So, I would say that one of the things I'm really looking forward to is more cross collaboration. You know, we're living in the season of elections. We're hearing it on the news all the time. And the thing that drives the policy makers is whether or not they're going to be elected or reelected. And so, the more that we can convince them that there is a large majority of the public that wants to see these fundamental changes in the food system. We will have their support. We've seen it in California. We are getting incredible support from our Secretary of Agriculture, our governor, and our Secretary of Natural Resources. They work together to create things on the ground. I would say that the Tom Vilsack and Biden did a lot for regenerative agriculture, working on two big projects that have been funded by the USDA that will touch a thousand ranchers of bison and beef to get them to learn about, adapt, adopt, and then build new markets for their products. So that's an important piece. The other is the marketplace and companies want to sell their products. So, the more that consumers become discerning and what they're purchasing, the better off we're going to be. So, we have a podcast like you do. And what we're trying to do is just educate people about the connections between what they're doing and what the farmers and ranchers out there who are trying to do good work with the land and with health and with their workers. We just try to promote this idea of making good decisions about what they purchase. Tell us a little bit more about your podcast, which is called Flipping the Table. Tell us more about what you're trying to accomplish and the kind of people that you speak with. Well, it's similar to yours in a certain way, I would say. Because what I'm doing is interviewing the people that are doing the kinds of projects that we think are scaling change or could scale change. Or people who have a depth of understanding. So, the regenerative meat world, we've done a lot in the last few years. Talking to Nicolette Hahn Nyman, who wrote a couple of books about the meat system, with a great rancher up in Northern California, who advises other ranchers on how to finish their animals on grass in California in a dry environment. I just, today we dropped a podcast with Cole Mannix from the Old Salt Co op in Montana about the ranchers he's pulled together. The co op he's built that has a slaughter plant, restaurants, a meat shop, and has an online thing. And then they do a big, they do a big annual event in the summer during the solstice. So, you know, we're just trying to get voices who, like you are, who are, who are modeling and educating the public around what is happening. How much is actually happening. I've been in this world for 30 years almost, and I have to say, I have never been more optimistic about the scale of change, the accelerating speed of change, and the possibilities that lay ahead. BIO  Michael Dimock is an organizer and thought leader on food and farming systems and heads Roots of Change (ROC) a project of the Public Health Institute. ROC develops and campaigns for smart, incentive-based food and farm policies that position agriculture and food enterprises as solutions to critical challenges of the 21st century. Since 2006, Michael has been spawning and leading education and policy campaigns, community dialogues and creative engagements with government and corporate leaders to advance regenerative food and farm policies and practices that make agriculture and food enterprises solutions to critical public health challenges of the 21st century. His leadership has helped create one new law and funding program at the federal level and three new California laws that included two new funding programs and five successful budget requests. He began his career in 1989 as a sales executive in Europe for agribusiness and in 1992 founded Ag Innovations Network to provide strategic planning for companies and governments seeking healthier food and agriculture. In 1996, he founded Slow Food Russian River and, from 2002 to 2007, he was Chairman of Slow Food USA and a member of Slow Food International's board of directors. Michael's love for agriculture and food systems grew from experiences on a 13,000-acre cattle ranch in Santa Clara County in his youth and a development project with Himalayan subsistence farmers in Nepal in 1979. He is the host of the podcast Flipping the Table featuring honest conversations about food, farms and the future. 

