An Rx for food? Doctor’s offices offer groceries to those in need.

12/2/24 –

Dietitian Emily Frymark slid open a drawer inside a Children’s National Hospital clinic that looks as though it should store bandages or medicine to reveal a surprise: heaps of onions and garlic bulbs.

The produce is part of the food pharmacy at the Northwest Washington hospital, where patients can pick up fresh fruit and vegetables, pasta, cereal, canned foods and other supplies at their regular medical checkups.

The program is one way the Capital Area Food Bank is bundling what it knows best — feeding people — with other basic services to help them manage health issues.

“We’ve heard from our clients that there are few key things beyond food … that are barriers to their ability to go from this place of vulnerability to sustainability,” said Radha Muthiah, Capital Area Food Bank’s president and CEO. “And we heard from our clients that one of them was health conditions that they were facing.”

Read the full article at The Washington Post