How Healthy Food Choices Support a Healthy Community

Carleton College students team up with CAC to explore the connection between nutrition and wellness

As part of an Academic Civic Engagement Course, a group of Carleton College students from a Immunology and Nutrition class partnered with the Community Action Center to explore how nutrition plays a key role in supporting immune health, brain function, and resilience—especially for individuals and families facing food insecurity.

Together, they created a series of simple handouts and recipes that highlight the importance of making informed food choices. From the benefits of fiber and Omega-3s to the science behind gut health and the immune system, each resource breaks down complex health topics into practical advice that can help our community stay healthy. The students also tackled the topic of chronic stress, illustrating how building resilience can improve both mental and physical health.

Anika Rychner, CAC’s Senior Director, said, “CAC places an emphasis on sourcing healthy foods in an effort to support community health as a whole. The types of foods we source are those that tend to be the healthiest but most expensive in grocery stores. We do this not only because we know the importance of healthy food access, but because these are precisely the types of foods that community members who access our food shelves have said they want and need the most but that many struggle to afford.”

This project is a beautiful example of what happens when education meets compassion and action. CAC is proud to support initiatives like this that promote equity, health, and well-being for all.

Please click on the PDF’s below to view and download:

• Importance of Fiber – English & Spanish >
• Gut Microbiome – English >
• Gut Microbiome – Spanish >
• Food Insecurity and Food Allergies – English >
• Food Insecurity and Food Allergies – Spanish >
• Flu – English >
• Flu – Spanish >
• Importance of Fiber – English & Spanish >
• Nutrition and Brain – English & Spanish >
• Recipes – English >
• Recipes – Spanish >
• Smoothie Recipe – English >
• Smoothie Recipe – Spanish >
• Stress and Resilience – English >