New Cookbook with Healthy Living Tips Developed by Community Grant Recipient

Craving an end of summer peach cobbler? The Down Home Healthy Living 2.0 cookbook features healthier versions of traditional southern recipes and tips for staying active.

The Down Home Healthy Living 2.0 cookbook is an educational resource created by Georgia Regents University with support from a Prevent Cancer Foundation community grant. The cookbook puts a healthier spin on classic recipes and spreads the message of cancer prevention to at-risk communities. It has been shared with 2,500 participants in an 11-state colorectal cancer screening intervention. Future plans include the distribution through partner websites.

Recipes such as Pecan Crusted Chicken with Trio Succotash were submitted by community coalitions across the country, involved in the National Black Leadership Initiative on Cancer. A chef and registered dietician made the recipes healthier while maintaining their essence. The transformed recipes featured in the cookbook were tested by community members. Only the recipes with the highest scores were included. “Seasoned well, didn’t miss the salt,” commented one taste-tester for the revised Turkey Sausage, Kale & White Bean Soup recipe.

The tips for staying active, preparing healthy meals and guidance on measuring portions in the cookbook were shaped by the input of four focus groups held in Miami, Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, with women ages 35-75 years old.

“Relatively few cookbooks and related dietary resources have been developed using community-based participatory approaches,” reported Selina Smith, PhD, MDiv, Director of the Institute of Public & Preventive Health at Georgia Regents University. “The tips belong to the women. They believe in them and therefore are much more likely to adopt them and achieve their goals for healthier diets and exercise,” asserted Dr. Smith.

Prevent Cancer is proud to have supported this project through the Community Grants program. The resulting cookbook is a valuable resource for healthier down- home cooking and lifestyle modification tips. You can download the cookbook here!

Prevent Cancer encourages you to eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and to be active. For more information on healthy living and risk reduction for cancer, visit preventcancer.org.