In this inspiring episode of Perfectly Pl@nted, we delve deep into the crucial topic of health equity and lifestyle medicine, featuring two eminent guests, Doctors Scott Stoll and Columbus Batiste. Together, we explore the inception and objectives of the Health Equity and Lifestyle Project (HELP) Conference, a transformative event aimed at reducing health disparities and fostering healthier lifestyles.
Dr. Scott Stoll introduces us to the Plantrician Project, shedding light on its role in promoting plant-based nutrition and preventive medicine. On the other hand, Dr. Columbus Batiste provides insightful commentary on his involvement with the Slave Food Project and Healthy Heart Nation, initiatives committed to combating chronic diseases in marginalized communities.
The HELP Conference stands out not just as a platform for knowledge sharing, but as a catalyst for leadership, community building, and the development of actionable solutions. Our guests elaborate on the conference’s innovative structure, designed to nurture healing, forge meaningful connections, and initiate lasting change. We dive into the unique methods employed by the conference, such as interactive sessions and concise lectures, to maximize participant engagement and facilitate impactful panel discussions.
In our conversation, we also take a comprehensive look at health from a holistic perspective, discussing ways to bring about positive change across various community sectors, particularly within the African-American community. Dr. Batiste and Dr. Stoll highlight the power of collaboration, emphasizing the synergistic efforts between Healthy Heart Nation, the Plantrician Project, and ACLM’s HEAL Initiative.
This episode is not just a wealth of knowledge; it is a call to action for all listeners to play an active role in promoting health equity and fostering community well-being. Join us on Perfectly Pl@nted as we ignite a passion for change and strive for a healthier, more equitable world.
2024 HELP Conference: https://plantricianproject.org/help-conference-2024
Slave Food Project: https://www.slavefood.org/
Healthy Heart Nation: https://www.myhhn.org/
Healthy Heart Doc: www.thehealthyheartdoc.org
Plantrician Project: https://plantricianproject.org/
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In this inspiring episode of Perfectly Pl@nted, we delve deep into the crucial topic of health equity and lifestyle medicine, featuring two eminent guests, Doctors Scott Stoll and Columbus Batiste. Together, we explore the inception and objectives of the Health Equity and Lifestyle Project (HELP) Conference, a transformative event aimed at reducing health disparities and fostering healthier lifestyles.
Dr. Scott Stoll introduces us to the Plantrician Project, shedding light on its role in promoting plant-based nutrition and preventive medicine. On the other hand, Dr. Columbus Batiste provides insightful commentary on his involvement with the Slave Food Project and Healthy Heart Nation, initiatives committed to combating chronic diseases in marginalized communities.
The HELP Conference stands out not just as a platform for knowledge sharing, but as a catalyst for leadership, community building, and the development of actionable solutions. Our guests elaborate on the conference’s innovative structure, designed to nurture healing, forge meaningful connections, and initiate lasting change. We dive into the unique methods employed by the conference, such as interactive sessions and concise lectures, to maximize participant engagement and facilitate impactful panel discussions.
In our conversation, we also take a comprehensive look at health from a holistic perspective, discussing ways to bring about positive change across various community sectors, particularly within the African-American community. Dr. Batiste and Dr. Stoll highlight the power of collaboration, emphasizing the synergistic efforts between Healthy Heart Nation, the Plantrician Project, and ACLM’s HEAL Initiative.
This episode is not just a wealth of knowledge; it is a call to action for all listeners to play an active role in promoting health equity and fostering community well-being. Join us on Perfectly Pl@nted as we ignite a passion for change and strive for a healthier, more equitable world.
2024 HELP Conference: https://plantricianproject.org/help-conference-2024
Slave Food Project: https://www.slavefood.org/
Healthy Heart Nation: https://www.myhhn.org/
Healthy Heart Doc: www.thehealthyheartdoc.org
Plantrician Project: https://plantricianproject.org/
Follow Perfectly Pl@nted on Instagram
Follow Perfectly Pl@nted on YouTube
Follow Perfectly Pl@nted on Pinterest
Thank you all for showing up today for our healers healing video call that we're doing today, that we're recording for people who won't be able to watch it live. But thank you so much, doctors Scott Stoll and Columbus, to come into our call. We thank you so much for your time and, importantly, thank you for the work that you are doing in building health, equity and lifestyle medicine, and so we just want to thank you and welcome you to this call.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having us.
Speaker 3:Thank you, it's wonderful looking with you all.
Speaker 1:Right, do you have a?
Speaker 4:short, so we will. Our reason for the call is to really learn more about what you all have in store with the health conference and to learn how this fits in really more broadly into the work going on over at Plantation. So first, dr Batiste, can you tell us a little bit about the health conference and how you became involved with the Plantation project?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you know, in terms of being involved with the Plantation project, I'll tell you, I attended one of the sessions a while back and and I always kind of describe my upfront as my avatar and then my real self is a little bit more kind of quiet and reserved, but for whatever reason, I was just I went out and I had a feeling about Scott and went up and spoke to him and he was so embracing and we connected in that moment.
