Category: Uncategorized

WHY WE WALK

Posted on by Alissa Vandenbark

MANNA is excited to participate in the AIDS Walk Philly 5k as a returning partner organization. This Sunday, the MANNAmals are joining thousands of our neighbors to raise money and awareness for HIV/AIDS. We hope you will join us as well.

Each year The AIDS Fund sponsors the Walk and other activities that support AIDS service providers in the Philadelphia Region that provide AIDS and HIV-related services, education, and prevention including increasing public awareness of HIV/AIDS issues. This includes support of MANNA’s work to nourish people with HIV/AIDS.

Team MANNA knows that the awareness and funds raised at the Walk will help over 30,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the Philadelphia region, some of whom are MANNA’s clients. You should know that contributions made through our team directly help MANNA continue to prepare and deliver meals to those living with HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses in Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey.

Why We Walk

Supporting those touched by HIV/AIDS is important to all of us at MANNA.  In 1990, when MANNA was founded members of the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, our mission was to comfort people suffering from AIDS at a time when ignorance and negative stigma was at its height. Often shunned and isolated from family and friends, MANNA was often the only source of support and care our clients knew. We will never forget those days and will continue to serve and support people with HIV/AIDS as long as there is a need.

Like MANNA, the AIDS Fund has remained committed to the philosophy that by coming together, each individual can make a difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS in our community. We are extremely grateful to have them as a partner. In addition to their financial support, volunteers from the AIDS Fund support our Pie in the Sky fundraiser, helping to sell pies and working during the distribution to ensure that every pie makes it to the proper Thanksgiving table. MANNA supports the AIDS Fund’s commitment to conquering HIV/AIDS in our communities and hope you will join us.

#whyiwalk

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Nutrition and Healing

Posted on by Alissa Vandenbark

As the evidence mounts in support of nutrition being a key facet of health care, one progressive hospital has actually begun funding its own nutrition services for discharged patients. Carney Hospital in Boston, in response to penalties for high readmission, hired City Fresh Foods to deliver free meals to patients at particular nutritional risk. The hospital knew that doctors were advising patients on what kinds of diets they needed to eat in order to recover from their illnesses, but high readmission rates proved that this advice was simply not being heeded in the home. Lifestyle changes are difficult, especially those pertaining to diet, and this new program assists patients to succeed by providing them with some of the food that they need.

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This is not a new concept; at MANNA, we deliver medically-tailored meals to patients to prevent hospital readmissions and help with the healing process. In Boston, Community Servings does similar work, and in cities around the country other organizations exist with likeminded missions. However, what is happening at Carney Hospital is new, because of who is footing the bill. At MANNA, Community Servings, and other similar organizations, the funding comes from a variety of sources including fundraising efforts, private donors, and grants. However, in this case Carney Hospital is paying for the meal service. This makes it far more sustainable and expandable, because the funding source also gains the cost savings, while at MANNA the financial beneficiaries are external entities like hospitals and insurance companies. MANNA doesn’t save money for itself by helping clients, but Carney Hospital will. Therefore, the financial capacity limitations that MANNA and other similar organizations operate under disappear when hospitals and insurance companies start supporting the savings that nutrition earns.

MANNA’s research proves that home delivered medically-tailored meals save money for insurance companies, patients, and hospitals. This is one of the first cases of a hospital using this evidence to start an initiative that will save it money and reduce readmission rates. We are excited to see all of the good that will come from Carney’s program, and hope that other hospitals will follow suit. MANNA, Community Servings, and other organizations around the country already exist and are skilled at designing and providing medically-tailored diets. Through partnerships with the organizations that receive the cost savings when patients receive these services, these organizations will be able to serve many more people, and have a much larger impact on their communities.

This post is by Kelly McGlynn, rising senior at Brown University and former Advocacy & Health Policy Intern at MANNA.

