Farm Share Rx Offers Prescription for Health
From June through September, about 100 families in Grand Ronde and Salem will receive a variety of farm-grown vegetables each week to help them manage diet-related disease. Participants also receive cooking and nutrition education support to establish health improving dietary habits.
The Food Share’s Farm Share Rx program is a partnership with three local medical clinics, Mama T’s farm in Willamina, our own Youth Farm in northeast Salem, and OSU Extension Service. Patients managing or at risk of diet-related disease are enrolled in the program by a health care professional to receive 14 weeks of free produce.
Last year, the program aided 93 patients whose households comprised 217 adults and 130 children. About three-fourths of those enrolled said they felt their health had improved by the end of the program. All were thankful for the infusion of fresh produce to their diet.
Thanks to financial support from the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute and Tomberg Family Philanthropies, the Food Share is able to offer this program for a third year.