Diet-related disease such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes create a crushing burden on individuals, families, and the healthcare system in the United States. However, Produce Prescription Programs where medical professionals prescribe fruits and vegetables and health insurers pay, promise to improve nutrition and health. Today we will talk with Dr. Kurt Hager from the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School and lead author of the largest assessment of Produce Prescription Programs to date. Interview Summary   So, let's get into it. Before we dig into the study itself, can you tell our listeners more about Produce Prescription Programs?   So, the programs that we evaluated in our study gave participants electronic cards. So, either a debit card, a gift card, or a loyalty card that they could use at retail grocery stores and some farmer market partners as well to get free fruits and vegetables of their choice. The food could be either fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables. These programs acknowledge that nutrition education alone likely is not sufficient to increase healthier eating for many low-income households, for which just the cost of healthier foods is really the primary barrier in improving their diet. These programs seek to overcome that barrier, and it's really exciting to see that clinics across the country are turning to these. I think physicians, from our conversations with the clinics we partnered with in this study, are really excited to have a tool they can use and provide to patients to offer higher-quality care and help improve their nutrition when they're talking with their patients about managing diet-related illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, or obesity.   Thank you, Kurt. Could you tell me a little bit about why you and the team decided to do this particular study?   Food insecurity has been consistently associated with poor health outcomes, higher healthcare costs, and lower dietary quality. Many food insecure households tend to have higher rates of diet-related chronic illnesses. We worked with a wonderful organization called Wholesome Wave. They have operated Produce Prescription Programs across the US, and they have been collecting data on these programs for about five years now. Wholesome Wave reached out to our research team at Tufts University's Friedman School. They wanted to see if these programs are working at improving health outcomes. The key thing, I think, to contextualize where this study stands, is prior to this work, there had been a handful of studies that had shown, not surprisingly, that Produce Prescription Programs can improve dietary quality and improve food insecurity. However, very few had gone that extra step to see if Produce Prescription Programs were associated with improvements in really important clinical outcomes. Things like hemoglobin A1C, which is an important measure of average blood sugar levels in the past three months. This is critical for managing diabetes, and outcomes like blood pressure and obesity and overweight. Previous studies had found mixed results on these outcomes, and most had been very small, maybe about 50 participants. We built on this by doing the largest analysis to date. Our study had nearly 4,000 participants from 22 programs across the US, from 12 states. These ranged from cities like Los Angeles to Minneapolis, to Houston, to Miami, Idaho - so all over the US.   So, it was the fact that previous studies have had relatively small samples, and some of these other studies did not take all of the sort of important measures of health into consideration. So, you were able to build on that past work in a unique way in this study?   Exactly. I think the key thing is that Wholesome Wave had excellent relationships with their partner clinics. This meant that the clinics were willing to share medical record data with us. This is always just very challenging and many other studies weren't able to go that extra step. We were blessed with access to a lot of medical record data and we were able to do analyses that looked at important clinical biomarkers. I will say though, our study is a step in the progression. I'll be the first to admit, we did not have a comparison group in this analysis. So, the results that we found also could have occurred due to other reasons. Such as, for example, perhaps when someone is referred to a Produce Prescription Program, their physician might also make other referrals, or perhaps change their medications because this patient has been identified as high need. We certainly built on previous literature by having a much larger sample size and pooling data across the US, and to me, our findings really provide us with a strong rationale to continue research into this area. But also, to confirm our findings with randomized trials similar to what you would do, for example, for drug research.   That is helpful to hear. One of the things that's really important about what I understand of this study is the fact that you worked with Wholesome Wave, and that allowed you access to a lot of different programs across the US as you described. Could you give us a little bit of a sense of what some of those programs were, and how did they provide the support that you were able to study in this project?   Most programs provided the benefits on electronic card. It's similar to in WIC or SNAP, where participants have an EBT card, they can use it at retail settings. It's administratively very simple. From interviews among SNAP participants and other research, this tends to be lower stigma - when you're using a card at a checkout. These cards gave about $50 a month for six months on average for the adult programs, and $110 a month for the pediatric programs. Some of the children's programs were also a little longer. Some of the child-focused programs that we include in the analysis were up to 10 months.   So I understand from this description that the Produce Prescription Programs also look different. There were some programs for children, some for adults. How did you manage that? There's a lot of other things that could be going on. How do you sort of do that in this work?   Participants were referred to these programs because they were either food insecure or were recruited from a clinic that served a low income community and were very likely to be food insecure. Individuals also had a risk factor for poor cardiometabolic health. So, this means that they either had diabetes, high blood pressure, or were overweight or obese at baseline. That was really the common thread across all of these programs. We did all the analyses for adults and children separately. So, we report changes in fruit and vegetable intake, and changes in self-reported health status separately. Food insecurity - we did assess at the household level, but then for other outcomes, for example, hemoglobin A1C, we restricted that to the adult population that had diabetes when they enrolled into the program. For blood pressure, we restricted those analyses to adults with hypertension at baseline. For Body Mass Index, we restricted analyses to adults who were overweight or obese at baseline, and then did those same analyses separately for children for age and sex, only looking at children with overweight or obesity at the start of the study.   This is really important then. Thank you for that clarification. You know, you've talked about some of these critical measures such A1C for diabetes. You've talked about obesity measured in BMI. Can you tell us a little bit more about the importance of these findings and what they mean in real terms for participants' health?   Absolutely. So, we found that participation was associated with improvements in dietary quality and food insecurity. For example, among adults, they were reporting that they were eating, on average, about 0.8 more cups per day of fruits and vegetables by the program end. And food insecurity rates were cut by about a third. So, the program seemed to be working as intended, which was excellent to see. But then looking at the clinical biomarkers, for example, hemoglobin A1C among those with diabetes dropped by 0.3 percentage points. And among those with uncontrolled diabetes, those having chronically high blood sugars that are very difficult to manage, dropped by about 0.6 percentage points. So, to put that in context, that's about half the effects of commonly prescribed medications to manage high blood sugar levels. So, for just a simple change in diet, that is I think fairly impressive and very encouraging to see. And the effects on the reductions on blood pressure were also about half as large as we would see with commonly prescribed medications. I think it's really important to highlight that, one, we don't know if these changes will be sustained long-term when the program ends. There might be some participants where this program caught them in a moment of crisis perhaps, in which this helped stabilize them, and maybe they would be able to maintain these new improvements in dietary intake long-term. But I suspect many participants might not be able to maintain this healthier eating because the cost of healthier foods was the main barrier to healthier eating at the onset of the program. And so, this is an area that we're really interested in looking at in future research. But I will say, if one were to maintain these improvements that we would see in hemoglobin A1C, blood pressure, and BMI among adults, they really were clinically meaningful. And if sustained long-term, it could reduce risks of things like heart attack or stroke years down the line. Any reduction in these biomarkers can really have a meaningful impact on patient quality of life. Things even like averting diabetes complications with damage to the circulatory system, to nerves, to the retinas in the eyes and having vision loss. So, sustained long term, I think these really are meaningful impacts on health and wellbeing. The last thing I'll say, is for children, we did not see a change in BMIs for age and sex. I'm not too surprised, given it's a relatively short program on average six months. But also, child BMI is a notoriously challenging metric to move. But I do want to highlight that among the households with children, we did see an improvement in fruit and vegetable intake, and reduction in food insecurity, and self-reported rates of higher health status. And I think if we're thinking about childhood development, to me, that is still an important success. We know that having enough access to food in the household and having higher dietary quality is really, really important for childhood development and wellbeing. There's certainly a nutrition causal pathway here. But it's important not to forget that there's so much stress and anxiety when someone is experiencing food insecurity, about not knowing necessarily where your next meal is going to come from. Just worrying constantly about managing household budget, about trade-offs, say between buying healthier food, paying for medications, paying for other needs. So, I suspect these programs are improving health outcomes both through a nutritional pathway, but also through like a mental health pathway, perhaps reducing anxiety for some households as well, which can also have an impact on things like blood pressure.   So, given these results, it says that there's some important implications of these Produce Prescription Programs for the health and wellbeing of the participants in this study. I mean the fact that just changing fruit and vegetable consumption through a program like this had an effect similar to half the effect of some medications is really a powerful finding. I have got to ask, what are the policy implications of this work?   There is very exciting momentum across the US federal programs, promoting produce prescriptions and other forms of, for better or worse, what is known as food as medicine. And these programs all provide free healthy food to patients in partnership with the healthcare system or through a physician's office. So, Produce Prescriptions are the focus of this study, but the other Federal programs also include things like medically tailored meals, which are healthy, home-delivered meals, often to patients with even more advanced chronic disease who also might have activity limitations or disabilities that makes it really challenging for them to shop and cook independently. Last fall there was a historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition & Health, in which the Biden administration in the summer prior engaged at a national level, major stakeholders in the anti-hunger space, large health systems, researchers, and government agencies to bring together a policy agenda to address hunger in the US, and the really high rates of diet-related chronic diseases. And it's important to note that, I think it is the first recommendation in the section of the final national strategy from this White House conference under the healthcare sector highlights Produce Prescriptions as a policy priority and expanding them in Medicare and Medicaid. So currently Medicaid, which is the federal health insurance program for individuals with low incomes or who have a disability, Medicaid is managed in partnership between each state and the federal government. And this means that states have some flexibility in how they manage their Medicaid program. They can apply for what is known as Section 1115 waivers. The federal government can approve these waivers if the state makes a good case that if they propose an innovative pilot, an innovative change, that they can make the case is likely to improve health outcomes and remain budget neutral, then the federal government can approve them to pilot this idea. So, currently in Massachusetts, we are several years into an 1115 pilot that is actually paying for produce prescriptions and medically tailored meals through the state Medicaid program. And currently about 10,000 people in Massachusetts have received some sort of nutrition support through the state Medicaid program. About 10 other states now have either similar waivers approved or pending approval to allow other Medicaid programs to do something similar. So, this is a really exciting area where expanding access to these programs is happening. And then in Medicare, which is the health insurance program for older adults, in Medicare Part C, which is the Medicare private health plans, those health plans can choose to cover Produce Prescriptions as a benefit. They're not required to, but they have the flexibility to offer that service if they would like. And then finally, I'll just say that there's also new pilots that were announced in Indian Health Services and the Veterans Health Administration. All these examples show that across the federal government there are exciting pilots and expansions occurring to cover Produce Prescriptions, and other foods and medicine programs. However, they remain unavailable to the vast majority of Americans who might benefit. And so, they're not a core component of any of those programs at the moment. And rather, these are pilots that are being tested, but very exciting movement, nonetheless.   Thank you for that really comprehensive set of examples of how policy is implicated in this work and potentially the need to expand this work. It makes me think of USDA's Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program. That would be another way that folks could access some of the benefits of federal dollars to support produce-type prescription programs. How do you hope to build off this study in future research?   At UMass Medical School, we're the official independent evaluator for the state Section 1115 waiver, which means we are essentially responsible for evaluating if things like the Produce Prescription Program in the Massachusetts Medicaid program is improving health outcomes. So, that is what we are working on right now. In our partnership with the state, we actually have access to all of the claims and encounters data within Medicaid. And we also are working with several health systems that are also sharing medical record data with us so we can evaluate the impacts of food as medicine programs on hemoglobin A1C, blood pressure, and BMI, so similar outcomes to this study. We actually have a large study funded by the NIH in partnership with former colleagues at Tufts University that is doing a deep dive on the Medicaid medically tailored meal program. And we're hoping to do something similar for the Produce Prescription Program in Massachusetts Medicaid. And the nice thing about these studies, they aren't randomized trials. Since this is a kind of a policy rollout, anyone who's eligible for these programs can receive the benefits. But we will be improving upon this study that we just published by leveraging two really strong comparison groups, and using some statistical techniques to make sure we're identifying patients who are as similar as possible to those who are receiving services, but ultimately didn't enroll. So, we're excited to have these results a couple years down the line and see if these programs are working in the context of a large state Medicaid pilot. Bio Kurt Hager is an Instructor in the Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at UMass Chan Medical School. Dr. Hager's interests lay at the intersection of structural determinants of health, food insecurity, and government nutrition and health programs. He is currently evaluating the effectiveness of the Flexible Services Program, which addresses food and housing insecurity in Massachusetts Medicaid. His involvement in state and federal policy initiatives underscores his commitment to translating science into policy, including initiatives with the Task Force on Hunger, Nutrition and Health and the National Produce Prescription Collaborative.  

