A lack of access to food can contribute to health problems, including Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. And people with both health problems and inadequate health insurance often have to choose between eating, or getting their medicine. WMRA’s Ayse Pirge [EYE-shuh PEER-guh] has this report.
Hannah Dorrel is the farm manager at Augusta Health. She says the farm was founded in 2018 out of the Community Health Needs Assessment for that year. The findings showed a need to address food insecurity and nutrition education.
DORREL: ...So, at a community forum, you know the idea came about that Augusta Health should start a farm since it has so much access to land and equipment...
Located in Fishersville next to the Augusta Health hospital, the farm provides produce to local residents through various programs, including an on-site food pantry.
DORREL: ...We are a little bit over an acre in production, we are a high intensive market-style farm, and we churn about 25,000 to 30,000 pounds of vegetables per year... about 80 percent of our produce goes back into... food insecurity, nutrition education programming here at Augusta Health.
Dorrel says that since the pandemic, their methods of tracking food insecurity have gotten better, and they’ve seen the need continue to rise. While the farm doesn’t specifically focus on senior populations, the demographic makeup of Augusta County means the clients they serve trends toward seniors.
DORREL: The majority of what we do is vegetables... The American diet is severely lacking in fiber and vegetables tend to be about 90 percent fiber. And so that’s what we’re working and focusing on is how do we increase that nutritional deficit in the American diet.
She also points to a lack of nutrition education.
DORREL: Nutrition education... is pretty slim. I mean, I work a lot with our residency program and the average doctor only receives about two hours of nutrition education in their entire medical education. So, you can imagine, if a doctor is only receiving two hours, that the general public receives far less than that.
Catherine Hill is Health Educator for Community Outreach and Partnerships at Augusta Health. She says Augusta Health’s last Community Health Needs Assessment, conducted in 2022, found that less than one-third of people 65 and older in their community consumed five or more fruits and vegetables per day, lower than average for all adults. The area for this consisted of Augusta County, Staunton and Waynesboro. The survey also found that about one in four adults said it was difficult to access fresh fruits and vegetables. And just over one in four had low food access, meaning they don’t live near a supermarket or a large grocery store.
Hill says their Food FARMacy program concentrates on specific groups, such as patients with diabetes, with a focus on nutrition-related topics.
HILL: ...We have produce from the farm that the patients can fill up a bag of fresh produce and take it home... we always feature a healthy food demo during those classes, featuring one or two veggies from the farm and doing an easy, you know, practical recipe that they can try out. So really trying to give them all of the tools and resources to be successful, versus just oh here’s a bag of veggies...
Hill says all of their programs are free of charge to participants. That’s thanks to a generous donation by a community member, as well as additional funding that the hospital has contributed, which allows them to offer services free of charge, and they are able to count those services as a community benefit for the non-profit hospital.
Hill also says Augusta Health has seen an increase in demand for their Crops to Community Food Box program, as well as their on-site food pantry. The Crops to Community Food Box program is a delivery service that provides food from local farms as well as the Augusta Health Farm, to 50 community members who have referrals through the Case Management Team and are deemed to have food insecurity. The food pantry provides vegetables, plus shelf stable items – that’s food that can be stored at room temperature in a sealed container.
HILL: With this program, we have seen a tremendous increase over the last year of folks... that are accessing it, on a, you know, weekly or a bi-weekly basis. And again, I think that does really speak a lot to, you know the rising grocery costs... things like fruits and veggies... those more nutritious items, you know, tend to be the things that are... more expensive in the grocery stores...
Hill also emphasizes the impact of food on health.
HILL: ... there’s this big concept around food is medicine... you know, good nutrition can really, you know, help impact these chronic diseases in a positive way...
It’s all a part of the effort to prevent food insecurity and promote health.