Seasonal Vegetarian-Friendly Recipe

Posted on by Alissa Vandenbark

In honor of Vegetarian Awareness Month, MANNA would like to share with you a vegetarian friendly recipe that is simple to make and delicious.  Reducing your meat intake has a number of health benefits including reducing your risk of hypertension, heart disease and diabetes.  There are many ways to get the necessary protein requirements into your diet that do not include animal products.  The recipe below features black beans which are a great source of both protein and fiber.  In less than 30 minutes you will have a delicious entrée that supports your health and satisfies your taste buds!Smoky_Black_Bean_and_Butternut_Ragout-458x326

Smoky Black Bean and Butternut Ragoût

Ingredients:

1 tsp. fresh lime juice

3 tsp. pure maple syrup, divided

1 Tbs. unsalted butter

2 Tbs. olive oil, divided

1 lb. peeled butternut squash, cut into ½-inch dice (4 cups)

1 small yellow onion, cut into medium dice (½ cup)

2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)

1 15.5-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 tsp. adobo sauce from can of chipotles in adobo

⅓ cup crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese

2–3 Tbs. chopped or whole cilantro or mint leaves

¼ cup toasted pepitas or toasted chopped pecans, optional

 

Preparation:

  1. Combine lime juice and 1 tsp. maple syrup in small bowl. Set aside.
  2. Heat butter and 1 Tbs. oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add squash, and season with salt, if desired. Cover pan, and cook 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover pan, add onion, and increase heat to medium-high. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, or until squash is tender and lightly browned. Remove from heat, and gently stir in lime-maple mixture.
  3. Heat remaining 1 Tbs. oil in medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add garlic, and cook 30 seconds, or until softened and fragrant. Add beans, adobo sauce, remaining 2 tsp. maple syrup, and 1/4 cup water. Bring mixture to a simmer, and cook 5 to 6 minutes, or until liquid is mostly absorbed.
  4. Gently stir together bean mixture and squash. Serve garnished with queso fresco, cilantro, and pepitas (if using).

 

Source: www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/smoky-black-bean-and-butternut-ragout/

October is Vegetarian Awareness Month

Posted on by Alissa Vandenbark

Even for non-vegetarians, October is a great time to take an extra moment or two to reflect on personal food choices. What we eat affects our health as well as the planet in significant ways. Every meal matters when it comes to making a difference.  One way to start small with your veg journey is to start with one vegetarian night a week, “Meatless Mondays.” Try to challenge yourself, friends and family to eliminate meat from your Monday meals by creating an entirely vegetarian breakfast, lunch and dinner. Even MANNA clients can participate in this vegetarian endeavor, we offer one vegetarian dinner entrée per week in addition to a large variety of fruit and vegetables with their meals.

There are several reasons to think about vegetarianism. For starters, it is a great way to focus on eating veggies. Five a day is the goal, and more is even better!  All MANNA meals strive to emphasize fresh fruits and vegetables.  Combined with exercise and other healthy habits, plant-based diets can reduce the risk of hypertension, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. Also, vegetables, fruits and legumes tend to be very nutrient dense and are full of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals.  A vegetarian diet can also help double down on fiber and then some, the average American gets only about 12g of the 35 g. of fiber per day that is recommended.

 

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Curious to learn more about the health benefits of a vegetarian diet? Or just looking for some ideas? Try these resources:

www.vrg.org/nutrition or www.vegetariantimes.com

Need another reason to picks beans instead of burgers in October? Do it for the planet!  Vegetarian diets require less water for production and produce less CO2 as a byproduct.  On a nationwide scale, this really adds up.  For more information on the environmental effects of meat production, check out the article below.

www.science.time.com/2013/12/16/the-triple-whopper-environmental-impact-of-global-meat-production/

Food is Medicine: A Growing Belief

Posted on by Alissa Vandenbark

Despite its humble beginnings, the “food as medicine” principle that MANNA’s system is based on is finally beginning to be recognized and acted on by our policymakers. A fact sheet published in July by the Union of Concerned Scientists reports that the new Farm Bill includes a program that will use healthy food access to help prevent chronic illnesses and reduce medical costs.

The report comments that the American diet, typically high in meats, sugars, and processed foods and low in fresh fruits and vegetables, has led to the highest spending in health care of any country in the world. Most of our medical spending is on chronic illnesses, many of which could be prevented by improved diets. However, prevention and treatment is not as simple as just telling people to change their diets. The U.S. food system makes it very difficult for many people to access healthy foods, given that most low-income communities lack stores that sell fresh fruits and vegetables, and those that do often sell them at unaffordable prices.

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The 2014 Farm Bill begins to address this problem with a program called the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI), which offers grant funding to community organizations working to secure affordable access to healthy foods. FINI requires that organizations match these federal funds with contributions from other sources. The report by the Union of Concerned Scientists suggests hospitals supply the match, using The Affordable Care Act requirement for community benefit initiatives. FINI provides the opportunity for health care facilities and healthy food initiatives to collaborate, all in the name of improving health and reducing health care costs.

