The fight against cancer is more difficult for St. Louis area residents faced with food insecurity and lack of nutritious foods, which often accompanies lack of fresh produce.
To help reduce the causes, the American Cancer Society has awarded $50,000 to Food Outreach to provide free medically tailored meals, groceries, and dietetic counseling to people with cancer during treatment.
The grant is part of the nationwide Addressing Barriers to Care (ABC) Grant Program which is designed to mitigate barriers to care and health-related social needs of cancer patients, including food security and nutrition.
Food Outreach is the sole recipient of an ABC Grant from the ACS in the Midwest, which will enhance the organization’s role in providing nutrition support to patients with cancer across the St. Louis region.
A 2022 National Institutes of Health study provided evidence that Black-white racial disparities in health care utilization and health outcomes persist among cancer survivors.
The study focused on the role of food security status (FSS) and showed that a higher proportion of Black cancer survivors reported very low food security compared with Whites.
“Food insecurity, defined as the inability to acquire nutritionally adequate food for all household members consistently, has been associated with an increased prevalence of chronic diseases such as cancer,” study authors wrote.
“Food insecurity could affect health outcomes and health care use through several mechanisms.”
Additionally, Black patients were almost twice as likely as white patients to report cost-related medication underuse.
“The finding is significant because food-insecure individuals tend to make trade-offs between food and medications. This trade-off could potentially be worse for Black cancer survivors, said the study authors.
Sydney Gosik, director of Strategic Initiatives at Food Outreach, said the organization is grateful to the ACS for its support in helping bridge a critical funding gap for clients with cancer.
“As the demand for our medically tailored nutrition services continues to grow, so do the challenges of rising food and delivery costs,” he said.
“This funding will enable us to continue providing life-saving nutritional support to more than 550 clients battling cancer, upholding our long-standing commitment to never turning away an eligible client.”
Food Outreach is the only provider of medically tailored meals and nutrition counseling for people living with financial vulnerability and HIV or cancer in Missouri and western Illinois. It utilizes a “Food as Medicine” approach – nutrition as a pathway for chronic disease management and treatment- to positively affect the health challenges faced by the most vulnerable community members.
According to Food Outreach, all clients live at or below 300% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), although most cancer clients (82%) live at or below 100% FPL (less than $15,650 per year). Food Outreach remains an integral resource in the region for meeting the nutrition needs of people battling nutrition insecurity and cancer.
Medically tailored meals support individuals undergoing cancer treatment, providing essential nutrition that enhances treatment efficacy, boosts the immune system, and improves overall well-being.
Cancer treatments often cause debilitating side effects—such as nausea, loss of appetite, and digestive issues—that make it challenging for patients to eat, absorb nutrients, and maintain their strength.
According to American Cancer Society researchers, proper nutrition during treatment helps patients feel better, maintain energy, tolerate treatment and its side effects, reduce complications and infections, and recover more quickly.
“The conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age, the social drivers of health, can have an especially meaningful effect on the chances of detecting and surviving cancer,” said Elizabeth Brown, executive director of the American Cancer Society St. Louis.
“More than one in five patients with cancer in the United States struggle to meet at least one basic need. We believe no one should be disadvantaged in their fight against cancer, which is why we are so proud to partner with Food Outreach to address patients’ health-related social needs.”
Food Outreach prepares all meals in-house at its Midtown St. Louis commercial kitchen, using quality ingredients and flash-freezing them to lock in freshness and flavor. The program focuses on client choice as each participant selects their meals and grocery items from a rotating menu of seasonal, healthy, and culturally appropriate options.
Food Outreach also offers home delivery to clients unable to receive services in-person due to transportation barriers or the severity of their illness.
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