Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the CDC estimates that nearly one…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the CDC estimates that nearly one in five children and nearly two in five adults in the U.S. Are obese. Being obese or overweight increases an individual's risk for diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and cardiovascular disease. Obesity can also contribute to poor mental health (anxiety, depression, low self-esteem), stigma, and social isolation. Among children and youth, obesity can also increase the likelihood of bullying. In monterey county, california, home to salinas valley, the salad bowl of the world, 67% of residents are reported to be obese or overweight, obesity rates are higher among children and adults countywide than state averages, and 45% of residents are prediabetic or have type 2 diabetes. The high rates of diabetes and food insecurity throughout the county are exacerbated in the farmworker community in east salinas by the poverty rate, which is more than 1.5 times the state average and 29% of children live in poverty. Furthermore, fast-food outlets and convenience stores outnumber healthy food sources including supermarkets or large grocery stores and farmers' markets nearly six to one in east salinas where 94% of the community are latinx. More than 50% of residents report eating fewer than five servings of fruit and vegetables daily, and food insecurity among children, and the portion of students eligible for federal free- or reduced-price lunch, are substantially higher than the state benchmarks. The project by everyone's harvest (EH) is to expand and quantify the impact of an existing produce prescription program, fresh RX, on improving the health outcomes of low-income families impacted by nutrition insecurity and diet-related chronic health conditions in east salinas and other historically underserved monterey county. Through fresh RX, families are prescribed $35 worth of fresh produce by their physicians and access its benefits by receiving fresh produce vouchers, nutrition education and information about affordable food resources/access points throughout the county from EH staff at the weekly farmers' markets we operate at five locations. Fresh RX participants can immediately purchase culturally valued produce directly from the limited-resource, predominantly latinx farmers who sell at the markets. EH's additional community food programs that fresh RX participants will access include edible education-cooking demonstrations, workshops and nutritional tastings-that teach nutrition and cooking skills using produce from the markets, and market match, which doubles the spending power, up to $10, of families buying produce at farmers' markets using calfresh (snap) benefits. The project goals are to quantify and evaluate the impact of its fresh RX produce prescription program on (1) improving dietary health through increased fruit and vegetable consumption, (2) reducing food insecurity, (3) reducing healthcare use and associated costs, and 4) increasing fresh RX's long-term efficacy and sustainability. TH, e project will enable EH to expand, institutionalize, and more effectively quantify the effectiveness of fresh RX's partnerships with healthcare providers to improve health outcomes of low-income patients with nutrition insecurity and chronic diet-related health conditions. Project objectives include 1) expanding enrollment and retention of current fresh RX patients from 250 to 300, 2) completing baseline and post-program surveys with 144 patients, 3) submitting participant-level and firm-level data to the gusnip ntae center, 4) providing nutrition education, and 5) establishing the long-term sustainability of fresh RX. The project's results tracked by the patients' physicians and program evaluation will add to the body of knowledge supporting the positive impact of produce prescription programs on patient health outcomes and reduced healthcare costs to strengthen the argument for including produce prescription programs in preventive medicine associated with the burgeoning food is medicine'' movement in healthcare.