It’s good to be green. For planetary health, and your health.   
 
“There are so many reasons plant-based foods can improve health and wellness,” said Emilie Russell, School of Medicine Greenville (SOMG) second-year medical student and Lifestyle Medicine Interest Group current president.  
 
Medical students in SOMG’s Lifestyle Medicine Interest Group recently shared a menu of plant-based foods, made possible as part of a combined award: the 2024 Green Food Experience grant awarded by the Physicians Association for Nutrition (PAN International), based in Germany; and the Taste of Lifestyle Medicine award from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM). The event was a way to showcase foods culinarily prepared to taste great and provide health benefits, including helping reverse chronic diseases.  
 
The Green Food Experience allows organizers to customize and prepare a plant-based tasting menu to enjoy with fellow medical students and friends. PAN International supports organizers with recipes and resources. SOMG is the first medical school in the country to receive the Green Food Experience award from PAN International. 
 
American College of Lifestyle Medicine provides the Taste of Lifestyle Medicine micro-grant to introduce and advance lifestyle medicine on medical or health professional and health system campuses.  
 
The SOMG food tasting was held Aug. 22 at Greenville Technical College’s Truist Culinary and Hospitality Innovation Center. Eighteen SOMG medical students attended the tasting. Examples of the menu items included, lentil taco, protein bite, quinoa pesto lettuce wrap, sweet potato fries, falafel burger, and avocado chocolate shake. 
 
“I think a main reason that Lifestyle Medicine focuses on a plant-based diet is to combat chronic disease,” said Russell. “Increasing vegetables in your diet has many anti-inflammatory effects, improves your metabolism and can protect your risk for cancer. The goal of the event, and the grant, is to share with students how good whole food, plant-based meals can be and how easy they can be to prepare.” 
 
The event was led by students at SOMG in partnership with Chef Scot Roark from Greenville Tech’s Truist Culinary and Hospitality Innovation Center. Chef Scot has been teaching Culinary Medicine to SOMG students for over seven years. Greenville Technical College partners with SOMG to deliver experiential learning to the medical students to improve their competencies for patient counseling in Food is Medicine. 
 
“I am very proud of the students for embracing Lifestyle Medicine and leading initiatives like The Green Food Experience,” said Dr. Jennifer Trilk, Director, Lifestyle Medicine at SOMG & Exercise is Medicine Greenville. Our students are truly frontline advocates for our community.”