Many medical issues have symptoms that can be managed or preventative with exercise and nutritional care, but access to things like fresh fruits and vegetables or healthy protein can be challenging for certain populations. The Silver Avenue Family Health Center has expanded a traditional food pantry into a place where patients struggling with high blood pressure and diabetes can discuss nutrition, recipes, and receive cooking demonstrations for improving their diet and health. Mother Jones reports that patients can access the food pharmacy with a referral, and that the program has been so successful, it will be expanding to four other primary care clinics in the coming year.
While many food pantries emphasize goods that can be stored for a long time, like grains or canned items, BMC’s pantry focuses on healthy perishables that don’t last on shelves, but are good for patients. They offer fresh fruit and vegetables all year round. They now feed over 7,000 people a month, and derive some of their produce from the hospital’s rooftop garden.It’s difficult to measure the efficiency of the food pantry, since patients are getting their food form other sources as well. But initial findings are positive.
In a three-month trial, 75 percent of patients said they had “greater access to healthy foods.” Half had better blood sugar levels, and 38 percent reported lower blood pressure. For many, the issue isn’t so much a reluctance to eat healthy, but a lack of access to what the pharmacy can offer. With a combination of education and supply, doctors may be able to bridge the gap to health that so many people struggling with poverty and illness need help getting over.
There Are Now ‘Food Pharmacies’ That Dispense Fruit And Vegetables [GreenMatters]