At MANNA, we support initiatives like this that break down the perceived barrier between health care and food. While MANNA is not a preventative service that would fit under FINI, we do work in the same realm, using food as an integral part of a treatment plan. Healthy food is critical to a healthy life and we hope to see more progressive legislation in the future that builds on the understanding that food is medicine.

This post is by Kelly McGlynn, rising senior at Brown University and former Advocacy & Health Policy Intern at MANNA.

Spreading Hope and Education

Posted on by Alissa Vandenbark

MANNA recently partnered with Camp Dreamcatcher for an education event. The event took place on August 19, 2014 at Camp Saginaw in Oxford, PA.  The week-long summer camp was created for youth infected/affected by HIV/AIDS.  This year, Camp Dreamcatcher invited MANNA’s Registered Dietitian, Alura Costa, to teach an interactive nutrition workshop.  Alura partnered with Carly Roop, a Registered Dietitian from Joan Karnell Cancer Center, to develop a class to educate the campers on healthy eating specifically focusing on diabetes and heart disease, two chronic illnesses that can be prevented and controlled through healthy eating and exercise.

Alura and Carly showed the campers how to read and understand important nutrition information on nutrition labels so that they can make healthy food choices for themselves.  They focused on healthy serving sizes, calories and sugars of foods that are commonly found in corner stores and how to find healthy options.  The campers then participated in making delicious, homemade yogurt popsicles using ingredients that you can easily find already in the home including greek yogurt and fruit.  At the end of the session, the campers were able to identify healthy food options and enjoy their delicious popsicles!

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Supporting Camp Dreamcatcher is important to MANNA since we started out as an HIV/AIDS organization and continue to serve and support that population.  As nutrition educators, we must take advantage of any opportunity to reach out to the youth in our community to provide them with the education and skills that they need so that they can lead a long and healthy life.  This year’s Camp Dreamcatcher event was a huge success!  To learn more about Camp Dreamcatcher and the children whose lives have been touched by HIV/AIDS please visit www.campdreamcatcher.org.

 

 

SUMMER FOOD SAFETY

Posted on by Alissa Vandenbark

Light up the grill – summer is officially here!   During these months of grilling fun, MANNA wants to help keep your family and friends safe from foodborne illnesses with these simple food safety practices.  Remember! Food safety is a TOP priority at MANNA because many of our clients have compromised immune systems.

  1. Practice good hygiene and wash your hands before eating, preparing food, or between foods that would cross contaminate such as red meat and fresh vegetables. Always wash hands with warm soapy water for at least 20 seconds.
  2. Marinate your food in the refrigerator to prevent bacteria from growing.   Always reserve a portion of unused marinade to brush on food while it is cooking. Never re-use marinade that was used to flavor raw meat, poultry or fish.
  3. Preheat your grill approximately 20-30 minutes before grilling. For charcoal grills, the coals should be just coated with ash.
  4. Use a food thermometer to ensure that food is cooked to the proper temperatures.
  5. Food should never sit at room temperature for more than two hours. Use chafing dishes, slow cookers, and warming trays to keep hot food hot. Keep cold foods cold by nesting them in bowls of ice or rotating items into the refrigerator/freezer.

Grilled Vegetable Kebabs

kebabs

Ingredients:

  • 10 (12-inch) wooden skewers
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 chopped fresh basil
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 red onion cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces
  • 1 yellow bell pepper cut into 1 ½-inch pieces
  • 1 pound Chinese or baby eggplant cut into ¾-inch slices
  • 3 small zucchini, cut into ¾-inch slices
  • 20 grape or cherry tomatoes

Directions:

-Soak the skewers in water for 30 minutes.

-Whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, basil, garlic, kosher salt, and black pepper.

-Thread vegetables onto skewers.

-Brush vegetables generously with marinade.

-Grill, covered with lid over medium-high heat. Turn occasionally. Cook 10-12 minutes or until tender.

AIDS Education Month

Posted on by Alissa Vandenbark

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Did you know?  The majority of AIDS cases in MANNA’s 9 county service area are in Philadelphia.

 
Did you know?  As of 2012 there are more than 19,800 Philadelphians living with HIV/AIDS.