Live from the CRAzies, the Connecticut Restaurant Association's Awards night at Foxwoods Resort Casino: Here's our interview with Michel Mischan, Wholesome Wave.

Welcome to a very special episode with The Healthy Menu x Devour! Food Film Fest. Hosted by Sonia Couto, today's guest is award-winning chef and food advocate, Michel Nischan. Four-time James Beard Award-winner Chef Michel Nischan has been dubbed the “Godfather” of advocacy in the culinary world, maintaining the longest-standing record fighting for a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable food system through policy change. Michel is Co-Founder of the James Beard Foundation Chef Boot Camp for Policy and Change, and the only chef in America to change the Federal Farm Bill, twice, through his non-profit organization Wholesome Wave. Wholesome Wave was founded in 2007—the same year both of his restaurants were listed on Condé Nast's Top 95 Restaurants in the World (Pure in Mumbai, India, and The Dressing Room Restaurant in Westport, CT). The festival has become a destination for celebrities and notable chefs including Anthony Bourdain, Phil Rosenthal, Jacques Pépin, Dominique Crenn, Chuck Hughes, Sam Cass, Michael Städtlander, Normand Laprise, Michael Smith, Gordon Pinsent, Jason Priestley, Lidia Bastianich, and Bill Pullman. Each year, top chefs from across Canada and around the world collaborate on special dinners inspired by films. Devour! offers something for everyone with a roster of films at our host cinema, the Al Whittle Theatre, as well as food, film and beverage workshops, the Chowder Smackdown, the Great Devour! Community Supper in support of regional food banks, the Devour! The Street Food Rally and so much more. This live is part of a three-part live series in collaboration with Devour! Food Film Fest. The Healthy Menu is brought to you by MenuSano. This episode was taken from a recorded live on October 19, 2022. ===== Michel Nischan: www.chefnischan.com Devour! Food Film Fest: www.devourfest.com Sonia Couto: www.linkedin.com/in/soniacouto MenuSano: www.menusano.com

Chef Michel Nischan is the founder and Executive Chairman of Wholesome Wave, the founder of Wholesome Crave, and co-founder of the James Beard Foundation's Chefs Action Network. Michel is a four-time James Beard Award winning chef with over 30 years of leadership advocating for a more healthy and sustainable food system. Tune in to learn more about: Michel's memories of working on his grandfather's farm; How a climbing accident pushed him to finally found the non-profit organization Wholesome Wave; The mission of Wholesome Wave to address diet-related diseases by helping low-income Americans buy and eat healthy fruits and vegetables; The lack of affordability for healthy food and the disastrous consequences for the chronically ill; The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP), a program that brings together stakeholders from various parts of the food and healthcare systems; About Wholesome Crave, a company that creates flavorful, nutritious soups; How health care institutions are trying to improve the quality of their food and how UC Davis Medical Center partnered with Wholesome Crave to offer their soups in their cafes. To learn more about Chef Michel Nischan go to https://www.chefnischan.com. 

