October 24, 2012

Contact: Ashley Orlovich, (919) 231-4006 ext. 306

For Immediate Release:

Poe Center and Fleet Feet Celebrate Food Day by Eating Real

Downtown Raleigh Farmer’s Market welcomes the Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education and Fleet Feet-Wade Avenue to celebrate a national movement for healthy, affordable, and sustainable food

Raleigh, N.C. – On Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Downtown Raleigh Alliance Farmer’s Market will host the Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education and Fleet Feet Sports Raleigh of Wade Avenue at their nonprofit booth in support of Food Day.

Food Day is a nationwide celebration and a movement toward more healthy, affordable, and sustainable food culminating in a day of action on October 24 every year. Food Day is a chance to celebrate what our food system does right, and take action to bring us closer to a food system with “real food” that is produced with care for the environment, animals, and the women and men who grow, harvest, and serve it.

Food Day’s priorities include:

• Promoting safer, healthier diets
• Supporting sustainable and organic farms
• Reducing hunger
• Reforming factory farms to protect the environment
• Supporting fair working conditions for food and farm workers

Locally, the Poe Center and Fleet Feet Sports Raleigh will partner together on Food Day to promote the consumption of REAL foods, specifically, fresh fruits and vegetables. Why is this so important? Well, according to Be Active North Carolina, Inc., the annual statewide cost associated with NOT eating REAL fruits and vegetables was $1.53 billion in 2010.

If that isn’t reason enough to enjoy an apple a day, then consider the potential for disease and illness that could have been prevented by a higher vegetable and fruit intake: cancer, circulatory conditions, neuro-sensory disorders, metabolic/endocrine/nutrition-related disorders, pregnancy complications and respiratory disorders.

To Poe Center’s Board Member, Programs Committee Chair and Director at Duke Raleigh Hospital, Lani Goodman-LaRocca, supports Poe’s Food Day efforts and strongly endorses the old adage: You are what you eat. According to Goodman-LaRocca, “The food we eat can have a direct effect on our energy levels, physical health, and moods. Developing healthy habits tends to increase the chance of sticking to them, in whole or in part, in the future.  Being healthy can mean a better overall quality of life.”

Given North Carolina’s commitment to locally-grown produce and the important role agriculture plays in our daily lives, eating REAL should be a critical component of every North Carolinian’s diet. So get REAL with the Poe Center and Fleet Feet Sports Raleigh on Wednesday, Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Downtown Raleigh Alliance Farmer’s Market!

About the Poe Center

Incorporated in 1985, the Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that delivers health education programs to children, youth and adults across the State of North Carolina. Since opening a flagship teaching facility in 1991, the Poe Center has served approximately one million North Carolinians. For additional information on the Poe Center, please visit www.poehealth.org.

Contact:

Ashley Orlovich                   

Development Director

Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education                        

Office Phone: (919) 231-4006 ext. 306

Cell Phone: (312) 401-4825

Email: a.orlovich@poehealth.org

Website: www.poehealth.org

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