Courtesy of Health Affairs

In 2016, the Chicago Botanic Garden and Lawndale Christian Health Center collaborated to develop the Farm on Ogden, a 20,000-square-foot agriculture facility in a historically disinvested food desert in Chicago, Illinois. The partnership’s VeggieRx produce prescription program refers patients to the Farm on Ogden for free produce boxes, nutrition counseling, and cooking classes. We first describe this unique cross-sector collaboration and then report on our evaluation of the VeggieRx program for the period January 2016–December 2021, using a retrospective propensity score–weighted cohort design. The overall sample included 680 VeggieRx participants and 978 weighted controls. At eighteen months, the VeggieRx group experienced a mean body weight difference of −6.71 pounds and percentage body weight difference of −4.7 percent relative to control. Our results suggest that Food Is Medicine interventions that anchor produce prescriptions to place-based strategies can improve health outcomes while investing in local communities. Health Affairs found thatt at 18 months, the VeggieRx group had a 6.71 pound lower mean weight compared to the control group, as well as a 4.7 percent lower body weight. The results suggest that individualized food prescriptions anchored to place-based strategies, like the Farm on Ogden, can improve health outcomes while growing healthier communities.  To read the full report, visit www.healthaffairs.org.

Photo Credit: Chicago Botanic Garden