A crucial part of fundraising is proving to donors that you will make good use of their financial support. On today’s episode of The Balance, Stephanie Carosella from Bank of America and Amy Jolin from Wholesome Wave join Amy Karson to discuss tips for writing a strong grant proposal and how to use fiscal statements to inspire confidence. Further Resources: Amy Karson - Chief Executive Officer, Brand K Partners https://www.brandkpartners.com/ Amy Jolin - Director of Development, Wholesome Wave ​​https://www.wholesomewave.org/ Stephanie Carosella- Senior V.P. Community Relations Manager, Bank of America https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-nolan-carosella-5683809/

Pandemic, heat waves, fires and storms demand robust public health infrastructure that includes networks of well resourced community based organizations (CBOs). The Let's Feed LA County program that included 19 local organizations, Roots of Change, Center for Wellness and Nutrition and Wholesome Wave makes clear the need to permanently invest in CBOs on the frontline so they are ready when things get tough.

In this episode, I interview the founder of Wholesome Wave and Wholesome Crave, Michel Nischan. WW is a non-profit that helps people gain access to healthy food, and WC is a company that sells affordable and delicious plant-based soups, while supporting Wholesome Wave with a portion of its revenues. Michel has won numerous awards as a Chef, published multiple bestselling cookbooks and founded a restaurant with Paul Newman. We cover the food system, how it became the way it is and the development of his businesses and restaurants. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did!

Tackling nutrition insecurity with Legendary Chef Michel Nischan. A leader in the Food-Is-Medicine movement helps us grasp why food has a significant impact on human health, environmental health, societal health, and economic health.Episode Wine Offer: 20% off for everyone, 30% off for WS & JCB members | Offer ends "Sunday at midnight" Coupon code HAPPY48Shop Now: https://my.boissetcollection.com/products/catalog/sale-1005Learn more about Wholesome Wave: https://www.wholesomewave.org/ and Chef Michel Nischan: https://www.chefnischan.com

Michel Nischan grew up working on his grandparent's farm in Missouri and developed a deep appreciation for sustainable agriculture and those who work the land. His passion for healthful cooking supported by a local sustainable food system propelled Michel to the front of the culinary scene. Michel expanded his work into the world of food equity when he founded the non-profit organization, Wholesome Wave, whose mission is to inspire underserved consumers to make healthier food choices by increasing affordable access to fresh, healthful fruits and vegetables. His vision was to catalyze a meaningful shift in food commerce to support local farmers, retailers, and food entrepreneurs through purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables in their home communities.Author of three cookbooks and a director of the Jacques Pepin Foundation, Chef's Collaborative, CIA Advisory Council, Modern Farmer, Good Food Media Network, The National Young Farmers Coalition, and the ReFresh Working Group. The James Beard Foundation honored him with the 2015 Humanitarian of The Year. To learn more about Chef Nischan, follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and visit www.chefnischan.com  For more about Wholesome Wave visit www.wholesomewave.orgPhoto Courtesy of Michel NischanHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Let's Talk About Food by becoming a member!Let's Talk About Food is Powered by Simplecast.

In mid-Summer, although fully vaccinated, Michel and his wife Laurie got Breakthrough Covid after a business trip to Nashville. We had to postpone our original conversation, but when we did connect, Michel shared his experience with us. We were moved. And think you will be too.Tune in for more from Michel on our next episode!Photo Courtesy of Michel NischanHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Let's Talk About Food by becoming a member!Let's Talk About Food is Powered by Simplecast.

On the first episode of The Balance, host Amy Karson speaks with Amy Fiore, Managing Director of Sobel Bixel, and Natalia Feinstein, Chief of Staff at Wholesome Wave, about the importance of and struggles associated with fiscal transparency in the world of nonprofit finance. Amy and Natalia discuss creating a “culture of philanthropy” and the tools they’ve used to facilitate healthy conversations with board members, funders and staff that have led to both increased giving and long term financial stability. Further Resources for this Episode: Amy Karson - CEO of Brand K Partners https://www.brandkpartners.com/ Amy Fiore - Managing Director of Sobel Bixel https://www.sobelbixel.com/ Natalia Feinstein - Chief of Staff at Wholesome Wave https://www.wholesomewave.org/

In this episode of Eat, Drink, Think we're digging into the important issue of Hunger. Unfortunately, it's more timely than ever. Last year saw the first uptick in food insecurity in America in years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our guests are: Ben Perkins, CEO of Wholesome Wave, a national nonprofit working to increase access to healthy food for all. Before joining Wholesome Wave, Ben held leadership roles with the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association. He's also an ordained minister with a master's degree from Harvard Divinity School. Leanne Brown, author of the cookbook Good & Cheap: Eat Well on $4 a Day. The book began as her Master's thesis project in food studies at NYU. She wrote it to help people on a tight budget, especially SNAP recipients. She has always offered the book as a free PDF and it's been downloaded more than 15 million times. Mark Winne is a food activist who's worked on issues related to hunger and nutrition for 50 years. He's an author and a Senior Advisor to the Food Policy Networks Project at the Johns Hopkins University Center for a Livable Future. His most recent book, Food Town USA, explores seven often-overlooked American cities that are now leading the food movement.