Speaker 2:At the first conference that I met, he invited me to Chicago, had Kim Williams and Joe Conn and some others that were there, and we started connecting a bit more and then the relationships started to evolve as we had kindred spirits and a lot of areas from spirituality all the way over into, obviously, the passion for plant based and and things, and so what's so unique is that obviously I have a strong passion for the community of those at greatest risk, and that happens to be many of the African American black and brown communities that are there.
Speaker 2:And so it so happened we were away and we're at conference and, coincidentally, I mentioned that to Scott, he mentioned to me that we were on the same page in terms of wanting to do something that really shift the, the seismic change in the trajectory of the way in which which we look at health disparities and the role of lifestyle, and we knew it was something that that was be bigger than both of us, that we both had this same passion at the same moment in time and we began the process of really collaborating at that point and that was really the birthplace for the health conference conference. They help equity and lifestyle project is where we kind of formed with things there.
Speaker 4:Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing that Great.
Speaker 1:Great Dr Stoll. Let me know how does the help conference intersect with the mission and vision of the plant nutrition project?
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's a great question. Thank you, david. The mission and vision of Plant nutrition project has always been to equip and power, inspire and educate health care providers around the world with the indisputable science of nutrition to prevent, suspend and reverse disease. And I look at the columnist just said so eloquently at the populations that are at greatest risk. You know those zip codes where zip code is the predominant social determinant of health, nutrition is deplorable. Both from you know, not only just access but affordability. There's, there's so many deficits that need to get at. The thing we've done well at the plant nutrition project is conference that allow us to people to get there. I still there. I saw the circles.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you may be freezing a little bit Scott.
Speaker 1:Yeah, looks like he froze. Maybe he needs to go off-camera to include this.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we can maybe move on to the next question. We can have him maybe pick up when he gets back. Excuse me Well, Dr Batisse, we were very curious to hear about your work with the slave food project and healthy heart nation and very well-known. Here you come, I'm back.
Speaker 1:All right.
Speaker 3:I'll just pick up real quick and finish that thought that one of the things that we've done so well at Plantation Project with our events is not just a host and event, but we really see events as an opportunity to bring people together, to create community, at connection and in those powerful development of relationships begin. You know, imagining, developing, creating solutions. And so the health conference is more than just an event to communicate information. You know, we're really trying to develop a community to come together and solve problems and leave the events with connections, with resources, with people to go back into the communities and start creating solutions right away. Now, information doesn't change, but empowered people that are connected in a community can begin affecting change, and so that's what we really envision.
Speaker 3:It's far more than just, you know, an event for education or CME. This is really a very intentional development of community to begin inspiring people to solve solutions together, and that's what we've seen at Plantation Project. You know, out of our event. We created the event in a very specific way so that people would eat three meals a day together, they would stay in the same room together and it would cultivate relationships. And we wanted to do the same thing with the health conference, and so we really envisioned that, coming out of this, there are going to be very unique opportunities for solutions.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
Speaker 4:That sounds so robust in that. I love that there's such an emphasis on that practical, actionable dimension. We're not just meeting for the sake of meeting, but really meeting for the purposes, in part to problem solving, workshop together and solutions. That's fantastic.
Speaker 1:That's empowered people to lead the conference empowered. I think that is really key. You can leave the conference educated. But you know people say knowledge is power and knowledge is indeed some power. But to have those connections and have the resources and have the, it really makes a big difference when you have that thought process at the beginning of the conference that only people empowered, not just educated.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so true. And speaking of empowerment, I know, dr Batie, so much of the work that you do under the auspices of Slave Food Project and Healthy Heart Nation have a lot of shared vision with the health conference. So I'm curious to know how those projects really inform, how you all approach forming the conference and your approach to lifestyle medicine, kind of in general.
Speaker 2:Yeah and I'll take a step back that my approach to lifestyle medicine probably stems from my work as an interventional cardiologist. So you know our job as an interventional cardiologist is to take care of the most acute and the sickest patients, right, and they're in the throes of a massive heart attack in those moments. That's really the goal, those who are at greatest risk, and it doesn't mean that we ignore everyone else. We still implore all the other traditional fashions of the family and of the prevention at components that are there, and so the approach to lifestyle is very similar. Is that we have? I feel as if I need to target those communities that are at greatest risk, and that was really the birthplace of Slave Food Project. Was really that oftentimes we're so enslaved to our communities, to our birthplace, that we wear these shackles that are there, based on our environment that's riddled with stress, it's riddled with food insecurities that are there, and people feel as if they can escape that, and so letting them know that, yes, there is a better way, that, yes, you can alleviate this in part, not completely, through nutritional resiliency. Now, healthy hard nation was the birthplace out of this, from a solution standpoint, understanding that health can only truly be achieved through collective effort of the community. That means through business, that means places of education, places of faith, that means political determinants to as well, that collectively, we need everyone on board to really shift and raise the lowest or the least of us. And so this is really the premise behind it.
