BOZEMAN, Mont. – The Gallatin Valley Food Bank is conducting a pilot project to see the benefits of eating unprocessed foods.
The Unprocessed Pantry Project is a 16-week project put on by the Gallatin Valley Food Bank, Healthy Gallatin, Livingston Food Resource Center, and Montana State University. MSU Associate Professor Carmen Byker Shanks is the research leader in the study.
“Together we have recruited some customers from our food banks and they have committed to 16 weeks of eating as many unprocessed or an unprocessed diet to see if it can help change their health,” said Gallatin Valley Food Bank Food and Nutrition Director Jill Holder.
Only five weeks into the study and people have already started to notice a difference in their health, going from eating processed foods to unprocessed foods.
Holder said, “a woman in our study, she said this is the first time she went to the doctor, she’s been pre-diabetic her whole life and last week before this class when she came the doctor said you are no longer pre-diabetic.”
Classes and support are being provided to the people taking part in the study so they are able to make healthy decisions, such as reading food labels.
Although this is a pilot program, Holder said she hopes this is something that the food bank can participate in again.
“The goal is to improve our customer’s health and also to improve the food bank pantry,” Holder said.
All of the people taking part in the project have some sort of risk factors, such as heart disease or diabetes.
