Food RX pilot program. (LRH)
Fergus Falls, MN – Lake Region Healthcare is launching a pilot program that will prescribe food for people with diabetes.
Participants of the Food RX pilot program will be able to pick up a box of food in Fergus Falls once every two weeks for six months, starting in mid-May. The boxes will include healthy food staples, and during summer months will include fresh produce from the LRH Community Garden, Lake Region Takes Root. Participants will receive recipes that call for the ingredients in the food boxes and will also be invited to participate in hands-on food prep and receive instruction on cooking and grocery shopping for better health.
“The connection between diet and health is so powerful. Access to high quality food is essential for people and communities to thrive, and there is good evidence behind food as medicine to improve health outcomes,” said Dr. Bruce Money, an Internal Medicine physician at Lake Region Healthcare who has recently also earned his Board Certification in Lifestyle Medicine. “I am excited to write these food prescriptions for patients because we’re able to take the concept further than just encouraging people to eat healthier. Here we can remove barriers people might have to accessing healthy food and also teach basic useful skills. We’re not just “giving a man a fish” as they say, we’re able to teach him how to shop for and cook the healthiest version of that fish as well.”
“We continue to expand our Lifestyle Medicine program to equip people with education and tools to make healthy lifestyle choices to treat chronic conditions, and we think this Food Prescription program for people with diabetes has tremendous potential,” said Director of Wellness at LRH, Natalie Knutson.
The Food RX pilot program will start on May 15th through a partnership with Otter Tail County Public Health and a grant from the UCare Foundation. Anyone with a diabetes diagnosis and a current A1C (blood test result measuring blood sugar level) of 8.0 or higher is eligible to apply and registration is limited to the first 30 eligible applicants.
Story courtesy of Lake Region Healthcare.
