Hospital Program Addresses Food Insecurity

Food insecurity is a measure of food deprivation and inadequate access to food, due to lack of money and other resources. According to Feeding America, the food insecurity rate in Middlesex County is 11.1%.

Here at Middlesex Hospital, a special program last year helped to address food insecurity in the local area.

Two Middlesex Hospital Family Medicine residents, Pranav Kapoor, M.D. and Kristen Donato, M.D., developed an outreach program for their community project required by the Residency, called "Rx for Healthy Eating."

Drs. Kapoor and Donato were able to secure funding from the Middlesex Hospital Helping Hands Assistance Fund, which allowed for $5 food vouchers to be used at the North End Farmers Market. The market is a seasonal, open-air market that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to area residents every Friday, from July through October. The market was developed to make reasonably priced, high-quality, fresh, local produce accessible to everyone in the North End neighborhood and to introduce community members to healthy food alternatives.

Drs. Kapoor and Donato developed screening tools and piloted the program at the Family Medicine offices in Middletown, Portland and East Hampton. Cancer Center Clinical Dietitian, Mary Mayne, also participated by identifying nutritional need among her patients. When patients meeting criteria for food insecurity were identified, the practitioners reviewed the program with them and gave them a $5 voucher to obtain fruits and vegetables at the market. In its first year, the initiative was a huge success, with 215 vouchers redeemed.

For more information about the Middlesex Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program, go to www.middlesexfmrp.org.