With a bag of leafy greens in one hand and fresh tomatoes in the other, Maya Alandete sees more than produce changing hands. She sees confidence, connection and a chance at better health.
That’s the mission behind FARMRx, a food-as-medicine program helping bridge the gap between healthcare and healthy eating in Athens. Operated through the Athens Farmers Market, in partnership with the nonprofit Wholesome Wave Georgia, FARMRx provides free produce, transportation and wellness education to residents struggling with food insecurity and diet-related illnesses.
Why It’s Newsworthy: The Athens Farmers Market takes place twice a week, but has more to offer than what meets the eye. Through FARMRx, it gives participants the opportunity to learn the benefits behind eating locally grown produce and how to live a healthy lifestyle.“The whole idea of the program is to improve people’s health, improve people’s quality of life and give them the dignity of choice at the market so their shopping experience mirrors that of really any other shopper,” Alandete said.
Bridging the Gap
By bridging the gap between healthcare and healthy eating, FARMRx is changing the way Athens residents access fresh produce and improve their well-being. FARMRx is a program which helps connect patients with fresh, nutritious food while supporting the Athens Farmers Market and the local agricultural community.
“We always were part of the Athens Farmers Market, because it is a certified naturally grown or organic market,” Iwalani Farfour, owner of Farm Cart, says. “So, they do have high standards for how the farmer, how the vendors are treating their products.”
Unlike most farmers markets, the Athens Farmers Market is able to double SNAP dollars at the market, serve the community through their FARMRx program specifically, have live music at each market and offer a kids booth for children to play at.
FARMRx is a program run in conjunction with Wholesome Wave Georgia, a larger food food security nonprofit in Georgia. Individuals who are food insecure and have a diet related illness, like diabetes, heart disease or obesity, can enroll in the program and receive tokens, which they can then use to purchase fruits and vegetables for free from the market for them and their family.
Each week over the eight-month program, participants receive new tokens and are offered transportation to and from the market, as well as classes about nutrition and wellness and gardening and food preservation classes.
Beyond the Plate
Alandete said the program isn’t just about what’s on the plate, but about empowering people who haven’t always had access to fresh, affordable food.
“FARMRx is all about food education and sharing our love at Athens Farmers Market, our love for food with people who haven’t really had the freedom, or time or capacity to have as much of a relationship with food, because food is so expensive,” Alandete said.
At the end of the program, these individuals are offered a free clinic visit from St. Mary’s Hospital at the Athens Farmers Market, and there they take participants’ basic biometric data. The hospital comes to the market in April and returns in November to compare their blood pressure, A1C and weight from the beginning of the program to the end.
In order to sell at the Athens Farmers Market, produce has to be certified naturally grown or organic, so shoppers can be confident the produce was grown sustainably without pesticides. Alandete says there are natural herbicides, like neem oil, being used so they and these shoppers know the food is good and know it was grown by their neighbors.
“My opinion is: locally grown produce is more exciting, so if you go to the farmers market and you come home with vegetables, you’re going to really want to eat them. They’re going to feel special. If you go to Kroger and you come home with vegetables, I think it’s going to feel less special,” Alandete says.
Buying produce from the farmers market, as opposed to the chain grocery store down the street, doesn’t necessarily mean the consumer is getting a more nutritious fruit or vegetable, but they do know that these items are not chemically enhanced.
“I think health goes beyond just chemically what’s in the food and the fact that they’re grown organically or certified naturally grown is certainly healthier,” Alandete said.
McKenna Edwards is a third-year student majoring in journalism.
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