Speaker 2:The health conference is not just solely to inform right, it's not solely to educate, it's not just to empower, but it's to enact change. That's really the true goal of the health conference is to enact change. And so, as Scott mentioned in terms of the overall format, that is our goal. Yes, we want to educate, yes, we want to empower, but we want there to be a change, we want there to be action. I oftentimes will say that love is not a noun, love is an action word. It requires action, requires movement. That's there and that's what this conference is about. It's about triggering an inspiring movement on a continual basis and saying practical goals as we come together as a community.
Speaker 4:Well, I for one cannot wait Definitely, and David and I have been talking about how we can really mobilize the Hill group to show up in mass, because your mission is so important, now more than ever. So thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 3:Well, yeah, and if I can just share, like a project that I started, that's an example of what I hope will come out of the health conference.
Speaker 3:You know, I had a good friend of mine from Jamaica who had severe hypertension heart disease and I helped him reverse his conditions and he was so excited he said we have to, you know, reach the poor communities of Jamaica. So what we decided to do was to work through the churches and he was a part of a 40 church group in Jamaica and we started by helping them buy some land. They bought an acre next to the church and working with Rodale to help them farm the land, and then we're going to use the produce to help feed the people and feed the community and then, through that process and through some of the resources, that Plantation Project, begin educating the community. And so you know, it's my hope that you know, projects like that will be spawned from the health conference where we can really begin, like Columbus said, love and action, taking care of the least of those and helping elevate them, especially in their health, their spiritual life and their relationships and emotions.
Speaker 1:Love, that, love that, love that. That's so, um. So we, how can we in, uh, heal the health equity by lifestyle medicine, you know, through ACLM? How can we, in terms of leaders and our members, as well, as well as those who are watching or listening, how can we increase the visibility of the conference? How can we, you know further the work that's taking place of the conference? What do you think that we could do to help? To help help, yeah.
Speaker 3:I think first I'll jump in. You know marketing is probably first and foremost, and you know marketing to especially. You know we certainly need people to be there to have a successful conference, but we really want like-minded individuals in those seats that are interested in taking the information away and working with people and communities to begin creating change where they live, in their neighborhoods, and so you know it's and really encouraging those types of people to sign up. You know, sometimes we all say we're busy and we don't want to attend a conference, we don't have time to add something else. But there are certain people that all of us know that we sometimes need to grab by the collar and say you really need to be there. So if you know those kinds of people, you know that would that need to be there and need to be a part of this, you know helping them to get into those seats would be great.
Speaker 3:We do have some scholarships available. We've had people donate scholarships. So if you know individuals that should be there but can't afford that, we can also help them get there. But yeah, broad marketing would be fantastic. Columbus, how about you? What? What are you thinking?
Speaker 2:yeah, no, I mean, this just popped into my head, you know, I saw the question from before, but it's just popped in, which is just one everyone, if you can that, to come and bring someone with you.
Speaker 2:You know, I mean if everyone can commit to coming, just being present, because there's so much that's said by like your presence and and here's the, here's the key, right when you look at movie premiere, movie premiere is only gonna be successful based on that opening night, that opening weekend, because it expresses the importance of that movie.
Speaker 2:And so if our community does not come out in full force and those who are supporting of this initiative that this is an important venture, then it can't be successful. And so this is a unique conference and unique opportunity. The other thing I would say is that I would love to get each and every heel member to do a brief promo on why the help conference is important and whether and encouraging folks, and we can do a quick taping of 30 seconds and let's push it out there. Let's flood tick-tock, let's flood every zone that's there, to the medical communities, the NMA, to association black cardiologists, to any particular association, to all of them, amma, and let's flood the the social media gates and let people know that this is important. It's a place to be and that's what I would encourage is countless.
Speaker 3:Let's all get on board and the last thing I'm thinking of is we can all brainstorm on actionable ideas, ways that we can begin, you know, seeding change after the conference, because I really want to carry momentum out of the conference into communities and into the next year. So I don't want it to just be an event that ends, I want it to be something that really carries momentum forward. So if we can think about ideas to do how to do that and how to effectively keep people motivated and in community to affect change, that would be great awesome, awesome.
