Food-As-Medicine in Practice: A Pilot Evaluation of a Clinic-Based Produce Prescription Program

Top Things to Know

Produce prescriptions can address both food insecurity and nutrition simultaneously.

FIM programs may generate meaningful patient-centered benefits even before clinical biomarkers change.

Clinic-integrated produce prescription programs appear feasible and scalable.

Summary of Conclusion/Findings

This pilot evaluation examined a six-month clinic-based produce prescription program ("FoodRx") that provided free produce every two weeks to 62 food-insecure adults with at least one diet-related chronic condition, such as diabetes, hypertension, or obesity. Participants experienced significant improvements in food security, with 22.6% moving into the marginal food security category by the end of the program and overall odds of improved food security increasing significantly (aOR = 0.48, p = 0.005). Fruit and vegetable consumption also increased significantly, with participants reporting an average increase of 0.65 daily servings of fruit and 0.60 daily servings of vegetables over six months. Self-reported health status improved, and participants were nearly twice as likely to report better overall health at follow-up (OR = 1.85, p = 0.020). However, no significant change was observed in body mass index (BMI) during the intervention period. The authors concluded that clinic-based produce prescription programs may be effective for improving food security, diet quality, and perceived health among high-risk patients, although larger controlled studies are needed to confirm these findings.