Creating healthy food habits starts with taking small, approachable steps. That’s a lesson Allison Yeadon, a 66-year-old bus driver living in downtown Charleston, has learned through a food nutrition program called GroceryRx. 

Yeadon, like many others who go through the program, is plagued with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity. She considered herself a stress eater, consuming unhealthy snacks and sodas during difficult times. She often stopped at a fast food restaurant during her lunch break because it was quick, convenient and cheap. 

Her health conditions, however, were getting out of control, she said.

“The side effects of the medications, the side effects of eating all this greasy, fried, high sodium food — it was literally detrimental to my health. I just felt terrible. I had to make a change,” Yeadon said. 

Through a 12-week course, GroceryRx teaches participants that food is medicine by encouraging small changes in eating habits. For Yeadon, simply removing table salt from her home helped reduce her sodium intake. 

“We don’t promote any diets, or fad diets. It really is lifestyle changes,” said Olivia Myers, a registered dietician and founder of GroceryRx, a program born from Lowcountry Street Grocery, a mobile farmers market that serves the greater Charleston area. 

The program is designed for folks who have diet-related illnesses or are considered fresh-food-insecure, which means they lack access to healthy produce. The program is free, but participants must register in advance.

For the first time, GroceryRx is partnering with the Keith Summey North Charleston Library on Rivers Avenue to host in-person classes, in addition to the virtual offerings.

These weekly one-hour sessions will teach basic nutrition and introduce movement challenges to help participants improve their overall health.

Instructors will use the library’s cooking station to demonstrate ways to make healthy food. This can include how a prickly pear is properly peeled or how a certain variety of squash is cooked.

The classes are taught in an informal, approachable way that is more conversational than a typical diagnosis from a doctor, said Niecy Robinson, community organizer and marketing outreach for GroceryRx. 

Participants will hear from guest speakers, such as chefs, pharmacists and personal trainers. The course includes one-on-one counseling with a dietician and a box of fresh produce every other week. 

Zara Bakiriddin, 54, who lives in downtown Charleston, said she is not the same person she was, both physically and emotionally, before attending the GroceryRx program.

“I’ve gained precious knowledge that will help me make proper choices about my health, strength and lifestyle,” she said.

GroceryRx works with community partners and clinics to bring clients to the program. Yeadon and Bakiriddin were referred by their providers at Fetter Health Care. GroceryRx also works with the Medical University of South Carolina and Roper St. Francis Healthcare, along with various nonprofits. 

Many participants choose to take the course several times to maintain accountability, which led GroceryRx to offer a Level 2 class for the first time starting this month. This class is meant for participants who completed the first course but want to continue learning about nutrition and build a community with other participants. 

“We want to foster that community for them to continue with each other, to keep each other on track and share their progress and goals,” said Robinson.

Many barriers can prevent people from accessing fresh food, which is one of the reasons Myers started the program. The participants might be on a fixed income, like Yeadon, which makes purchasing fresh produce difficult, or they might lack reliable transportation to the nearest grocery store. 

“You can’t talk about food without talking about housing, without talking about transportation, without talking about your income,” Myers said.

The Lowcountry Street Grocery mobile market accepts Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. Lowcountry Street Grocery is the only location in Charleston County that is part of SNAP’s Healthy Bucks program, which gives people who spend at least $5 on their EBT card an additional $15 to spend on fresh fruits and vegetables.  

After hosting GroceryRx programs for nearly six years, Myers said she has seen the positive outcomes, from declines in blood sugar levels to weight loss. She hopes courses like GroceryRx become an integral part of conversations between doctors and patients when it comes to diet-related diagnoses. 

“We really want to bring this into the healthcare system as a realistic part of someone’s care plan,” she said. “If someone gets a diagnosis of diabetes, or hypertension or something like that, we want this to be something that their physician thinks of first.”