New England Celebrates Nutrition Month with Local Foods

by Jen Obadia

Laurence + Memorial Hospital's farmers market, New London, CTDid you know local food tends to be more nutritious? Healthy Food in Health Care (HFHC) and Practice Greenhealth are celebrating Nutrition Month by helping facilities explore the vast potential for human and environmental health of food produced in their regions.

Sponsored by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, National Nutrition Month is an annual education campaign encouraging healthy and informed eating choices and habits. Nourished by New England, a regional initiative of HFHC, is helping healthcare facilities in New England observe Nutrition Month by serving regionally grown foods. In New England that means locally harvested seafood such as haddock, and apples and carrots which are grown throughout the region; but healthcare facilities all over the country can find ways to incorporate local foods particular to their regions in their menus. 

Why celebrate Nutrition Month by serving local? Here are five ways local food supports both human and environmental health:

  1. Food picked when ripe and eaten within days of harvest is at peak nutrient density. Since local food travels shorter distances, it often reaches the table sooner than food grown further away.
  2. When farmers are invested in their community—and the community is invested in its farmers— they are more likely to adopt better stewardship practices, which may improve water, soil, and air quality. 
  3. Purchasing local food keeps money in the local economy and builds community wealth. A 2014 study by researchers at the University of Vermont found that for every dollar UVM Medical Center (formerly Fletcher Allen) spent on local food an additional $0.98 was added to the state’s economy.
  4. In the face of uncertainties from climate change, resource scarcities, and political conflict, a strong local food system can guard against food shortages.
  5. It tastes good; which may increase the likelihood that those veggies are eaten.

Over 25 facilities from all six states have already registered to participate in Nourished by New England. They range from small rural facilities in Northern Maine to large urban hospitals in downtown Boston. New England facilities are invited to register to join their colleagues in a local celebration of health and nutrition—and health care facilities everywhere are encouraged to explore the nutritional potential of local fare.


Jen Obadia is the Eastern Region Director of Health Care Without Harm's Healthy Food in Health Care program