Speaker 1:I have a question for each of you. What else that we haven't yet touched on that may have come up for you in this conversation that leads with a burning desire to tell other people about that, may be on the fence about coming, or cause most people who are watching this are probably already at least fairly open minded to come. But what might get people off the fence to actually come?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean. The thing that pops into my head, David, is it's a wonderful quote that says relationships are healing, hiding in plain sight that you know the real healing, the real power of an event like this, is the community and the connection with people. You know the information that we're going to share. You could search for it and find it, but the real power of affecting change, the real power of inspiring love and action, is to be there with other people and to meet like minded people that have the same passion and begin working together to care for others. I think that's really the power of this and why it's necessary that we all attend and share a meal together and share our hearts and leave inspired and connected.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I'll just add just a little bit more detail about the structure of the conference. That is unique because Scott said the important point there's so much continuing medical education now that you can get online, you know, simply log in up to date. Many of us use that. It gives you CMEs, so CME is not necessarily a driver for it but, like Scott mentioned, it's more of the relationships and so our structure is not really a passive conference where you're just sitting and listening. It's more of an interactive. The lectures are actually going to be shorter, they're going to be around the 20 to 30 minute and the robustness is going to be in the panel discussion of the experts that are there, the 45 minutes to have an engagement with everyone in the audience, and that's really where the power is, hopefully having take home points out of it.
Speaker 2:So, day one, we're looking at the state of health and going from really from the cradle to the grave, going from maternal infant mortality, pediatrics to cardiovascular diabetes and looking at mental health and Alzheimer's right. Then, day two, we're really bringing in what's the role of each area in the communities. How can we forge change, like? Scott brought up a wonderful example of a church that embracing change and using land in order to help develop and embrace the community to have them come in. We know, for many people of faith, churches are dying across the world. They're aging out in terms of things, and so how can they be relevant to the needs of the community?
Speaker 2:And one of the areas is in the form of health. How can businesses be it? What's the role of community-based organizations collaborating with healthcare organizations to really drive change in the community right? And so, as we start to get this and hopefully it triggers ideas amongst individuals, and then the grand scheme, I'll tell you something that was wonderful that someone mentioned as I was discussing with them.
Speaker 2:We talked about ideas and Scott really implored everyone to begin to brainstorm ideas they can bring to the table, which is so important. One idea was for someone brought to me as hey, we should try maybe I can help out with trying to develop a database that we begin to form this inside of colleges and we develop like a framing ham scoring in the African-American community. That maybe dovetails with some of the other work that's happening out of Morehouse and other areas there, out of Mahary as well, and you begin to build on how we can really restructure change and how the role of lifestyle can really transform our communities that are there, because the actions that we give towards one community are the same exact actions that can help save another community as well. So that's what I would mention.
Speaker 4:Thank you for adding that contour. It's really helpful just to get a better sense in terms of what the day in the flow would be like and how folks are going to engage when they're there. One question, if you could just clarify your target audience, I know you all mentioned before heavily the medical associations, clinicians. How are you all looking at engaging other members of the community who are partners in this sort of long lasting change, such as the non-profits or other ancillary healthcare team members?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll jump in first. So I think that one, we're definitely targeting the healthcare community, so that's doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, dietitians, everyone that delivers care, but it's not isolated. That's our primary target to engage them. But, as you so, so astutely mentioned, we want the people who are actually doing the foot soldiers who are out there doing the work, because the information is not so high that listen when david talks and he's giving breaking down stuff on peds.
Speaker 2:I'm not a pediatrician for you and david you know. So I mean I have to try and somehow understand what you're talking about and saying from, from faciary, with with scott, and so when I look at that, we're hopeful that we can convey information, that anyone can understand it and that we can make the the information relevant. What's the point of delivering information if you can't make it relevant to the people out there in the audience listening? So it is for everyone. But, yes, so it is an eclectic mix, but, yes, the primary target is our health care professionals. But I have at, we have, we have actually begun the process of trying to reach out to the community as well in trying to bring all, all in thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you um so uh uh to be respectful of um the, the valuable time that you guys have shared with us.
Speaker 1:We appreciate uh so much uh you guys coming on and discussing with us and sharing with us, and I love you know, really, the merger of, of how we're doing things together.
Speaker 1:Uh. This is one example right just of how we've taken you got healthy heart nation, you got pediatrician project, you got uh healed aclm. Uh all working together uh to to make this conference happen and and make this uh movement happen. Um and thank you, scott, for allowing me to be able to um to be a presenter um for the conference as well and uh looking forward to what we can all create together and um I just again, I know that this it's been hard to get our schedules together, but thank you so much for being flexible, uh for taking the time out to do this interview on on camera and uh we look forward to to meet up with you guys in huntsville uh in march and having a phenomenal conference and, most importantly, taking that message of uh the power of health equity, of the power of livestock medicine, uh into the health equity world and and get a great merger um between the health equity communities and the uh livestock communities. Thank you so much thank you, thank you all thank
Speaker 3:you, thank you.