Episode 26 In this episode, we speak with Michel Nischan and Ben Perkins about their incredible work with Wholesome Wave (and Wholesome Crave) and their passion for tackling nutrition insecurity and improving access to healthy, locally produced foods. www.connecticut.consciouscapitalism.org www.wholesomewave.org www.wholesomecrave.com

8:45 Get Texts from GoodFoodNM. 16:30 SNAP Double Up Program 21:43 Pandemic EBTDoubling EBT Dollars in NM22:50 FreshRx24:00 Local Food Supply Chain Response Fund 25:35 Wholesome Wave 29:17 Reunity Resources Farm and YouthWorks Collab 34:00 WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program 38:00 NMFMA Newsletter Signup 41:00  95-97% of food grown in New Mexico is exported42:40 Building Soil through Farming Practices 46:43 Structural Racism and Food Insecurity 

Mariel Pica is an operations, restructuring, and marketing consultant from NYC. Through a series of synchronicities and "signs", she has navigated calling off a wedding, aligning with moments that moved her forward, and knowing when to seize an opportunity in front of her even though it might not make sense to anyone else. She currently is the Found Chair of the Junior Board for Wholesome Wave and is now a consultant for them. She also owns, operates and designs for her business the Sprkl Shop. This episode is brought to you by TOP Organic Project organic tampons and sanitary products-  use code "THEDONAS" for 25% off your purchase

He is a chef, author and food equity advocate residing in Fairfield, Connecticut. Michel Nischan has hosted a dinner for the Dalai Lama and owned a restaurant with the late Paul Newman. He is the author of three cookbooks and was honored by the James Beard Foundation as the 2015 “Humanitarian of The Year.” In this episode we discuss his journey into the culinary world and lessons learned working with Hollywood royalty Paul Newman. He is the co-founder of Wholesome Wave, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire underserved consumers to make healthier food choices by increasing affordable access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Enjoy this episode as we go Beyond the Plate… with Chef Michel Nischan.  This episode is brought to you by Wickles Pickles. Check out our merch at BeyondthePlateMerch.com. Follow us on TW, FB & IG: @btplatepodcast / #btplatepodcast

Yoli Ouiya is passionate about sustainability and wellness, and is best known for her eco-lifestyle portal Yoli’s Green Living, which earned her the moniker “Queen of Green” by Black Enterprise Magazine. Her self-professed “first passion,” though, is food, and when COVID struck the world in early 2020, she turned her focus to food equity, co-founding The Food + Wellness Equity Collective. The collective is a diverse group of content creators and entrepreneurs committed to being change agents for equity, diversity, and anti-racism in the food and wellness industries.In this episode, Monica and Steve reminisce with Yoli about their kindred connection when meeting in New York at the 2017 Global Wellness Summit, and how that meeting brought Yoli to the first Biophilic Leadership Summit at Serenbe. They also talk about how Wholesome Wave, SNaP, and Rodale Institute are impacting food policy on local and national levels, how Yoli is changing the face of food and wellness by providing a safe place to talk about food policy issues, and how we can all #sharetheplate.

Executive Director of Wholesome Wave Georgia, Will Sellers, joins Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio to discuss the organization, the impact it has had on metro Atlanta, and several projects currently in the works. Join co-hosts Carol Morgan and Todd Schnick on today's exciting Around Atlanta Radio segment. Sellers is a native to Georgia, with his family history in the Peach State dating back to the early 1900s. Sellers joined Wholesome Wave by pure happenstance. He started working on the city of Atlanta's Urban Accordance in 2013, and opportunities started to follow! “It became a phenomenal opportunity for me,” said Sellers. “I was looking to have an impact, build community and help our neighbors in need. I have a real passion for this kind of work and am always happy to talk about it. I love the work we do at Wholesome Wave.” Wholesome Wave Georgia was founded by a group of five citizens in 2009. After the big recession in 2008, this group of citizens came together and decided it would be beneficial to help their neighbors in need. People who are not necessarily going hungry, but who might not have enough food to make it through the week or month are a target market of Wholesome Wave. With these ideas in mind, the group of citizens began working with Wholesome Wave's corporate office in Connecticut to bring the organization to Georgia. Wholesome Wave Georgia started in the East Atlanta Farmer's Market and has since grown to incorporate more than 60 farmer's markets statewide. Snap recipients, formally known as food stamp recipients, are able to go to a farmer's market in the area and purchase fresh, locally grown food. Not only do these farmer's markets across Georgia accept the Snap cards, but Wholesome Wave doubles the purchasing power of each swipe up to $40 per visit. In 2019, Wholesome Wave was able to participate in over 10,000 EVT transactions. “Many people have the ability to shop where they want to shop and buy what they want to buy,” said Sellers. “The issue with our neighbors in need is when they open a wallet, they have to make a very different food choice. That choice tends to be packaged, high in fat and high in sodium to increase shelf life. Of course, they would love to buy that nice kale or beautiful fresh carrots, but sometimes when they are looking at the bottom line, they have to make a different decision.” Wholesome Wave Georgia doubles the purchasing power of EVT purchases to help families in need make the most of the money they have and continue to make better food decisions. Not only does it help families in the immediate future, but it also helps to instill lifelong healthy habits in children to help counteract several jarring statistics in Atlanta, including: 1/3 of metro Atlantans are obese regardless of income 1/4 children in metro Atlanta live with food insecurity 2/3 adults in metro Atlanta does not consume the recommended two-and-a-half cups of vegetables or fruit per day Another way Wholesome Wave Georgia helps to make the lives of Georgians healthier is by going to neighborhoods and working with key stakeholders, like farmer's markets, to build community. It serves long-term residents by helping establish a sense of community and belonging. The Urban Food Forest in Brown's Mill, the largest food forest in the nation, is a source of pride amongst Atlantans. The Food forest provides a wide variety of fresh produce available to the public. Located in one of Atlanta's many food deserts, or areas without a grocery store within two to three miles of residential areas, the Urban Food Forest is another project Wholesome Wave helps with, in conjunction with Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. To learn more about Wholesome Wave Georgia, how to get involved and the impact of the organization, make sure to listen to the full interview above. You can also visit www.WholesomeWaveGeorgia.org for more information. Never miss an episode of Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio!

Executive Director of Wholesome Wave Georgia, Will Sellers, joins Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio to discuss the organization, the impact it has had on metro Atlanta, and several projects currently in the works. Join co-hosts Carol Morgan and Todd Schnick on today’s exciting Around Atlanta Radio segment. Sellers is a native to Georgia, with his […] The post Healthy, Wholesome and Locally Grown at Wholesome Wave Georgia appeared first on Atlanta Real Estate Forum.

