Starting this year and thanks to a grant award from the USDA Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive, the Appalachian Farmacy coalition will be making it easier for low-income patients with diabetes and heart disease to eat more locally grown fruits and vegetables from Washington County, TN, farmers markets.
The Appalachian Farmacy provides patients of the Johnson City Community Health Clinic and clients of the Johnson City Senior Center and Jonesborough Senior Center with the opportunity to enroll and receive a prescription for fresh produce, for every week of the summer as long as enrolled participants choose to check in with their health clinic. A total of $56,000 will be invested in the direct purchase of fruits and vegetables, through prescription vouchers that participants redeem at the Johnson City Farmers Market, Jonesborough Farmers Market and at the Boone Street Market in Jonesborough– that is $56,000 invested in the regional agricultural economy. By the end of the summer, participants will report increased consumption of fresh foods, and improved knowledge, behaviors, and health.
The Appalachia Farmacy coalition is the Appalachian RC&D Council; Appalachian Sustainable Development; East TN State University College of Public Health and College of Nursing; Food City’s Nutrition office; Johnson City Senior Center; Jonesborough Senior Center; Jonesborough Locally Grown (Jonesborough Farmers Market & Boone Street Market); Johnson City Farmers Market; the University of TN Extension Service; and representatives of Mountain States Health Alliance’s Community Education Dietitians. Our mission is to work collaboratively across the region to improve preventative health through making it easier for patients to eat locally grown fruits and vegetables.