PPR’s
"One response to this call has been produce prescription programs (PPRs in USDA parlance). They’re part of a broader “food as health (https://lnkd.in/gHxhx2AU effort—including medically tailored meals and free distribution of local produce—meant to address the double-whammy of poor health and food insecurity across the country. PPRs in particular “envision an ecosystem in which healthy food becomes a part of healthcare bec
ause it’s such an important part of your health,” Seligman says. And they’re being met with optimism “because [they] maintain a lot of the dignity of shopping for yourself and choosing your own foods.”
"In simplest terms, PPRs—which may alternatively be referred to as PPPs or Produce Rx, and which Civil Eats has reported on since they first began
to emerge —allow clinicians to prescribe fresh produce to low-income patients with diet-related health risks or conditions."
"A person with diabetes might walk into a community health center, meet with a doctor or nurse practitioner who ask a series of targeted questions, receive a prescription and a voucher for, say, $10 worth of produce for the week, and then redeem the voucher at a participating grocery store or farmers’ market. Some programs have additional components, such as exercise classes and training for medical staff. Ideally, a person’s health insurance provider pays for it all."
"First, prescriptions are written for 16 weekly bags of produce for low-income participants who have any one of a number of cardio-metabolic or behavioral conditions; the prescriptions are filled for free and delivered by a local regenerative farm, which has the added benefit of reducing transportation barriers. Second, through ALL IN’s “behavioral pharmacy,” patients take exercise and movement classes; learn healthful produce prep, stress reduction, and mindfulness practices; and visit with a medical advisor to refine their recommended activities. Finally, clinicians and clinic staff receive food-as-medicine training."
"“We are trying to train folks who’ve been practicing medicine for 20 years,” Chen says. “Most of us clinicians, if we don’t get this training, we develop the habit of seeing the world as nails and we’re a hammer: ‘Just do what I say.’” Clinicians experience the behavioral pharmacy much as their patients do, with cooking demos and meditation, among other activities. “That usually then opens their mindset to say, ‘Oh, wow, that’d be amazing for my patients,’” Chen says. They also learn to screen for food insecurity."
