I have been with this organization since 2013 as a facilitator, and as a board member. We turn lives around by educating and helping people to cook and eat healthy foods that heal and prevent rather than hurt and create sickness. The mission is pure and courageous.
As a psychotherapist, I believe having supportive and meaningful relationships are a key component of mental health. I am also well aware of the mental health benefits of eating unprocessed food (and the lack of public awareness). Dorothy has built an amazing organization which pulls these two things together!
Suppers is a miraculous program. It's focus is on creating a supportive environment where people can develop healthy eating habits, supported by a group of peers on their own personal journeys to discovering what it means to eat well for each one of them.
A central element of Suppers is recognizing that each one of us is unique, that there is not a single 'good' diet that we should all follow. Consequently, Suppers is about self-experimentation and non-judgement. Each person explores for themselves what foods generate positive and negative effects for them and chooses their diet based on this personal data.
My favorite part of Suppers is the sense of community it has. When I go to Suppers I feel an immediate connection to everyone else there. Since there is no obligation to participate or follow a schedule, each meal is shared with different people - depending upon who was able to make it on that particular day. Nonetheless, each time, whether there are people that I have met before or not, going to Suppers feels like coming home. Everyone is kind, welcoming and supportive. And the moment one arrives, one joins the rest of the group in cooking together, whether slicing vegetables, stirring the soup or putting the table together.
It is not always easy to get quality support when someone needs to seriously change their life around from a health and nutrition standpoint. Fee based counseling, and diet programs, left me wondering how it can effectively be accomplished without advocating foods of questionable nutrition... Enter,,, The Suppers Programs. Using only whole foods prepared in amazing ways, this program has and does turn lives around, day in and day out. The facilitators gear their meetings to help those most in need, diabetics, celiacs, alcohol dependents, to name a few. But the delicious foods they have us prepare in their own homes fits everyone's nutritional needs and is what sets this program apart from most others.
For an average meal cost of $9, we arrive, wash hands, and spend an hour chopping, preparing, and cooking our meal in a wholesome environment. then we sit down and partake of a meal you can get at no other restaurant, from no other meal plan. Just great whole food. After we introduce ourselves, a few minutes are spent going over one of many concepts, such as nutritional harm reduction, or biological individuality. We then clean up, and get on with our day, if lunch,,, or night, if dinner. Well fed with healthy food choices.
If there's nutrition based non-profit program that holds itself to the high standards Suppers maintains, it's a well kept secret, as I've yet to find it. It's an amazing thing to behold. Experience it for yourself. thesuppersprograms.org
Dan Marquardt
While the organization started in support of recovering alcoholics, it now impacts the lives of so many more. The Suppers Programs involves preparing delicious meals from whole foods and without gluten or sugar. We learn new kitchen skills, how to prepare new foods, and how to retrain our taste buds to enjoy the foods that predate the epidemics. We support each other in healthy living changes.
So many of today's afflictions and diseases can be addressed by diet and lifestyle changes from the obvious ones like Type 2 diabetes and heart disease to the not so obvious - depression, ADHD, and asthma.
We now have nearly 40 meetings a month in New Jersey and hope to expand even more with the help of local volunteers.
Check out our website for more information - www.thesuppersprograms.org.