Food as Medicine

​Laura reporting:

​Melissa Needham focuses on Healthy Communities in her role as public health specialist with Vermont’s Department of Health. Good to know there are such dedicated public servants in our state government, as she demonstrated in her talk on Food As Medicine at TTJ’s February resiliency talk. You can view her full presentation here:

https://youtu.be/sJ9Oc6VlUSA

Melissa started with an overview of chronic disease, including cancer, heart disease and diabetes among others. Vermont, though healthy by US standards, is facing an increase in chronic diseases along with the rest of the country. She said if one is food insecure, they are statistically at higher risk for chronic disease. She added that 12% of youth in Vermont are considered food insecure.

She mentioned ‘modifiable risk factors’ which lead to food insecurity such as living in food deserts, convenience of unhealthy and/or junk food, psychological stresses and lack of nutritional education.

Food as Medicine programs enable health compromised and/or financially challenged individuals to get a medical prescription for CSA shares, giving them access to organic vegetables and other foods. Programs might also include recipes, cooking classes, nutritional counseling and other things benefiting health.

She said Vermont’s Farm to Plate initiative, in conjunction with Healthcare Communities of Practice, *CoPs oversee five Food as Medicine programs currently in Vermont: 

1)Acorn
2)UVM’s Medical Center’s Farm Shares for Health
3)Healthy Roots Collaborative: Sheldon NW Farmacy CSA
4)VT Farmer Food Center Farmacy Project (Rutland)
5)VT Youth Conservation Corp’s Health Care Shares (Richmond)

Melissa also mentioned three NOFA programs aiding community food access:

-Farm Share: half-price CSA shares to those in need
-Crop Cash: discounts at farmers markets for participants
-3SquareVT farm stand match: discounts at farm stands for participants 

*CoP has regular zoom meetings which are open to the public, and bring together existing food farmacies and Farm to Plate organizers. If interested in attending, contact:
Kelly Dolan: [email protected]