Hey Legends! on Today's episode of the Epic Table Podcast we have Chef Michel Nischan! Chef Nischan is a four time James Beard award winning chef, Co Founder of Wholesome Wave and, Founder - President of Wholesome Crave. Through Wholesome Wave, Chef Nischan pushes positive vibes, is all about making the right nutrient dense fruits and vegetables available at local farmers markets or grocery stores at a reasonable price. In this episode we chat all about Wholesome Wave, and how it all began and we talk about some of the issues revolving around education and government. If you want to learn more about Chef Michel Nischan, you can check out the Wholesome Wave website ( https://www.wholesomewave.org/ ) , Instagram ( @MichelNischan ).

Misty Copeland made history when she became the first African American female principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre, but her ascent to become one of the most iconic dancers of her time wasn't easy. She first found ballet when she was living in a motel room with her single mother and five siblings, practically homeless and lacking food. Having dealt with food insecurity from a young age, Copeland is now a leading voice in the Naked Juice and Wholesome Wave  #DrinkGoodDoGood social media campaign, which aims to bring fresh, high-quality produce to families across the country. I sat down with Copeland to talk about this incredibly important campaign, and we ended up covering a whole lot more, including how she deals with body image issues as a dancer, what balance means to her, and the unconventional approach to meditation that keeps her sane. Whether you're a die-hard Copeland fan or are new to her story, we guarantee you'll walk away inspired. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail podcast@mindbodygreen.com. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail sales@mindbodygreen.com. Want to join our podcast email newsletter? Sign up here!

John Legend is, well, a legend in his time. The youngest and the first black man to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony award (the coveted EGOT), Legend is also husband to internet sensation and cookbook author Chrissy Teigen and dad to Miles and Luna. It was the birth of his two children that first inspired Legend to think more deeply about the plight of other, less fortunate children in the US and around the world, which led to partnering with Naked Juice and Wholesome Wave as part of their #DrinkGoodDoGood social media campaign—which aims to increase access to healthy food by donating produce to food insecure areas. I sat down with Legend to talk about the initiative. We also discussed his own personal healthy habits, how he stays fit even with a hectic travel schedule, and how being a parent has changed him as a person. This episode is a must-listen if you're interested in knowing more about the man behind the beautiful music. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail podcast@mindbodygreen.com. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail sales@mindbodygreen.com. Want to join our podcast email newsletter? Sign up here!

Do you know the #1 cause of death in America? It is not what you think - our diet has surpassed smoking as a cause of death. Michel Nischan, chef and Founder, President and CEO of Wholesome Wave, and Lindsey Seegers, Program Manager of Nutrition Education at Manna Food Center in Montgomery County, MD know that food-related disease is both deadly and preventable. They join Share Our Strength founders Debbie and Billy Shore to explain some promising ways they are addressing the root causes of diet-related diseases. “We spend about $1.4 trillion a year on diet-related disease,” says Nischan. Yet the economic disparities of a disease like Type 2 Diabetes are stark. “I learned that the majority of the people that struggle with that condition lived at income levels so low they couldn’t even afford the basic ingredients to help them prevent the disease in the first place.” Seegers works with thousands of families in Montgomery County on nutritious eating. “Healthy eating is not just for the rich,” she stresses. “What parents want so much is to feed their children well – they want the best for their kids. The challenge is to be able to afford adequate and enough wholesome staple foods.”Both guests believe that systemic changes are needed to impact health outcomes, and they are making real progress. Seegers’ work at Manna Food Center focuses on nutrition education – not just food distribution – to help families learn how to identify and afford healthy foods on a budget. They are also launching a retrofitted school bus that serves as a mobile kitchen and pop-up pantry. Wholesome Wave began a 2-for-1 program for buying fruits and vegetables with SNAP food stamps with private funding which grew into a federally-funded program in the Farm Bill called the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) Grant Program with $100M over 5 years. Nischan did not predict the success of the model. “However complicated the root causes are, something as simplistic as providing affordability thru incentives can be so powerful – it’s mindboggling.” FINI has also had larger economic impacts because farmers whose produce is purchased through the program are responding to this increased demand by making infrastructural improvements and expanding their enterprises.These food justice leaders also discuss the recent threats to the SNAP food stamp program and the effect that cuts would have on families and the economy. “Food is where people are going to cut when things get really tight,” reports Seegers, which means that preventing diet-related disease will be even more difficult. “It’s just wrongheaded,” says Nischan. He cites the return on investment of giving people access to healthy food vs. paying for expensive health care treatments like dialysis. “$100 thousand dollars saves $4 million dollars.”

On Episode 19 of Sourcing Matters we welcome well known chef, and SNAP reformer Michel Nischan to the show.  This 4-time James Beard award winning chef is founder and President/CEO of Wholesome Wave.  As a long-time advocate of better food and proper production, Nischan has dedicated most of his career to fixing a broken system through transitioning intrinsic domestic focus from energy production to nutrient dense sustenance for more.  Nischan's efforts have been nothing but transformative in enacting lasting change throughout the US food system, and in the mind's eye of its consumers. Through the creation of successful programs like the doubling of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP/ food stamps) benefits on healthy & nutritious foods, and the Produce Prescription program - Nischan has taken firm control of a political football and is now responsible for reforming a significant part of our national farm bill policy.  Additionally, in conjunction with the James Beard foundation, Nischan worked extensively with Eric Kessler to spawn the "Chef's Boot Camps".  Another successful venture which promotes ongoing reform, this initiative encourages civically and politically minded chefs to become more effective leaders for food-system change.  With a thousand of tomorrow's food leaders waiting at the door to gain access to the boot camps, Nischan's impact will persist for generations to come. The entire hour of our conversation is well worth a listen.  But, if you have only 10 minutes to lend an ear - tune-in to hear the power of Michel's words and the emotional description of his dear friends Paul Newman and Gus Schumacher.  Both influential allies; both impressive leaders; both iconoclasts who've have disrupted by leaving this place much better than they had found it. During the conversation Michel Nischan defines food as the "silver bullet" needed to engage more folks into their environmental footprint, and to the negative consequences of shortcuts used in production have on human and public health.  He explains that the food we eat is an unparalleled opportunity to democratize complex conversations in systems thinking.  As we're all eaters, and eating is an agricultural act - we can all connect by breaking this bread together. A inspirational leader, and an agent of change - Michel Nischan has levered his stardom to change the world for the better through his medium of food. And, what's even better - he's only just begun.   www.SourcingMatters.show    

