Eat REAL Tennessee Project

From 2013 to 2019, Eat REAL was a two time recipient of the Project Diabetes grant funded by the Tennessee Department of Health. The Eat REAL Tennessee Project allowed Eat REAL to focus deeply within a geographic area of need and work across the state. Over 100 restaurants, state parks, community meal providers and many other food service establishments were certified with the goal of improving the health of the communities.

We developed key partnerships with public, private, and governmental organizations and  leaders who supported our work,  and continue to advocate for Eat REAL Certification™. 

Each Eat REAL Certified™ food service provider had to increase the healthfulness of their food to combat and prevent diet related disease. Major changes included significantly decreasing sugar sweetened beverages and deep fried items, increasing amount of whole grain offerings, and increasing availability of fresh fruits and vegetables.

The insights and learnings from the Eat REAL Tennessee Project drove improvements to our model and guided the development of our approach for ongoing and long term support.