The new food pharmacy will increase access to nutritious groceries tailored to support the needs of older patients managing diet-related conditions
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Washington, D.C., October 11, 2024 – The Capital Area Food Bank and Unity Health Care have launched a new food pharmacy program, which offers an innovative option for enabling patients to access the nutritious groceries needed for managing diet-related health conditions.
Located at Unity’s East of the River Health Center in D.C.’s Ward 7, the food pharmacy is designed to provide food-insecure patients – primarily older adults with hypertension, diabetes, and obesity – with access to foods tailored to support their health. Patients who screen as food insecure receive a “prescription” to use at the pharmacy, allowing them to pick up around 40 pounds of fresh produce and shelf-stable groceries at no cost to the patient.
“When our clients don’t have access to good, nutritious food, they’re facing an uphill battle toward achieving good health,” said Radha Muthiah, president and CEO of the Capital Area Food Bank. “When we bring groceries to the food pharmacy at Unity Health Care, patients can get medical care and nutritious food in one place. We truly believe that pairing these two supports in one place can play a significant role in improving patient health and community health.”
The new food pharmacy is made possible with generous support from The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation. It’s one of two locations planned in partnership with Unity Health Care, with a second site to launch within the next year at Unity’s Anacostia clinic. These food pharmacies are expected to reach 500 patients over the next five years.
This latest partnership with Unity builds upon the food pharmacy model that the food bank launched three years ago at Children’s National Hospital. Initially at the hospital’s Diabetes Care Complex and now also through an expansion to its Columbia Heights location, food-insecure patients and their families are able to take home medically tailored groceries when they visit their doctor. These programs are part of a national movement around the power of food as medicine, and a greater recognition of the role that nutrition can play in managing health conditions.
About the Capital Area Food Bank:
The Capital Area Food Bank works to address hunger today and create brighter futures tomorrow for more than a million people across the region experiencing food insecurity. As the anchor in the area’s hunger relief infrastructure, the food bank provided nearly 61 million meals to people in need last year by supplying food to hundreds of nonprofit organizations, including Martha’s Table, SOME – So Others Might Eat, DC Central Kitchen, Food for Others, Manna, and others. It also works in partnership with organizations across the region to address hunger’s root causes by pairing food with critical services such as education, health care, and job training. To learn more, visit https://www.capitalareafoodbank.org/ or call (202.644.9864).
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