Healthy Eating Basics
Healthy Food, Healthy Communities
The foods that people and communities have access to impacts their risk for certain chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, tooth decay and some cancers. Despite Minnesota’s reputation of being a rich agricultural state, too many Minnesotans cannot find fresh fruits and vegetables near their homes or what they can find is limited and expensive.
Our communities, neighborhoods, schools and workplaces have a role to play in supporting access to the fruits and vegetables that keep us and our neighbors healthy and fed, now and into the future.
SHIP is making an impact
Throughout the state, SHIP helps people access fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods. From food shelves to farmers markets, from community agriculture to grocery stores, and almost everything in between, your local SHIP coordinators are improving food access in your community.
Visit the SHIP StoryMap for stories about how SHIP is increasing opportunities and access to nutritious foods throughout Minnesota.
What you should know
- Experts recommend eating 2½ cups of vegetables and 2 cups of fruit per day (based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet)1
- According to the CDC, a healthy diet emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains and healthy proteins like beans, eggs, nuts, fish and poultry, while limiting saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol and sodium.2
- Experts also recommend limiting sugary beverages. One 20 oz. soda contains 17 teaspoons of added sugars, which is approximately three times the maximum limit the American Heart Association recommends for added sugars in one day.3
What you can do
- Ask your school district to include locally grown food in schools meals.
- Support farmers markets and buy fresh, local fruits and vegetables to benefit you and your community.
1 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2015 – 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 8th Edition. December 2015. Retrieved from https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/.
2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). Healthy Weight: Eating for a Healthy Weight. Retrieved from CDC website at https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/healthy_eating/index.html.
3 Johnson, R.K., Appel, L.J., Brands, M., et al. (2009). Dietary sugars intake and cardiovascular health: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 120, 1011-20. DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.192627