BATON ROUGE — Chemotherapy is an effective way to treat several types of cancer, but there are many potential side effects.

It can include a change in a patient's sense of taste.

The Garden of Hope was started to give survivors a chance to improve their relationship with food, counseling and cooking demonstrations.

“You can get outside, connect with nature, connect with your food as it's growing and it's a space where we don't just talk to our survivors about eating more produce, but we actually go out there and we let them pick it," Dietitian Dena Champion said.

Food-focused holidays like Thanksgiving can be stressful for patients with a sore mouth or changes in taste due to chemo.

Experts suggest setting boundaries on menus and comments before a gathering.