Nourishing Meals to Help You Heal

The diagnosis of a serious illness like cancer often provides an opening to change someone’s lifestyle habits that may have been detrimental to their health. Diet is at the top of the list. Nourishing meals during treatment can make a vital difference to cancer patients, as research shows that nearly 80% of cancer patients end up malnourished as a result of treatment. Being poorly nourished worsens side effects, reduces the effectiveness of treatment, and lengthens recovery time once treatment ends.

In addition:

• 5% of all deaths in the U.S. are from diseases where poor diet is the precipitating cause (cancer, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes).
• The U.S. spends at least $500 billion on health care annually on conditions that are preventable by dietary changes.
• Only a small percentage of all adults in our county are eating five servings a day of vegetables and fruits despite overwhelming data that higher intakes of fruits and vegetables reduce the likelihood of developing diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer.
• The generation of young people growing up today may be the first in recorded history to have shorter life spans than their parents.

While research strongly supports the link between strong social networks and longer, healthier lives, more of us than ever before feel isolated and alone.

Meals 4 Health and Healing is addressing these issues with an innovative model that combines support services to those who most need it, hands-on learning for teens, clients and others, and the involvement of volunteers, businesses, and organizations throughout our community.

Meals 4 Health and Healing currently provides meals to anyone residing in the Davidson and Williamson Counties currently going through active cancer treatment. Treatments can be traditional or alternative. The wonderful people we serve, we call them clients.

You may receive meals for 12 weeks free-of-charge for yourself and your caregiver. Of course, if you are able to make a donation to support our costs, we encourage you to do so. If appropriate, we will extend service for another three months (12 weeks), for a total of 6 months, or 24 weeks, in the program. Beginning with week 13, we will ask that you make a minimum donation of $10 per person per week towards the cost of our meals and continue that payment through week 24. This allows us to make our services available to others who also are in cancer treatment.

When you become a client, our client manager will be your first point of contact for any questions or changes and they will check in with you on a regular basis as well.  Contact Robin, our Client Manager at (615) 730-5632 or via email at clients@hfmeals.org.

The healing and nourishing meals are prepared by teen and adult volunteers and delivered by volunteer Delivery Angels each week on Tuesday. We request that you or a caregiver be available to answer the door to receive your meals on Tuesdays between 2:00pm and 5:30pm.

We are very mindful of certain side effects from treatment in planning the weekly menu. We are able to modify meals to support a variety of dietary needs, with certain restrictions. If your needs change throughout service, please let the client manager know as soon as possible.

Each client and their caregiver will receive 8 dishes per week- one with fish, one with chicken, 2 vegetable proteins, 2-3 hearty soups, and a side dish. Meals tend to provide food for 3 to 4 days.

Meals 4 Health and Healing is committed to using ALL fresh, organic ingredients in the preparation of our meals. We take pride in providing meals that are not only nourishing, but beautiful and delicious.

Every meal is made from scratch by loving volunteers. We include dark leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, dark orange vegetables, sea vegetables, and mushrooms as often as possible. There is no dairy, red meat, white flour, sugar or processed food or additives in our meals. Our fish is always “wild-caught” and chicken is always “antibiotic and steroid free”.

Meals 4 Health and Healing relies on individual donations for the work we do. If it’s comfortable for you, please let your friends and family know about the support you are receiving from Meals 4 Health and Healing, and encourage them to make donations to support our work. A monthly donation of just $40 will provide meals to a client for a week! All donations made are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. Donations can be sent to The Heimerdinger Foundation, 4004 Hillsboro Pike, Suite 223-B, Nashville, TN 37215. Donations can also be made through our website on our giving page.

Often people would like donations to be made to Meals 4 Health and Healing in honor of someone they love. These thoughtful gifts play an important role in enabling us to serve our clients.

If you or someone you know would like to volunteer, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator at volunteer@hfmeals.org or call (615) 730-5632.

Visit our website to download and complete the client intake and pre-survey. Please email these to our Client Manager, Robin at clients@hfmeals.org. Please include your full name, phone number and a good time to call. Or call (615) 730-5632. Please leave your name, phone number, email and a good time to call you back. Next we gather some information, including demographics, diagnosis, health challenges and current treatment plan. This information will help as she can discuss the most supportive time to receive our nourishing and immune-boosting meals.

A Volunteer Delivery Angel will deliver a bag of prepared meals each week, beginning on your start date. You or a caregiver must be available to receive the meals at your door.

Yes, everything we use in our kitchen is organic because research has shown this is the healthiest choice for our clients and the environment. However, if you do not have access to organic food, it is still worthwhile to eat a wide variety of plant foods instead of processed and packaged foods.

Yes! We are ensuring our clients get the most nutrient dense foods without any added chemicals or pesticides by using foods that are organic and in-season. When produce is locally sourced it is usually picked more recently and at its peak ripeness, when it is most dense with nutrients.

We are very grateful to have established relationships with several different farms in the area including:

Bloomsbury Farm

Green Door Gourmet

West Glow Farm

No, everything we serve we cook fresh from scratch to get the most nutritional value from our food to our clients.

Yes! The American Institute for Cancer Research states that reducing the total amount of animal foods used is best for overall health and disease prevention. We follow their guidelines which states that two thirds of the plate should contain plant-based whole foods. We do include organic pastured chicken, eggs, or wild caught fish to supplement the other ⅓.

No. We want to ensure we provide the most nutrient rich, healing foods available for our clients. Dairy is controversial due to the increased amount of research which shows that the more dairy is consumed, the greater risk of disease and illness. We have very talented chefs and volunteers who are able to create flavorful, delicious dishes each week without dairy.

No. We want to ensure we provide the most nutrient rich, healing foods available for our clients. Dairy is controversial due to the increased amount of research which shows that the more dairy is consumed, the greater risk of disease and illness. We have very talented chefs and volunteers who are able to create flavorful, delicious dishes each week without dairy.

Yes.  Due to the growing number of people with wheat sensitivities, we choose stick to anti-inflammatory, gluten-free grains only.

If resources allow, select animal foods that are organic and local. If local is not available, look for options raised without antibiotics and bovine growth hormones (BGH). Try to use animal products as a topping or condiment rather than the base of a meal, 3 oz or the size of most individuals palm is a portion of meat according to the USDA.

No. In our Meals 4 Health and Healing kitchen, we have a Berkey water filtration system. Research has shown that the best choices for drinking water are spring or a filtration system that removes contaminants that are found in your area. To determine the quality of water in your area, simply head to the Environmental Working Group’s database and type in your zip code. From there, you can find a water filter for your home that removes the specific contaminants.

Daily water consumption is integral to optimal health so if tap water is all you have access to, then drink tap water! Limit carbonated and sweetened beverages.

There continues to be a strong debate over the benefits and disadvantages of using a microwave. Since there are studies that suggest important nutrients and phytochemicals are lost after microwave cooking, we suggest you heat up your food on the stove or in the oven if possible.

If you are too fatigued or that is not an option, we encourage heating in a glass container in the microwave.

It is good to note that microwaves may not be as effective at killing bacteria and other pathogens from leftovers. This is due to the lower heat and potential of unevenly cooked food.