For the past five years, Advocate Health Care in the United States has provided patients with fresh fruit, vegetables and protein, out of its Calumet Heights and Hazel Crest, Illinois, hospitals as part of its Food Farmacy.
The programme, designed to improve the diets of patients who either struggle to access fresh food or have long neglected to incorporate produce in their diet, is expanding to its hospital in Oak Lawn, also in the US state of Illinois.
Our risk for dementia goes down; our risk for high blood pressure and diabetes goes down; our risk for cancer goes down; all by simply making dietary changes, said Dr Tony Hampton, chair-elect of the Advocate Health Midwest Medical Group, at a kickoff news conference on Nov 14.
Twice a month, patients from the Oak Lawn community will be able to come to the hospital campus and pick up bags and boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables, some canned foods and the occasional meat-based protein source.
The news conference marked the beginning of the programme in Oak Lawn, and patients who signed up received a special Thanksgiving order that included cauliflower, apples, leafy greens, canned soup, yams and a large turkey.
