The Blog

Angela Henry, Director of Community Health and Nutrition of the Central Texas Food Bank

The Central Texas Food Bank, the largest hunger-relief charity in Central Texas, is now one of Choose Healthier partners. We interviewed Angela Henry, Director of Community Health and Nutrition of the Central Texas Food Bank, to share her opinions as well as personal health advice.

Could you please give a brief overview of the Central Texas Food Bank?

• Sure. The Central Texas Food Bank provides food and grocery products through a network of about 300 Partner Agencies (mostly food pantries) and mobile food pantries, serving nearly 46,000 people per week. Though headquartered in Austin, the Food Bank serves 21 counties in Central Texas – an area twice the size of Massachusetts.  Through our social services and nutrition education and gardening classes, we help clients access nutritious food and promote healthy lifestyles.

What is the Central Texas Food Bank’s mission?

• Our mission is to nourish hungry people and lead the community in the fight against hunger.

How can an app like Choose Healthier help your business succeed?

• As we conduct more classes at the Food Bank, the Choose Healthier app will help connect community members to our services, providing healthy food access and nutrition education for those trying to live healthier self-sustaining lives.

What are 3 pieces of advice would you give to someone wishing to improve their health? 

• First, I believe good nutrition is key to good health! This idea is summed up by Hippocrates: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” With that in mind, here is my general philosophy about nutrition and food. I don’t consider any food as a “bad” or “off the table.” I make sure to leave room for those foods that bring me happiness and satisfaction. I am also a foodie after all!  
• Second, I prioritize healthy eating the majority of the time. When it comes to nutrition and health, I try to make a conscious effort to eat nutritious, balanced meals most of the time, as well as being active most days of the week. What I’m saying I’m doing the BEST I CAN to live a healthy and active life, and that’s okay!  The MyPlate model is a great checkpoint to make sure you are eating balanced meals from all of the food groups.
• Lastly, I decide what health means to me. Your optimal health may look very different from others.  It’s not about how you look or how much you weigh, but it’s also the spiritual, social and emotional aspects of one’s life that play such an important role in overall health.

Choose healthy food, good nutrition, and your own healthy activity. That is amazing. What’s your favorite healthy activity to do around Austin?

• My favorite healthy activity to do is to make it an adventure!  I love exploring parks and hiking trails both in Austin and the Hill Country. I can’t wait to see where the next trail will take me! 

Thank you for the Central Texas Food for having been at the front line of hunger relief for 35 years. With a goal in mind to help the hungry in the community, it provided more than 45 million pounds of food to families in need during the 2016-2017 fiscal year.

Want to find our more nutrition education in your community? Check out the Choose Healthier mobile app, a free tool powered by IT’S TIME TEXAS and designed to provide you with thousands of affordable healthy opportunities in select regions of Texas! Download through the App Store or Google Play or visit choosehealthier.org for more information.