Health and Fitness
April 20, 2009
Kaiser Permanente Physician Celebrated for Contributions to Locally Grown Food Movement
Kaiser Permanente physician Preston Maring, who created Kaiser Permanente’s farmers market program, stresses the role of fresh produce in preventive medicine in a new cookbook, EatingWell in Season: The Farmers’ Market Cookbook, .
Dr. Maring contributed the introduction to the book, which was published in a partnership with EatingWell Media Group, a Vermont-based company that shares his passion for simple recipes featuring fresh, seasonal produce. In the book, Dr. Maring lays out seven reasons why everyone should use farmers markets as a resource for healthy living.
Dr. Maring began to shop at farmers markets more than 30 years ago and included even more locally grown food in a healthy diet when his son was born in 1980. He brought his personal passion into his profession in 2003, when he founded one of the country’s first-ever hospital-based farmers markets at the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center. The hospital and surrounding community embraced the farmers market; today, Kaiser Permanente has 30 farmers markets and farm stands in four states. Thanks to Dr. Maring's efforts, locally grown produce also is part of patient meals at 23 of Kaiser Permanente’s regional hospitals.
“As a physician, I know that a diet built around fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables is the cornerstone of preventive medicine and a key to people’s overall health,” said Dr. Maring. “I was thrilled to contribute the introduction to EatingWell in Season to show readers that eating food that is good for us, good for our children, good for the farmers who grow it, and that is good for the planet, is the right thing to do.”
For more, read this press release.
