Preston Maring, MD
By Ginny McPartland
Preston Maring, MD, the Oakland Kaiser Permanente physician who has nurtured our farmers’ markets nationwide, is being honored by the National Park Service (NPS) with the 2009 World War II Home Front award.
The award will be presented to Maring during Richmond’s annual Home Front Festival 2:25 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 3, in the Craneway Pavilion on the Richmond waterfront. Admission to the festival is free. The theme of this year’s all day event is “We Grow When We Come Together,” highlighting victory and community gardens.
Dr. Maring is receiving the award for his role in “keeping the legacy of World War II victory gardens alive by establishing farmers’ markets at Kaiser Permanente and by promoting the role of fresh produce in preventive medicine,” said Carla Koop of the NPS.
Last year’s recipient of the Home Front award was Faith Petric, renowned folk singer and Home Front New Jersey shipyard worker who has championed union, civil rights and anti-nuclear movements since the 1930s.
Dr. Maring started the Friday Fresh farmers’ market at the Oakland Medical Center in 2003. Since then, he has helped to grow 35 more local produce markets at Kaiser Permanente facilities across America. Kaiser Permanente has also supported other farmers’ markets in communities near our medical centers and clinics.
Dr. Maring, an OB-GYN physician with 38 years experience, authored the introduction to EatingWell in Season, the Farmers’ Market Cookbook, published in 2009 by EatingWell magazine. He has been acclaimed nationally, interviewed by many writers and appeared on “Good Morning America Health” in April.
Here are some examples of his yummy, accessible recipes: Moroccan Tomato Soup, the Quarterpounder Revisited, healthy Mash Potatoes, Radicchio with Chicken, Pine Nuts, Raisins, and Orange/Balsamic Vinaigrette salad, and Strawberry, Yogurt and Granola Parfait. For more recipes, go to: recipe.kaiser-permanente.org
Preventing Disease through Healthy Eating
Kaiser Permanente first took on the role of encouraging healthy eating as preventive medicine in the Kaiser Shipyards during the war. Dr. Sidney R. Garfield, founder of the medical care program, and his fellow physicians urged shipyards workers to grow their own fresh fruits and vegetables in the face of shortages.
The shipyard newsletters often carried articles instructing workers to eat a balanced diet, including vitamin-rich produce, to stave off illness and build the stamina to work at a pace and intensity to meet seemingly impossible goals and deadlines.
Kaiser Permanente is a sponsor of the Home Front Festival and will have an exhibit in the Craneway Pavilion at the Oct. 3 event. The display will chronicle the birth of Kaiser Permanente’s preventive care program in the West Coast Shipyards.
Garfield Biographer to Speak at Festival
Also, Heritage Resources Director Tom Debley will speak during the festival on the Red Oak Victory ship docked at historic Shipyard No. 3, which is part of the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park. Debley will discuss the life and achievements of Sidney R. Garfield, MD, who launched the nation’s largest Home Front medical care program at the Kaiser Shipyards.
Debley is the author of Dr. Sidney R. Garfield: The Visionary Who Turned Sick Care into Health Care, published this year. His talk will begin at noon. Free shuttles will be available to take festival participants from the pavilion at the end of Harbour Way South to the Red Oak Victory, located west of the Craneway in the historic Shipyard No. 3 (Port of Richmond).
For more information about the Home Front festival: homefrontfestival.com
