Food is Medicine in Action: Dietary and Food Security Outcomes of a Health Care-Based Community-Supported Agriculture Program

Top Things to Know

This CSA-based intervention significantly increased fruit and vegetable intake and reduced food insecurity, reinforcing food provision as a clinically relevant strategy to address diet-related health risk.

FIM programs can successfully combine clinical referrals with community self-enrollment to reach broader populations.

The lack of a strong relationship between length of participation and outcomes highlights the importance of program design, accessibility, and participant context.

Summary of Conclusion/Findings

Food Is Medicine intervention that provided free weekly produce boxes to participants through both self-referral and provider referral pathways. Among 164 participants who completed pre- and post-program surveys, household food security improved significantly, with the proportion of food-secure households increasing from 20% at baseline to 45% after participation. Participants also experienced statistically significant increases in fruit and vegetable intake, averaging about one-third of a cup more fruits and vegetables per day. Improvements in diet and food security were similar regardless of whether participants self-referred or were referred by a health care provider. Program participation length was not significantly associated with changes in food security and showed only a weak, nonsignificant relationship with fruit and vegetable intake. Overall, the findings demonstrate that health care–embedded food access programs can positively influence key nutritional and social determinants of health, even without tightly controlled clinical enrollment criteria.