Tom Colicchio is the chef & owner of Crafted Hospitality, which currently owns and operates restaurants in NY, LA, and Las Vegas. Colicchio is the Head Judge & Executive Producer of Bravo’s “Top Chef.” He is a long-standing social& political activist when it comes to increasing access and affordability to nutritious food for all Americans. He & his restaurants give back to the community by helping other organizations such as Children of Bellevue, City Harvest, Wholesome Wave & more.

Dana Cowin served as Editor in Chief of Food and Wine Magazine for over 21 years. She is an author, tastemaker, lecturer, mentor and talent scout. Dana was inducted into the James Beard Foundation in 2012 for "Who's Who in Food and Beverage in America". Dana hosts Speaking Broadly on The Heritage Radio Network. She is a board member for City Harvest, Hot Bread Kitchen, and Wholesome Wave. The Grape Nation is powered by Simplecast

Do you know the #1 cause of death in America? It is not what you think - our diet has surpassed smoking as a cause of death. Michel Nischan, chef and Founder, President and CEO of Wholesome Wave, and Lindsey Seegers, Program Manager of Nutrition Education at Manna Food Center in Montgomery County, MD know that food-related disease is both deadly and preventable. They join Share Our Strength founders Debbie and Billy Shore to explain some promising ways they are addressing the root causes of diet-related diseases. “We spend about $1.4 trillion a year on diet-related disease,” says Nischan. Yet the economic disparities of a disease like Type 2 Diabetes are stark. “I learned that the majority of the people that struggle with that condition lived at income levels so low they couldn’t even afford the basic ingredients to help them prevent the disease in the first place.” Seegers works with thousands of families in Montgomery County on nutritious eating. “Healthy eating is not just for the rich,” she stresses. “What parents want so much is to feed their children well – they want the best for their kids. The challenge is to be able to afford adequate and enough wholesome staple foods.”Both guests believe that systemic changes are needed to impact health outcomes, and they are making real progress. Seegers’ work at Manna Food Center focuses on nutrition education – not just food distribution – to help families learn how to identify and afford healthy foods on a budget. They are also launching a retrofitted school bus that serves as a mobile kitchen and pop-up pantry. Wholesome Wave began a 2-for-1 program for buying fruits and vegetables with SNAP food stamps with private funding which grew into a federally-funded program in the Farm Bill called the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) Grant Program with $100M over 5 years. Nischan did not predict the success of the model. “However complicated the root causes are, something as simplistic as providing affordability thru incentives can be so powerful – it’s mindboggling.” FINI has also had larger economic impacts because farmers whose produce is purchased through the program are responding to this increased demand by making infrastructural improvements and expanding their enterprises.These food justice leaders also discuss the recent threats to the SNAP food stamp program and the effect that cuts would have on families and the economy. “Food is where people are going to cut when things get really tight,” reports Seegers, which means that preventing diet-related disease will be even more difficult. “It’s just wrongheaded,” says Nischan. He cites the return on investment of giving people access to healthy food vs. paying for expensive health care treatments like dialysis. “$100 thousand dollars saves $4 million dollars.”

Last week's episode of Special Sauce ended with Michel Nischan and I discussing his groundbreaking restaurant, Heartbeat, and his efforts to serve food that was healthy and actually delicious. This week we pick up where we left off and talk about how leaving Heartbeat led to Michel becoming a trailblazing sustainable food consultant for major airlines, hotel groups, and corporations looking to develop healthier menus by sourcing better, organic ingredients.  It was this consulting work that led him to develop a friendship and partnership with the late actor, entrepreneur, and activist, Paul Newman, with whom he operated the former farm-to-table Dressing Room Restaurant in Westport, CT.  Michel and Newman hit it off, in part, because Michel hadn't seen any of his movies. "One day he finally said, 'Have you seen any of my movies?' I said, 'I've seen Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.'" Newman looked at him a moment and then replied, "I knew I liked you for a reason." Newman also served as the catalyst for Michel to found his remarkable nonprofit, Wholesome Wave, the goal of which is to increase access to healthy, locally and regionally grown food in underserved communities. Michel discusses the nonprofit's remarkable growth, and describes—with much-deserved pride—its accomplishments, like influencing the 2014 Farm Bill for the better. There's a whole lot more to our discussion, including Michel's thoughts on ways to get involved in fighting for iamportant food policy issues, and of course the usual grab-bag of Special Sauce questions. I do hope you listen; Michel is doing admirable work.

This week on Special Sauce, I have as my guest my old friend, Michel Nischan, the three-time James Beard award-winning chef, author, and food equity advocate. Michel's a busy guy. Between his work as the founder and CEO of Wholesome Wave, which aims to increase affordable, healthy food access for underserved consumers, and his work with the Chef's Action Network, which he co-founded, he doesn't have a lot of free time, so I'm delighted that he had the time to join me. Michel has had a long and storied career, so we've broken up the interview into two parts. This week we focus on his origins, and how he went from being a broke, teenager playing music with some legendary names–think The Edgar Winter Band and Rick Derringer–to becoming a kind of savant line cook, due to ample exposure to good cooking at home. At his first job at a truck stop diner, he took one look at the griddle and all the breakfast meats and proposed to the owner that they make biscuits and gravy from scratch. "The guy thought I was stoned or something." From there, he worked his way through a number of kitchens in the late 1970s and the '80s, moving every time he was given an incremental wage increase. "Two bucks more an hour in 1979 is like, wow. Sold." But it wasn't until he started cooking at Heartbeat in New York City that he connected all the disparate elements of his life and career and began producing food that was way ahead of its time; healthy, yet still tasty. I do hope you take the time to listen to Michel's incredible story–particularly since he embodies the ideal of chefs who care about the people they cook for. And this week is just about his restaurant career; next week we'll get into how he's trying change the world.

