Helping veterans get access to healthy food. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and The Rockefeller Foundation announced a new partnership to expand Food is Medicine programs, from medically tailored meals to produce prescription programs, at key VA healthcare facilities across the country.
VA and The Rockefeller Foundation will support two Produce Prescription pilot projects and associated research pilot programs at VA health care systems in Salt Lake City, Utah and Houston, Texas, with the goal of improving the quality of life for Veterans living with or at-risk of diet-related health conditions. The Produce Prescription program pilots will provide eligible Veterans the opportunity to enroll in the Fresh Connect program to receive $100 per month for fresh produce and receive nutrition education and ongoing coaching from VA-registered dietitian nutritionists.
VA is the largest integrated health care system in the United States providing care at more than 1,200 health care facilities to over nine million Veterans. Unfortunately, about 27% of Afghanistan and Iraq war Veterans experience food insecurity — a rate more than double that of the general U.S. population.
To learn more about food as medicine programs, check out the April 1 episode of the AgNet Weekly podcast.
Listen to Sabrina Halvorson’s This Land Of Ours program here.
Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet News Hour and The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.