Free community veggie give away at HealthPartners Midway clinic

Event is part of a wider effort to encourage better-for-you food options

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Aug. 13, 2014 — Community members who come to the HealthPartners Midway clinic and the Center for International Health on Aug. 14 will receive a bag filled with fresh veggies. Volunteers will hand out the free produce from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. during a day of healthy fun that also includes free blood pressure checks, healthy recipes, games and prizes and more. The Midway clinic and the Center for International Health are at 451 N. Dunlap, near University and Lexington avenues in St. Paul.

The event, which is open to all community members, is part of HealthPartners commitment to healthier communities that includes its yumPower initiative, which it introduced in 2011 to partner with communities to make it easier for families to choose better-for-you foods.

This past school year several schools in the Midway area participated in the yumPower School Challenge to eat more fruits and vegetables and track their progress. Among them were Maxfield Elementary, Hamline Elementary and Jie Ming Mandarin Immersion Academy, Jackson Preparatory School and St. Paul City Primary School.

Research shows that health behaviors have a bigger influence on a person’s health than the medical care they receive. In addition, decisions about eating and exercise are controlled more by factors in the environment, like the availability of fast food and opportunities to be physically active, than just by individual willpower. For kids this is especially important because eating and exercise patterns are established in childhood.