March 20, 2025.

2022-23 NC Schweitzer Fellows and ECU School of Medicine students Julianna Roupas and Manthi Dissanayake’s manuscript, “Bringing Cooking Classes to Food Deserts: Addressing Food Insecurity Among Rural Older Adults” was featured in Sage Publications on February 25, 2025. This article reflects on the “Food is Medicine” project they created and launched as Schweitzer Fellows.

Rick Zeck, Executive Director, Pitt County Council on Aging, said “While the Fellows know the importance of what they did in the moment, I know the long term impact that they made and the ripples will be huge for years to come. Food is Medicine is one way to begin a grass roots effort to make a difference for our rural older adults as well as all older adults.”