Good Bowls believes that nutritious food is the foundation of good health and disease prevention. We work to ensure that everyone has access to delicious healthy food regardless of where they live or their income - all while supporting local farmers and producers by locally sourcing our ingredients.
Good Bowls were created by Dr. Alice Ammerman, a nutrition professor at UNC Chapel Hill and the Director of UNC’s Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. Alice has spent her career studying the benefits of healthy eating and how nutritious food is essential in preventing and managing chronic disease.
Alice created Good Bowls because she wanted a healthy meal that could help increase people’s access to nutrient dense delicious food. She designed Good Bowls to be frozen so that they could be used in programs throughout the state - especially some food deserts in rural NC - without having to worry about spoilage.
Good Bowls are being used in programs throughout North Carolina, providing people access to healthy food all while locally sourcing our ingredients to strengthen the local food system. Read more below about these Meals With a Mission…
Dr. Alice Ammerman - Good Bowls creator, UNC Chapel Hill Nutrition Professor, Director of UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.
Advantages of Good Bowls
Nutritious
Good Bowls are based on the clinically proven Mediterranean diet. The recipes are plant-forward with generous amounts of vegetables and whole grains. And in keeping with the Mediterranean diet, they also have healthy oils.
Delicious
We've surveyed thousands of customers. We've made, and continue to make, modifications to our recipes to produce the tastiest bowls we can.
Convenient
The frozen meal keeps for months and re-heats in 4 minutes.
Affordable
Good Bowls are SNAP-eligible, making them accessible to customers who purchase food with EBT (food stamps).
Why Frozen vs Fresh?
Longer Shelf Life
Good Bowls can be kept for months compared to weeks for fresh meals.
Less Waste
When fresh food expires, it must be thrown out. By using “misfits” (odd shaped vegetables that retailers won’t sell, we avoid food waste)
Comparable or Better Nutritional Content
Food used for frozen meals is picked at its prime and frozen. Fresh ingredients are picked before their prime and shipped, losing nutritional value as they travel.
Highly Scalable Production
Frozen meals can be produced on a large scale, greatly reducing costs and making the meals affordable to a wider range of customers.
Since Good Bowls were created over 5 years ago, we have been a leader in the Food Is Medicine movement. With our foundation of seasoned vegetables, whole grains, healthy oil, and lean proteins we have over 30 recipes available so we provide both culturally relevant flavors as well exciting and varied international options.
Good Bowls also now have a full medically tailored meals line up that include options that meet the guidelines for carb-controlled meals, kidney friendly meals, and heart healthy meals. We distribute Good Bowls through local grocery stores, co-ops, home delivery, hospitals, clinics, food pantries, insurance benefits, and countless other programs. In the NC Healthy Opportunities Pilot alone, we delivered more than 150,000 healthy meals to NC Medicaid recipients.
Supporting the Local Food Economy - In addition to increasing people’s access to nutritious food, Good Bowls is also focused on strengthening our local food system. Over the years we have developed partnerships with farmers across the state as well as with Farmer Food Share and Happy Dirt to help us source as many of our ingredients locally as possible.
We also produce our Bowls right here in the Triangle both in Hillsborough and in Pittsboro. So by the time you put it in the microwave, your Good Bowl has helped to support pickers, packers, farmers, drivers, washers, choppers, and cooks across the state - helping to provide stable employment in all sectors of our food system.
