Well Fed, a 501c3 non-profit, has adapted their mobile unit to provide food to underserved communities in Little Rock, most recently at Buffington Towers. This is a HUD retirement home in the middle of a food desert in downtown Little Rock. Well Fed’s director, Joshua Harris, provided an array of fresh and canned fruits and vegetables, dairy products, bread and grains. Margaret Pauly, the Culinary Nutritionist from UAMS’ Culinary Medicine Program provided cooking demos and food tastings using the same ingredients the residents were receiving that day. It was very interactive where the residents called out suggestions and comments. They were surprised by the healthy items they could easily make by combining some of the items such as a vegetable soup with canned chicken added to it, a Mexican rice bowl with beans and chicken, easy stove top pizza and even stovetop roasted Brussel sprouts.
Handouts were available with information on diabetes and hypertension in both English and Spanish. The residents voiced approval of the recipes and want to participate in more demos.