This week's guest on Open Mic is Michel Nischan, CEO and Founder of Wholesome Wave, and an award-winning chef. The USDA announced a second amount of funding for the nonprofit to expand its healthy food initiative into areas of Connecticut and Vermont. The $500,000 was awarded through the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive Program, enabling SNAP program participants to buy more locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables. The program means better nutrition for consumers and increased opportunities for local farmers. In this interview, Chef Nischan shares his vision for the power of food to improve personal health, his thoughts on improving diets with fresh as well as frozen vegetables, and his ideas for the future of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.Jeff NalleyWholesome Wave CEO Michel Nischan

Michel Nischan is a three-time James Beard Award winning chef with over 30 years of experience advocating for a more healthful, sustainable food system. He is Founder and CEO of Wholesome Wave, Co-Founder of the Chefs Action Network, as well as Founder and Partner with the late actor Paul Newman of the former Dressing Room Restaurant. Nischan has successfully influenced legislative language for the recently passed Federal Farm Bill, supporting affordable access to healthy, locally grown fruits and vegetables for low income consumers and is the author of three cookbooks. Today we discuss how food is the most important factor in your personal health.

Today we give you this conversation with Chef Michel Nischan, CEO and President of Wholesome Wave, a Connecticut-based organization that assists underserved urban and rural communities in 33 states and D.C. with connecting to local agriculture for equitable access to affordable, locally grown foods. He speaks about his philosophies around food, fireflies, and the inspiration of his elders.

Over the past few weeks, you’ve probably seen plenty of your favorite social media personalities post a photo of themselves with a fruit or veggie and hashtagging it #DrinkGoodDoGood. Wondering what that’s all about? Let us explain. Nearly 24 million Americans live in food deserts and don’t have access to affordable, quality, fresh fruits and vegetables. But Naked Juice is trying to help change this. For the third year in a row, Naked Juice is partnering with Wholesome Wave – an organization that helps create affordable access to fresh, local and regional food to those in need – to provide fresh produce where there is none. So every time someone posts a “fruit selfie” with the #DrinkGoodDoGood hashtag, Naked Juice will donate the equivalent of 10 pounds of produce to neighbors in need — up to 500,000 pounds in total through October 15. To help raise awareness, Naked Juice and Wholesome Wave are teaming up with local ambassadors across the country to help shine a light on the issue of food deserts. Among the ambassadors joining the effort are Wholesome Wave board member and D.C.-based chef Jose Andres, musician Common, Los Angeles chef Michael Voltaggio and San Francisco chef Tyler Florence. In Miami, this cause hits close to home affecting nearly 250,000 Miami-Dade county residents. That’s enough people to line Ocean Drive over 36 times. Locally, the campaign has tapped chef ambassadors, CENA by Michy’s Michelle Bernstein and Alter’s Brad Kilgore, to help get the word out. In the video above check out Brad discussing the campaign and why the cause is important to him.

Get a behind the scenes look at the work Michel Nischan does with Wholesome Wave on a brand new episode of All in the Industry with Shari Bayer! As the son of displaced farmers, Michel Nischan, CEO, Founder and President of Wholesome Wave, grew up with a great appreciation for local agriculture and those who work the land. He translated these childhood values into a career as a James Beard Award-winning chef, author and restaurateur, becoming a catalyst for change in the sustainable food movement. An Ashoka Fellow, Michel serves on the Board of Trustees for the James Beard Foundation, The Rodale Institute and the Advisory Board for Chefs Collaborative. This program was brought to you by Heritage Foods USA. “Almost 20 million Americans are pre-diabetic or have indicators that will lead to some kind of heart disease or diabetes.” [19:00] “Under served consumers are a powerful force. When the encounter affordability they become a powerful market force.” [21:00] “I think everything is solvable through food and I think more people want good food than one would assume.” [24:00] –Michel Nischan on All in the Industry

Chef Michel Nischan, Co-Founder and CEO/President of Wholesome Wave, is leading a movement to provide fresh, healthy, locally grown food to under-served communities in the USA. The son of a farming family and father to 2 sons with Type 1 diabetes, Michel knows the benefits of eating freshly prepared, nutritious meals. With nearly 30 million American lacking access to healthy, affordable foods Wholesome Wave's network of nutrition incentive programs is helping to eradicate food insecurity.This show is broadcast live on W4CY Radio – (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (http://www.talk4radio.com/) on the Talk 4 Media Network http://www.talk4media.com/).

This week on Eating Matters, host Kim Kessler is talking with Gus Schumacher, Vice President and Founding Board Chair of Wholesome Wave. Wholesome Wave is a national nonprofit that is helping to reshape the American food system by putting entrepreneurial, innovative thinking to work. The organization partners with farmers and farmers markets, community leaders, healthcare providers, like-minded nonprofits and government entities to implement programs that increase affordable access to healthy, locally grown fruit and vegetables for consumers in underserved communities. Gus discusses how the organization began, their mission, highlights from their work, as well as the change they hope to see come about concerning hunger and agricultural issues in the future. This program was brought to you by Cain Vineyard & Winery. “I think with the data that we’ve seen so far doctors are very enthused about the program [Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program]. They now have something to say to a family, not just to hand them medicine to help reduce diabetes but they have a fruit and vegetable prescription for the family as a unit.” [25:00] “With 10 to 13 million Americans now insured through the Healthcare Act, that hospitals are now turning to wellness and prevention.” [29:00] —Gus Schumacher on Eating Matters

Chef Michael Bloise is using his noodle -- literally. He's behind the concept of South Florida's American Noodle Bar; Chef Michel Nischan, the founder of Wholesome Wave, is bringing some needed fresh, locally grown produce to the nation's "food deserts."

Fun show jammin with great information - from news on an inter-collegiate recycling contest from our GD Sarah in Colorado Springs to lots of good news from Chef Michel Nischan who is busy with his organization, Wholesome Wave, making sure everyone has access to healthy, whole foods.