Healthy Eating
Maintaining a balanced diet is essential for a healthy lifestyle. Scroll down to discover nutritious recipes and learn about healthy eating.
Healthy Eating Overview
Good nutrition is about consistently choosing healthy foods and beverages. Healthy eating patterns can include foods and drinks that reflect preferences, cultural traditions, and budgetary considerations. Eating well is not a diet, it’s a lifestyle.
Many chronic diseases stem from a few key risk factors, including poor nutrition, physical inactivity, tobacco use, and excessive alcohol consumption. By steering clear of these risks and seeking regular preventive care, you can enhance your chances of staying healthy, feeling good, and living a longer life.
Components of a Balanced Diet
MyPlate
The benefits of healthy eating add up over time, bite by bite. Small changes matter. Start simple with tips from MyPlate.
Fruits
Make half your plate fruits and vegetables, and focus on whole fruits.
Vegetables
Make half your plate fruits and vegetables, and be sure to vary your veggies.
Grains
Make half your grains whole grains.
Proteins
Vary your protein routine.
Dairy and Fortified Alternatives
Switch to low-fat or fat-free milk and dairy products, or fortified plant-based alternatives.
Healthy Eating Resources
Recipes for a Balanced Diet
Find over 1,000 recipes with MyPlate Kitchen.
Browse Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipes that are healthy, thrifty, and easy to make.
Manage your diabetes with these delicious and nutritious recipes from the American Diabetes Association.
Get the most nutrients from your produce by eating seasonally with the USDA.
Cuyahoga County Food and Nutrition
Fresh Produce
- City Fresh Farm Box
- Ohio City Farm CSA Program
- Produce Perks Midwest
- Cleveland Food System Updates Newsletter
- Food Depot 2 Health CSA Program
- Cleveland Food System Map
*See farmers’ markets and stands below
Nutrition Suggestions and Resources
Talk with your doctor to see if you’re eligible to participate in a Produce Prescription (PRx) program.
Review the CDC’s Healthy Eating Tips and Nutrition in Daily Life resources.
Start reading the Nutrition Facts label.
Learn how to eat healthy on the go.
Don’t let money discourage you: do the best with what you have. Click the links below to help you eat healthy on a budget.
- Shopping at the convenience or drug store
- Tips from Mayo Clinic
- Use Shop Simple with MyPlate to find cost-saving opportunities and new ways to prepare budget-friendly foods.
- Get the most for your dollar with shopping tips
- Prepare healthy meals with these time-saving tips
Cuyahoga County Farmers' Markets
North Union Farmers’ Markets
Food for All: North Union Farmers Market proudly accepts and matches (up to $25) SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) at all market locations. SNAP recipients may bring their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards to the farmers market information table for service.
Saturdays, 9am – 1pm, April to November at Crocker Park in Westlake on the corners of Crocker Road and Detroit Road
Summer Access Programs also include WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) Coupons, Senior Farmers Market Coupons, TANF Coupons, and more!
Crocker Park Indoor Winter Market
Saturdays, 9am – 1pm, December to March at 9 Main St, Westlake, OH 44145
Saturdays, 9am – 12pm, January to March, in the Market Hall in the Van Aken District in Shaker Heights
Saturdays, 8am – 1pm, April to December at Historic Shaker Square
Summer Access Programs also include WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) Coupons, Senior Farmers Market Coupons, TANF Coupons, and more!
Van Aken District Outdoor Market
Thursdays, 4-7pm, June to September, in the surface parking lot near the Market Hall at the Van Aken District in Shaker Heights
Wednesdays, 10:30am – 1:30 pm, June to October at the Crile Mall, located across the street from the Crile Building between Carnegie and Euclid
Summer Access Programs also include WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) Coupons, Senior Farmers Market Coupons, TANF Coupons, and more!
Saturdays, 9am – 12pm, June to October at the Band Stand Triangle Park in Chagrin Falls
Summer Access Programs also include WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) Coupons, Senior Farmers Market Coupons, TANF Coupons, and more!
Sundays, 9am – 12pm, June to October at Legacy Village on Cedar Road in the parking lot next to The Capital Grille
Wednesdays, 10am – 1pm, June to October at Madison Park
Thursdays, 10:30am – 1:30 pm, June to October at UH Cleveland Medical Center at Lakeside, 2074 Adelbert Rd
Other Markets, Farm Stands, and Urban Growers
Oberlin Food Hub Online Local Food Marketplace
4540 Commerce Ave
Fridays 5:30-7pm, June to October, at E 159 and Lakeshore
Thursdays, 5-8pm, July to September, at 4274 Pearl Rd
Old Brooklyn market vendors can accept a wide variety of incentive payment methods found in the Cleveland area. WIC, WIC Perks, SNAP, Produce Perks, TANF, Senior Nutrition Program, and Produce Rx Program.
Building food access and sustainability in Brooklyn Centre, where fresh produce is grown by and for the community. Over the past five years, they’ve served as a hub for connection and growth, hosting Saturday service days, Garden Grubs community meals, Brooklyn Centre Neighborhood Meetings, youth literacy initiatives, movie nights, and more.
Rid-All Green Partnership & Farmer Jones Indoor Market
Monday: 12-6pm
Tuesday-Friday: 9am – 6pm
Saturday: 8am – 6pm
Sunday: 9am – 3pm
16701 Broadway Ave, Maple Heights
Kamm’s Corners Farmers’ Market
Sundays, 10am – 1pm, June to October, at 16906 Albers Ave
SNAP and Produce Perks are offered at the Information Tent every Sunday the market is open.
WIC offices will be at select dates throughout the season, distributing coupon books worth $30 and small kitchen tools to WIC families.
Buckeye Health Plan clients can spend their Buckeye Fresh! Dollars at KCFM. For more information about this program, click here!
Tuesday-Saturday: 8am – 5pm
12550 Euclid Ave, East Cleveland
An innovative and non-traditional marketplace-café addressing the lack of community wealth as the root cause of food insecurity. Led by Chef Ismail Samad, co-founder of Loiter, this marketplace features local foods and products from East Cleveland culinarians, creatives, and farmers, building the foundation for establishing a resilient, community-owned supply chain.
Summer: Saturdays 11am – 3pm, May to August, at Roberto Clemente Park
Winter: Select dates from 12-2pm, at CentroVilla 25
- Minority-owned vendors & small businesses
- Culturally rooted space for gathering & connection
- SNAP/EBT accepted + Produce Perks