 
Did you know?  HIV/AIDS ranks in the top 3 diseases of MANNA clients.

 

Nutrition plays a vital role for individuals who are infected by HIV. They may suffer from decreased nutritional status caused by poor nutrient intake, malabsorption, metabolic disturbances and side effects of medications. It is extremely important for people infected with HIV to maintain proper nutrition to keep their immune system strong, enabling them to better fight the disease. To prevent muscle wasting and weight loss, it is recommended that individuals diagnosed with HIV/AIDS increase their protein and calorie intake. A few examples of foods that are high calorie and high protein include peanut butter, eggs, dairy products, red meat and poultry. In addition, food safety is extremely important for individuals who have compromised immune systems. It’s imperative to avoid foods that are high-risk, including raw eggs, unpasteurized products, raw meat or fish and unwashed fruits or vegetables. A healthy diet combined with exercise may help with symptoms such as fatigue, metabolic abnormalities and maintaining a healthy weight.

This June, marks the 20th anniversary of AIDS Education Month (AEM), hosted by Philadelphia Fight.  MANNA registered dietitian Alura Costa will be speaking about HIV and nutrition at the 4th Annual Faith Leaders and Community Summit on June 7 from 8 AM to 2 PM at the Marriott Hotel located on 1202 Market Street. Workshops at this event include pastoral self-care, prayer as healing, women, faith and HIV, teen pregnancy and HIV and more.  Learn more about the events offered through AEM during the month of June at http://www.aidseducationmonth.org/about/.

Soups On!

Posted on by Alissa Vandenbark

There is no healthier and more delicious way to stay warm than with a hot bowl of soup! Soups are a great way to be adventurous and incorporate new and different, nutrient-rich vegetables and grains all in one bowl. Soup 2014

The history of soup dates back to the beginning of cooking. When food was scarce, combining various ingredients that were seasonally available into a bowl and heating it was a cheap way to provide for a quick, nutrient-rich meal.

Today, soups come in many different varieties: canned, microwave-ready, portable and even dehydrated. However, these convenient soups can often be high in sodium which can cause a serious health risk to those with high blood pressure and heart disease. Your first choice when purchasing canned soups should be brands that are low sodium.

MANNA nutritionists suggest reducing the sodium content in canned soups by draining a portion of the broth and replacing it with water before heating the soup. You can also try adding extra vegetables or grains to canned soups to increase the fiber and nutrient content. The best way to control the amount of sodium in soup is to cook your own from scratch.

Try to use seasonal ingredients such as kale, leeks, winter squash, potatoes, and parsnips.  Consider adding whole grains such as barley, bulgur and quinoa to provide flavor, fiber and nutrients. One cup of these grains can contain up to 6 grams of fiber, up to 10 grams of protein, and plenty of B vitamins and folic acid.

Here are a few more tips from the MANNA kitchen to yours:
• Use a blender to puree beans, potatoes, or other vegetables to act as a thickening agent rather than adding cream which is high in fat and cholesterol.
• Use low-sodium broths if you are using broths purchased in a store.
• Looking for flavor? Try adding herbs and spices instead of salt.
• After preparation, the soup can be refrigerated to allow fat to harden and skimmed off the top to lower the fat content as well as calories.

MANNA will be kicking off Souper Bowl 2014 this month. We will be selling our Chicken Noodle, Creamy Corn Chowder and Minestrone – all made from fresh ingredients and cooked in our MANNA kitchen. Soups go on sale January 1st and will be available for pickup at MANNA. For more info, or to order, please visit www.mannapa.org

MANNA Pie – taking the Eagles to V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

Posted on by Alissa Vandenbark
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Some have a lucky penny, a rabbit’s foot – the Philadelphia Eagles have MANNA PIE!  Gooey, sweet, delicious MANNA Pecan pie to be exact.   WIP’s Angelo Cataldi credits last week’s Eagles victory  to MANNA pies!  Pie Man visited WIP with the delicious treat that took the Eagles to victory over the Packers.  Every MANNA pie sold is a victory for the many critically-sick neighbor MANNA nourishes – each pie provides a neighbor with a bountiful Thanksgiving meal (enough to share!).

MANNA pies are selling fast!  Buy yours now to ensure that you have Greater Philadelphia’s WINNINGEST dessert on your Thanksgiving Table!

Pie, MANNA Pie! Get your pie at www.mannapies.org