It took several months to get going, but Feeding Westchester is now humming along with an initiative that uses Medicaid dollars to deliver nutritious food to the doors of eligible residents. Every Wednesday morning, the Elmsford, N.Y.-based food bank oversees the distribution of hundreds of boxes of medically tailored food…
Posts published in “Food is Medicine”
Like many hunger relief organizations, God’s Love We Deliver recently put language at the top of its website to help individuals navigate the new SNAP restrictions. It also highlighted a less-common avenue of help – food assistance through Medicaid. Individuals can now go to a page on GLWD’s site where…
Community Farmacy, a joint health initiative between Fort Wayne, IN-based Community Harvest Food Bank and a local healthcare facility, is making an impact on public health without prescribing pills. In just 12 weeks, participants in this year’s Community Farmacy program recorded notable improvements in their health, with some cutting their…
For all the talk about how important food is to health, it can be surprisingly difficult to get healthcare providers to refer patients to sources of healthy food. Island Harvest Food Bank has found a way around that issue by embedding its own dieticians in area hospitals and clinics. The…
The state of Massachusetts recently reached a milestone in its Food is Medicine journey. At the beginning of this year, 43 community-based organizations in the state, including many food banks, became Medicaid healthcare providers. “They have become just like your doctor,” said Stephanie Buckler, Deputy Director of Social Services Integration…
The timing could not have been better to demonstrate that major Food is Medicine interventions can improve patient health, while lowering costs. Three research studies released in as many months all point to a variety of positive outcomes related to Food is Medicine initiatives. The studies out of North Carolina,…
WASHINGTON D.C. – If you’re thinking about ways to get into Food is Medicine, you might consider reaching out to your state’s primary care association as a first step. Every state and territory in the country has an association of primary care providers, according to Patricia Quinn, Vice President of…
The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts has a few things going for it when it comes to Food is Medicine. First, it has long championed building relationships with area hospitals, giving it valuable exposure to the healthcare world. Second, it operates in a state that is actively pursuing solutions and…
Seven years ago, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, published what it called a “groundbreaking” report on food bank nutrition policies. It found that food banks with formal nutrition policies distributed more fresh fruits and vegetables than those without, while also distributing much less unhealthy food. (See our article on…