Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/1138339
21 t m c » p u l s e | j u ly 2 0 1 9 B y B r i t n i R . M c A s h a n Harris Health System is fighting food insecurity with fresh produce R ows of tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, green beans and other plants are thriving on a small farm just behind Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, Harris Health System's Level III trauma center in northeast Houston. The community farm program, in develop- ment for the past year, aims to provide fruits and vegetables to patients and community members with limited access to grocery stores that stock fresh produce. Distribution details are still in the planning stages. "Sometimes what our patients most need is to be prescribed a plate of healthy food—more than medication and the downstream manage- ment of that chronic disease burden," said Karen Tseng, senior vice president of population health transformation at Harris Health System. "If we could get at the root cause, upstream, and help support them earlier in the process, evidence has shown, we can actually improve community health outcomes." Residents of the Fifth Ward, where the hospital is located, have long struggled with food insecu- rity. The U.S. Department of Agriculture considers the area a food desert—a place lacking in fresh fruits, vegetables and other healthful whole foods—and Harris Health estimates more than 13,000 residents suffer from hunger daily. ➟ Farmer Rebecca Verm harvests Shungiku chrysan- themum flowers to dehydrate for teas at the LBJ Hospital farm. Cultivating a Food Farmacy