Food can be powerful medicine, and one Richmond clinic that serves people in need wants to help some of its patients with diabetes and high blood pressure eat their way to better health.
Food Farmacy, a pilot program that is set to open June 1, will provide fresh, free produce, cooking classes, and coaching and support to participants, according to Wendy Klein, medical director of Health Brigade.
The nonprofit, formerly known as the Fan Free Clinic, serves a lot of patients with multiple medical issues and a range of social, economic and other challenges, says Klein.
Health Brigade will work with 15 people in the pilot program, with fresh produce each week from Shalom Farms, a nonprofit that offers “access to healthy food” to underserved communities. Shalom Farms will provide about 300 servings of fresh food each week for 12 weeks.
Classes in cooking and nutrition will help participants learn how to use the bounty, and how to live healthier. Participants also will be provided with some practical tools for healthier eating, including measuring cups and spoons, recipes, and spices.
Participants will have their overall blood sugar control monitored through a blood test. Weights will be monitored as well, but the emphasis will be on healthier eating, not weight loss. Klein notes that modifying food intake and nutrition can improve diabetes control.
To that end, the goal is to steer participants away from processed food and toward better options including fresh produce. “We want to get people to think differently about food,” says Klein.
Cooking facilities at Health Brigade have been modified into a demonstration kitchen with proceeds from a $48,000 grant from the Supervalu Foundation. The cooking classes will be offered there with volunteers from Shalom Farms and from the American Heart Association.
Program participants are coming from the Health Brigade’s patient base, so they are known to program care-providers and can be followed over time. Participants make an investment of time in the program and are empowered to take charge of their care. Klein notes the training also affects the families of the participants as they make changes in their diet and cooking techniques.
“It really is useful to bring this back to the whole household and have everybody benefit,” she says.
Food Farmacy was championed by Johanna Gattuso, a nurse volunteer. It is modeled after a prescription nutrition program offered in Pennsylvania by Geisinger Health System.
Health Brigade offers a food pantry, but Klein says that it has been focused on simply providing food to those in need, with little thought given to nutrition and caloric content. Now, Health Brigade wants to adjust that focus and seek out healthier items for the pantry in future drives, asking specifically for such items as whole-grain foods and lean proteins.
Klein would eventually like to extend the program, possibly by finding support from grocery chains or through grants.
“We have an endless supply of patients and volunteers,” she says, “[but] we have to have a steady supply of fresh produce.”
HEALTHY DEVELOPMENTS
A roundup of the week’s health and medicine news
- The Goochland Free Clinic & Family Services has reached another milestone in its fundraising campaign, raising $400,000 to qualify for a matching grant from the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation. Proceeds go to construction of a new facility that will combine the clinic offices and programs at one site, 3001 River Road West in Goochland. A groundbreaking was held in March. The capital campaign goal is $7.1 million.
- Brian Aboff has assumed duties as senior associate dean for graduate medical education for the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.
- It’s Hepatitis Awareness Month and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have a simple online risk assessment for you to determine if you should be tested for viral hepatitis or get a vaccine.
PARTING SHOT
Got some pool time planned for the long Memorial Day weekend? Here’s a not-so-happy thought: pool- and water park-related outbreaks of an infection that causes an intestinal illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The culprit is a parasite called cryptosporidium that can live 10 days or so in water that’s been treated properly. The CDC says to not swallow pool water and don’t let your kids into the water if they’re sick.
