Food is medicine in action: Dietary and food security outcomes of a health care-based community-supported agriculture program

Health systems are increasingly facilitating access to healthy food for their patients through Food is Medicine (FIM) programs, primarily through voucher-based produce prescription programs (PPRs). While some clinics have hosted community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs, there is little research on programs that include both self-referred and provider-referred participants. Likewise, there is minimal literature on the relationship between health care-based food assistance programs and length of participation. This study sought to build on nascent FIM literature by exploring dietary intake and food security impacts of a health care-based CSA program with dual referral pathways and investigating the impact of dosage. We collected 164 pretest-posttest surveys. Findings demonstrated increased fruit and vegetable intake and improved household food security following program participation, consistent with previous research. We found no correlation between change in food security status and length of participation. We found a nonsignificant relationship between fruit and vegetable intake and length of participation. These findings support health care-based food assistance programs as a strategy to positively impact key drivers of health. Further research is needed on the relationship between dosage and program outcomes.