Food is often at the center of connection. Food connects us to our cultures, our communities, our families and our friends. Whether celebrating a significant milestone with a special meal or catching up over coffee and pastry with a friend, food often marks an occasion and makes time together more memorable.
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recognizes the significance of food in connection with the theme of this year’s National Nutrition Month: Food Connects Us. Initiated in 1973, National Nutrition Month invites us to consider the food choices we make and develop healthy habits for our overall well-being.
This year’s National Nutrition Month weekly messages include ways to consider the food that connects us by exploring the connection with food and culture and reminders to consider where our food comes from.
Call out: Sharing a meal is an opportunity to learn about its preparation, including who made it and where the ingredients were sourced.
The Culture Connection
Jasmine Westbrooks-Figaro, a dietitian, diabetes educator and co-founder and director at Eat Well Exchange, has made the food and culture connection the focus of her career. “Food is often a significant part of our identity, there is a person or a story behind the foods we enjoy.”
Through her work with the Exchange, she teaches communities how to eat healthy based on their cultural foods through nutrition education. “There is often a disconnect between cultural foods and health.” said Westbrooks-Figaro. The cultural-focused nutrition training the Exchange offers to healthcare professionals and culinary programs that include both culinary and health education are two of their efforts to empower communities with the knowledge that cultural foods ARE healthy.
“For example, soul food tastes amazing but people don’t think of it as ‘healthy.’ They forget that vegetables and beans are at the core of these dishes. We reshape people’s thinking about these cultural foods and teach them how they can maintain the flavor experience with maybe a few small changes to the recipe.” she explained.
Connection to Roots
Knowledge alone isn’t enough if you don’t have access to food. Eat Well Exchange also works to make food more accessible in the communities they work. Through the free farmers markets they organize, they are providing access and education about the produce, giving the individuals a chance to try a new food or recipe and consider where their food comes from.
Westbrooks-Figaro was one of the dietitians who joined the Sugar Association in Bay City, Michigan on the 2024 Real Sugar Farm to Table Tour and got to see firsthand where real sugar comes from. She said knowing where your food comes from changes the way you think about food and gives you a different appreciation for the people involved in getting it to the grocery store and your table. “Knowing the generations involved and the work required increases the respect and gratitude for the food you have.”
Balance and Connection
Westbrooks-Figaro’s work to help communities unlearn the myths about cultural foods and relearn that they can be part of a healthy diet reminds us about the importance of balance. “People often think that ‘healthy’ means taking things out, but that doesn’t have to be the case.”
Taking a balanced approach to eating and physical activity, making room for indulgences and avoiding anything in excess are keys to a healthy lifestyle. Sugar has a pace in a balanced diet by adding flavor and functions that help people enjoy a wide variety of foods, including cultural foods.
We hope you include your favorite cultural foods and traditions in this month’s menu and enjoy a meal with family and friends with gratitude for those who grow and prepare the food on your table.
Originally published in Sugar Producer – March 2025
Get Social with #MoreToSugar