Did anyone else see the recent barrage of articles on prescribing food? This is because I recent study has shown that it’s more cost effective to help people consume more fruits and vegetables than it is to treat the downstream effects of lack of access to fruits and vegetables like diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
Fruits and Vegetables Decrease Risks of Heart Disease, Diabetes and Cancer and are essential for good physical and mental health
As a naturopathic doctor I look at this and try and hold myself back from unhelpful comments like “obvious” and “of course it is” When you start from a model of preventative care and working to keep people well, the idea of prescribing food is an obvious one. It’s something I do daily in my practice.
Never the less, it’s exciting to see it talked about more and even more exciting to hear conversations around making healthy eating more affordable to those who need it. We all need access to healthy fruits and vegetables, especially as it is now recommended to be the basis of your diet.
Luckily, many places have programs that help offer subsidized access to fruits and vegetables. I want to take a minute to highlight 2 options available in the city of Guelph.
The Seed
One of the groups of people doing amazing work to help people access and eat more vegetables are the folks at the seed. They have many amazing programs but I want to highlight their garden fresh box and community food market.
The Garden Fresh Box is an affordable food box that goes out to 17 locations in the city every month. It costs $15 or $20 (depending on the size of box you pick) and you receive $22-$30 worth of produce! It’s incredible value. When I picked up my box I was not only overwhelmed by the quantity of food I was getting, but also the quality. The produce was very fresh and was absolutely the quality of food I would pick for myself at the grocery store. I was really impressed.
The other program that I wanted to highlight is the Community Food Markets currently with 2 locations in Guelph. These sliding scale market allows you to purchase food at or below retail value (whatever feels right for you).
Using these services is great no matter what you can pay for your food. It’s actually important that we all use these services for a couple of reasons. One, it reduces stigma when everyone uses a service like this. Two, by paying mid to full price it directly subsidizes food for friends in our community.
Community Shared Agriculture (CSA)
Community Shared Agriculture (or CSA) is a model of supporting farmers where you pay for a season of produce at the beginning of the year, and then collect your produce each week based on what the farmers produce. There are many great CSA programs in Guelph but I wanted to share where I get my vegetables from because I think they are going above and beyond to make organic vegetables accessible to everyone.
Zocalo Organics is the only local CSA I know of that offers sliding scale prices for their CSA boxes. This means that at each size of food box, you can select a price option that best fits your budget. The produce Zocalo grows is some of the highest quality food I’ve ever eaten! And it’s so delicious.
If you want to know more about diet prescriptions…
Eating more vegetables is good for everyone! But maybe you want to know more about what specifically is best for you! When I prescribe I diet, it’s not just about eating more vegetables, it’s about helping you make food choices that are right for YOU.
In this video I explain the 3R’s of a Prescription Diet
Want to learn more? Come in and meet me for a complimentary meet and greet appointment! Naturopathic Medicine might be just the breath of fresh air you are looking for in healthcare ;)
What’s the opposite of a Disclaimer?
Also, I just want to clarify that these are NOT affiliate links, I’m not getting paid to share and no one gave me free food, I just really believe in what these organizations are doing. These are food programs I personally support with my own money and I wanted you to know about them so you could also access their awesome produce :)