Lisa Helfman and Dr. Shreela Sharma Join Prince Charles and Meghan Markle on Business Insider’s Food 100
Houston, TX (July 24, 2019) – Business Insider, the financial and business news website, has published its Food 100, a ranking of the 100 coolest people in food and drink. Included as #60 and #61 are Lisa Helfman and Dr. Shreela Sharma, the co-founders of Brighter Bites, a nonprofit organization that is changing behavior among children and their families to improve long-term health outcomes by providing free fresh produce, nutrition education, and a fun food experience.
“Inspired by the hugely successful Tech 100, Business Insider is launching its first ever Food 100 — a ranking of the 100 coolest people in the world of food and drink, with a particular focus on Europe and North America,” wrote Business Insider. Helfman and Sharma join the likes of Charles, Prince of Wales (#63), Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (#32), George Clooney (#9), and award-winning restaurateurs Clare Smith (#3) and Asma Kahn (#1).
“We are humbled to be joining this impressive group of innovators in the food industry,” said Brighter Bites Founder Lisa Helfman. “For Business Insider to include us among these leaders demonstrates that our evidence-based nutrition education and health promotion program is gaining traction…and living a healthier life through fresh food is really the coolest way to live.”
About Brighter Bites:
Brighter Bites is a nonprofit that creates communities of health through fresh food with the goal of changing behavior among children and their families to prevent obesity and achieve long-term health. Brighter Bites is an evidence-based, multi-component elementary school, preschool, and summer camp program that utilizes reliable access to free fresh produce, nutrition education, and consistent exposure to recipes and messages that feature fresh food.
Each week families and teachers participating in Brighter Bites receive two bags containing ~50 servings of eight to 12 different fresh produce items along with the nutrition education materials. Researchers at UTHealth School of Public Health track the behavior of Brighter Bites families, and their studies show that the Brighter Bites model provides consistent opportunities for children and their families to practice healthier behaviors in school and at home.
Since 2012, Brighter Bites has provided more than 22 million pounds of produce and 100,000s of nutrition education materials to more than 265,000 individuals (including teachers!) in Houston, Dallas, Austin, New York City, the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area, and Southwest Florida. The Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) recently named Brighter Bites the winner of the 2018 PHA Impact Award. In 2016, Brighter Bites won the Texas Health Champion Award. To learn more visit BrighterBites.org.
The following publications covered this story:
The Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health