Health Educator/Coach
Delta Fresh Foods, Inc.
FOCUS
Rose Tate is a lifelong resident of the rural Mississippi Delta in Bolivar County. Although she has traveled throughout the United States, her attachment has always been to the Mississippi Delta. Her career began as a director, managing USDA Child Nutrition Programs in the rural Delta public schools. The school setting helped her promote healthy meals for students. Her efforts to get more students to eat vegetables and healthier food resulted in community support, a school garden, and a curriculum for teachers to use in the classrooms. Currently, Rose is a health coach and health educator who works with agencies and school districts to develop, implement, and promote health projects used in schools, medical facilities, and communities. She targets children and their families to change their eating behavior and combat health disparities among the youth in the Mississippi Delta.
STRATEGIC INITIATIVE: Food RX
The goal of Food RX: Eating Nutritious Food Will Improve Your Wellness Strategic Initiative is to partner with local school districts to educate and encourage students in Pre-K through 8th grade about the importance of vegetable consumption and creating a healthy diet. A demonstration farm and mobile kitchen are used to provide nutrition education using culturally appropriate foods. Project participants are the students, their families, and community residents who desire to make health and wellness life changes. The expansion of this Strategic Initiative will be to render health coaching services to patients of a local medical provider.
MORE ABOUT ROSE
Rose Tate is a product of the rural, poverty-stricken area called the Mississippi Delta. She is a former child nutrition director and current health educator. Her perspective is one of making changes to the statistics of the health disparities raiding the Mississippi Delta. She partners with local school districts to encourage students to make necessary changes in their food consumption and wellness. Rose is an advocate for student participation in school gardens and believes that a garden can be a resourceful tool for students learning how to plant, grow, harvest, and cook food for better health.