Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan and Arianna Huffington's Thrive Global Announce Free Cookbook Featuring Healthy, Budget-Friendly Recipes

The Thrive Global Cookbook makes eating healthy, whole foods affordable, easy and fun, and features recipes contributed by celebrity chefs including José Andrés and Ina Garten.

OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan, a nonprofit organization serving more than 530,000 Medi-Cal members in Los Angeles and San Diego, and Thrive Global, the behavior change technology company founded by Arianna Huffington, announced today the release of the Thrive Global Cookbook, available now to download for free in English, followed by Spanish in December and nine additional languages — including Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, Farsi, Khmer, Korean, Russian, Tagalog and Vietnamese — early next year.

With over 60 breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack and drink recipes, as well as dozens of creative swaps and tips for healthy eating, cooking and shopping, the Thrive Global Cookbook is curated by Tess Bredesen, Thrive Global's cognitive nutrition director, and helps readers plan and prepare easy-to-make meals with nutritious, budget-friendly ingredients. It features recipes and commentary from celebrity chefs and renowned culinary experts including José Andrés, Ina Garten, Daniel Humm, Diane Kochilas, Candice Kumai, Dr. Maya Adam, Jacqueline King Schiller, Hillary Sterling, Mona Vand and Karla Tatiana Vasquez.

At a time when rates of chronic diseases including obesity and diabetes are rising, and many people struggle to afford and access healthy food, the Thrive Global Cookbook does more than just share recipes. It reflects Thrive Global's belief that healthy eating is for everyone, regardless of income, location and other social determinants of health. By empowering people to make small changes, known as Microsteps, Thrive Global's behavior change methodology has helped individuals around the world create healthy habits that improve health outcomes. The Thrive Global Cookbook brings this approach to an urgent mission: democratizing the lifesaving benefits of improving daily food habits to address growing health inequities, one Microstep — and meal — at a time.

"Food is a big part of our mission at Thrive Global," said Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of Thrive Global. "It's one of five daily behaviors we focus on — along with sleep, movement, managing stress and connecting with others — to improve our health. Our daily behaviors are all connected. What we eat affects everything else — our sleep, our stress, how much we move, and how we feel. We are proud to partner with Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan to help make healthy eating affordable, easy and even fun."

"Access to nutrient-rich, budget-friendly meals is necessary for every individual's overall well-being. This cookbook is a tremendous resource to help people incorporate more healthy food into their diet," said Kristen Cerf, president and CEO of Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan. "We are honored that Arianna and the Thrive Global team selected us for this partnership, which aligns with our long-standing commitment to community health."

Recognizing the importance of nutrition, "food is medicine" programs have become increasingly popular in the healthcare industry. Blue Shield Promise sees this cookbook as an opportunity to provide members and the broader community with a variety of high-quality recipes. Over the next several months, Blue Shield Promise will promote and distribute thousands of cookbooks. Recipes from the cookbook will also be incorporated into community health and education programming in Southern California.

Blue Shield Promise is collaborating with local organizations like Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center, a nonprofit educational garden that serves as a resource for health education, environmental stewardship and community connection. Olivewood Gardens' Kitchenistas® — leaders in the community committed to teaching their peers about healthy lifestyles — helped field-test recipes from the cookbook, and will offer classes to ensure community members have the tools they need to make healthy meals.

"Healthy cooking has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember, and it goes hand-in-hand with my commitment to give back to my community," said Kitchenista Rosamaria Barrientos. "This cookbook will be an important tool to help families make nutritious meals, and I look forward to sharing these recipes with my friends and neighbors." Read more from Blue Shield Promise and learn more about the Kitchenistas and other community leaders promoting health on the Thrive Global Cooking With Purpose web page.

The Thrive Global Foundation will also be teaming up with the global product design and technology company SharkNinja, which will be donating 500 kitchen appliances — including blenders, food processors and cookware. Through collaboration with community-based organizations, the Thrive Global Foundation will distribute these tools to empower individuals and families to prepare nutritious, affordable meals, making healthy eating more accessible.

"At SharkNinja, we are driven by our mission to positively impact people's lives around the world with problem-solving innovation — and that commitment extends to our communities," said Mark Barrocas, CEO of SharkNinja. "Our partnership with the Thrive Global Foundation allows us to help foster well-being and resilience in people's lives, especially those in need. By providing products that help people live healthier, happier lives and investing in programs that empower individuals to thrive, we hope to create a powerful ripple effect that strengthens families and communities."

About Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan
Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan is a managed care organization, wholly owned by Blue Shield of California, offering Medi-Cal. It is led by healthcare professionals with a "members-first" philosophy and committed to building a quality network of providers and partnering with community organizations for more than 530,000 members across Los Angeles and San Diego counties. For more information about Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan, please visit www.blueshieldca.com/promise. For more news about Blue Shield of California, please visit news.blueshieldca.com. Or follow us on LinkedIn or Facebook.

About Thrive Global
Founded by Arianna Huffington in 2016, Thrive Global is a leading behavior change technology company with the mission to improve productivity and health outcomes — one Microstep at a time. Thrive helps individuals and organizations improve well-being, performance and mental resilience with its AI-powered behavior change technology platform. Thrive's Microsteps — small, science-backed steps to improve health and productivity — have been adopted by employees at more than 200 organizations in over 160 countries, from frontline and call center workers to executives at multinational companies. For more information, visit thriveglobal.com.

About the Thrive Global Foundation
The Thrive Global Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Thrive Global, the behavior change technology company founded by Arianna Huffington. Guided by Thrive Global's science-backed behavior change methodology, the Foundation collaborates with organizations across the nonprofit, private, public, and education sectors to advance health equity and improve whole-human well-being. With a focus on building small, healthy habits called Microsteps, the Foundation helps drive equitable access to tools and resources that promote better health outcomes for all. For more information, visit thriveglobal.com/foundation.

About SharkNinja
SharkNinja is a global product design and technology company, with a diversified portfolio of 5-star rated lifestyle solutions that positively impact people's lives in homes around the world. Powered by two trusted, global brands, Shark and Ninja, the company has a proven track record of bringing disruptive innovation to market and developing one consumer product after another has allowed SharkNinja to enter multiple product categories, driving significant growth and market share gains. Headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts with more than 3,300 associates, the company's products are sold at key retailers, online and offline, and through distributors around the world. For more information, please visit sharkninja.com.

SOURCE Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan