Intelligent Medicine

More and more, the country is devolving into health inequity—between the haves and have-nots. There’s also a widening gap in nutrition, with obesity and attendant medical conditions disproportionally afflicting marginalized communities. Today’s guest, Tambra Rae Stevenson, is addressing these disparities. She’s a healthy food advocate and policy influencer, and a self-professed nutrition warrior. Among her initiatives is WANDA—Women and Girls Advancing Nutrition Dietetics and Agriculture, an organization building a movement of women and girls of African descent to become food “sheroes” in their communities through education, advocacy, and innovation. We discuss barriers to optimal nutrition, food “deserts”, and special needs of underserved populations. There’s a paucity of trained nutrition educators of color, and Stevenson is spear-heading initiatives to incentivize development of a cadre of community-based advocates for healthy diets. We discuss the importance of involving kids early, through programs like