Whole Foods Challenge

The St. Peter’s Health 2025 Whole Food Challenge will run from October 1st to October 31st. It is free and open to the public.

This self-guided challenge is intended to help you understand how to incorporate whole foods into your meals. Whole foods include fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains (like oats, brown rice, barley, etc.), legumes, meat, nuts and seeds, and some dairy products. Adding whole foods can help improve overall health by lowering the risk of chronic illnesses, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.

This four-week challenge includes free materials to help you:

• Learn more about whole foods
• Add more whole foods into what you are already eating
• Build long-term healthy habits 

Register to receive informational messages by using the registration link farther down this page.

Get started

After completing the registration form, you will be signed up for email messages that will provide an introduction to the challenge and walk you through the 4 steps over the 4 weeks of the challenge. 

It may be helpful to follow along with this challenge by completing a Nutrient-Dense Food Checklist each day of the challenge. This will help you see your progress on how many foods you have incorporated from the beginning to the end of the challenge. Use the link below to print off your checklist.

Nutrient-dense Foods Checklist

Week 1: Understand Whole Foods

The first step of any whole foods challenge is to understand exactly what whole foods are. They are briefly described above, but the first week you will be provided with more information on how to identify whole foods and processed foods. 

Week 2: How to Read Nutrition Labels

Once you are able to identify whole foods, you will receive information about how to read a nutrition label. What are some key nutrients we are looking for in our foods? We can use nutrition labels to interpret what our foods are made of.

Week 3: Incorporating More Whole Foods

Now that you know how to identify whole foods and how to read a nutrition label, you are ready to put this knowledge to action! Increasing fruits and veggies can be a great place to start. Suggestions and tips on incorporating more whole foods will be provided this week.

Week 4: Setting Yourself Up for Success

This challenge runs for 4 weeks, but we want you to maintain these habits for life! Learn more about how to develop sustainable, long-term changes by setting SMART goals. This type of goal is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.

More Insight about Whole Foods Before You Start This Challenge

It’s important to know what classifies something as a whole food. Typically, whole foods are products that are unprocessed or minimally processed. This isn’t to take away from the fact that some processed foods can definitely be incorporated into a nourishing and healthful diet. Our health goals are determined by our overall habits and the lifestyle choices that we make consistently. 

• Whole foods have wholesome ingredients from these food groups: fruits, veggies, whole grains, and unprocessed meats. Dairy is also considered a whole food, but there is no daily recommended intake for it so for this challenge we will be focusing on the other groups.
• Whole foods may or may not have a nutrition label and/or ingredient list. Think—a bunch of bananas at the grocery store does not come with a nutrition label.  In contrast, some whole foods may be more processed than others. Take a bag of frozen broccoli, for example. This product is processed because it has been pre-chopped and frozen. It also includes a nutrition label. This is still a great, whole food option! 

Health Benefits of Whole Foods 

• Increased energy
• Improved mood
• Nourishment 

More Resources

• Sample Whole Food Challenge
• Plant Based Diet
• Recipes
• Montana State University Food Fact Sheets
• St. Peter’s Harvest of the Month