Community Wellness Starts With You

The Geaux Get Healthy Community Wellness Program connects you to the resources you need to live a healthy life.

Growing a Healthy Community

The Community Wellness Program seeks to support that goal by empowering people with the healthy food knowledge and cooking skills they need to cook their way to better health.

Geaux Get Healthy works collaboratively with our partners to:

  • Represent the needs of community members
  • Produce and distribute culturally appropriate, affordable, local food
  • Eliminate access barriers by creating innovative, place-based distribution mechanisms
  • Provide nutrition and food literacy education to support improved community health

Our Community Wellness Program Emphasizes Balance

It’s not all or nothing. “Balance” is the latest word on heart-healthy eating, according to a new report that encourages people to adopt broad eating habits instead of focusing on single foods — and it’s not one size fits all.

Nutrition research identifies 10 features of a heart-healthy eating pattern:

Balance food and calorie intake with physical activity to maintain a healthy weight.

Choose a wide variety and eat plenty of fruits and vegetables to get a full range of nutrients from food rather than supplements.

Choose whole grains and other foods made up mostly of whole grains.

Include healthy sources of lean and/or high-fiber protein such as plant proteins (nuts and legumes), fish or seafood, low-fat or no-fat dairy.

Choose minimally processed foods rather than ultra-processed foods as much as possible.

Minimize intake of beverages and foods with added sugar.

Choose or prepare foods with little or no salt.

Limit alcohol consumption; if you don't drink, do not start.

Apply this guidance no matter where food is prepared or consumed.

How Does Our Program Work?

Each program series is composed of four cooking classes and one grocery store tour delivered over a 6-week period. The program also offers several incentives for participants to complete the series and is designed to accommodate six registered participants.

Program Participants Receive:

  • A home-delivered Top Box that includes fresh produce and lean protein that can be used to practice healthy cooking skills at home. This incentive is offered after the participant has attended two cooking classes and should be ordered through Top Box by the organization’s program coordinator for home delivery to each participant.
  • Two $10 grocery gift cards. One to be used as part of a program activity during the grocery store tour and one as an additional participation incentive.
  • Transportation assistance if needed.
  • Support from a program coordinator including reminders about classes and events
  • Connections to other food access and resources.

Stay in the know!

Subscribe to receive health and wellness news and resources delivered straight to your inbox.

Subscription Form