MEET BRIGHTER BITES
Two Women, One Bright Idea Planted in Houston, Texas—and taking root nationwide— Brighter Bites is a nonprofit that delivers fresh fruits and vegetables directly into families’ hands, while teaching them how to use and choose a different type of fast food. The idea for Brighter Bites occurred to founder Lisa Helfman in the fall of 2011. For several years, she and her family took part in a weekly produce co-op, and she watched as her little boys began asking to swap their breakfast bagels for apples, and steal bites of Swiss chard off of her dinner plate. The pinnacle moment came when her son Drew rejected a piece of birthday cake at a party, claiming it was too sweet—and requesting blueberries instead. He was six. This was big. Working at the time as an attorney at Texas Children’s Hospital, Lisa couldn’t help but wonder what kind of influence this kind of co-op might have on all kids—especially if it were free to families. She was inspired to try to replicate
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the positive impact she’d witnessed in her own household in underserved communities, where obesity is high and access to fresh produce is low. Because nutrition education in these communities is often equally lacking, Lisa’s vision was to bring a produce co-op to schools in these neighborhoods that included an educational component—and that made all this good stuff fun. She created a collaborative partnership with Dr. Shreela Sharma, an epidemiologist and dietitian at UTHealth School of Public Health, and together they launched the program now known as Brighter Bites. Today, Brighter Bites operates programs in Houston, Dallas, Austin, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Southwest Florida.
