Picture this: you need a prescription to help with your illness, but instead of getting a prescription for medication, you get a prescription for food.
It’s a novel concept now making its way to Greater Cleveland — using food prescriptions and food pharmacies to fight food insecurity. ProMedica, a nonprofit hospital system in Toledo, started the program three years ago.
Kate Sommerfeld, ProMedica’s president of social determinants of health, said 40 to 60 percent of an individual’s health is determined by non-clinical things — and hunger is one of them.
“We’re actually seeing impact to healthcare cost, reduction in ER usage and increase in primary care visits as well,” she said.
This has grown as an alternative to many residents of the area that could otherwise not afford the adequate medical care required for their symptoms.
Once someone becomes a client, their case manager will work with an on-site pharmacist who will write a prescription for medication and for food that is tailored to their chronic condition — whether it is diabetes, heart disease, asthma, obesity or more.
The food prescription will be taken to the food pharmacy in exchange for a bag or box of healthy food, along with recipes. The prescription can be refilled once a week.
The Centers food pharmacy is expected to be open this summer.
Geography 335: Sustainable Food Course 