Farm Share Rx Program Delivers Produce and Delicious Inspiration

Published On: November 9th, 2025

Ashley loves to cook. She watches cooking shows in her free time and dreams up different recipes. However, after being diagnosed with a serious seizure condition that left her unable to drive safely, grocery shopping for fresh produce was set on the back burner. That’s where the Farm Share Rx program — and friends like you — came in to help.

Marion Polk Food Share’s Farm Share Rx program delivers weekly shares of fresh produce grown at our Youth Farm, a six-acre urban farm and collaborative educational site where young people engage in farming.

“Oh, it smells so good!” Ashley exclaimed as one of our volunteers handed her the share with fresh dill sitting on top. Her eyes lit up with an idea. “I’ll mix it with softened butter for a yummy dill butter. It’ll go on bread tonight, and then later in the week, it’s going on pasta.”

Once an avid long-distance runner, Ashley has had to hang up her trusty sneakers while she navigates complex medical issues. For now, she finds joy in cooking and loves getting creative with the fresh fruits and vegetables she receives in her Farm Share Rx delivery.

“I get great veggies in [the weekly shares], and there are lots of vegetarian options,” Ashley said. “I’m a vegetarian, so for me, it’s just all about vegetables. This is what I love — lots of fresh stuff.”

Thanks to generous donors like you, youth farmers and our farm crew grow more than 40 types of fruits and vegetables throughout the year using organic methods, then harvest it.

The Farm Share Rx program partners with local clinics to help people with serious medical conditions and disabilities throughout the community access local produce. Volunteers deliver it right to their door once a week.

Marion Polk Food Share would like to thank:

  • Bank of America Charitable Foundation
  • First Tech Federal Credit Union
  • Marion-Polk County Medical Society
  • Esther Schuette Gerstacker and Carl Gerstacker Fund of the Midland Area Community Foundation
  • Salem Foundation
  • Funding through Trust Management Services

and community members like you for supporting the Youth Farm and the Farm Share Rx Program so that we can provide nutritious, healthful food to our neighbors facing hunger.