Tag Archives: farmers market

DHEC Celebrates National Nutrition Month

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By Betsy Crick
midlands

March is National Nutrition Month and here at DHEC, we are celebrating healthy eating with food demonstrations and fresh local produce.  In Central Office, members of our WIC and SNAP teams recently provided three separate 30-minute engaging food demonstrations using fresh produce from our new mobile Farmers Market service, provided by Jumper Farm.

In addition, the Pee Dee Region recently hosted a Lunch and Learn at the Florence Health Department, with 31 people in attendance.  Two registered dietitian staff from the region provided recipes for multiple meals, and also discussed ways to reduce sodium, fat and calories with just a few small changes.

Eating healthy not only feeds your body, it feeds your mind.  To find healthy options near you, check out letsgosc.org.

Mobile Farmers Market Schedule for Central Office:

Sims/Aycock Building
Begins at 1:30 p.m. on Mondays

Mills/Jarrett Building
Begins at 2:30 p.m. on Mondays

Columbia Mills Building
Begins at 1:30 p.m. on Fridays

WIC Farmers Market Program

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By Jamie Shuster

The WIC Farmers Market program is an important part of our obesity prevention efforts here in South Carolina. The voucher program helps low-income women and children access fresh, locally-grown produce, and encourages them to incorporate more fruits and vegetables in their daily diets.

Each year about 15,000 South Carolina WIC participants receive $25 in vouchers to redeem at participating farmers markets and farm stands in their communities between June and early October. To encourage participation in the program, many of our local public health clinics are highlighting the farmers market program in their WIC nutrition education classes.

Below is a photo from a healthy snack tasting lesson that two of our nutrition education specialists, La’Quashia Emerson and Ariel Bellamy, recently held for WIC clients at our Conway Health Department.

Ariel and La’Quashia showed participants how to keep and store fresh fruits and vegetables, and shared their experiences in shopping at the local farmers market. Continue reading →