Food Rx Programming at People's Center

People’s Center is working alongside the Minneapolis Health Department and BrightSide Produce to implement FoodRx, a free fresh produce delivery program. The health department awarded the clinic $20,000 through October 2023 and an additional $7,000 through September 2024 to recruit and enroll patients experiencing food insecurity and/or chronic illness for free weekly deliveries of fresh fruit and vegetables. 

The FoodRx program was designed using telling patient data and community engagement opportunities like stakeholder meetings, community surveys, and feedback groups. Of People’s Center’s 6,600 patients served in 2022, around 90% fall at or below 200% of the federal poverty guideline. In conjunction with telling patient data. With this in mind, we determined the following major concerns in food access and healthy living: food deserts in neighborhoods like Cedar-Riverside, poverty, lack of reliable transportation, inability to access transportation due to disability, large population of elders, and comorbidities like diabetes and hypertension.  

By incorporating fresh produce delivery into existing clinic work like food insecurity screenings and food resource referrals, we can fill the gap between acknowledging food insecurity and holistic preventative healthcare, both in and out of the clinic. 

A People’s Center patient and program participant shared the following about their experience with and impact of FoodRx.

“The produce boxes have been very good. My food assistance was reduced and this has given me the opportunity to include fresh produce in my diet again.” This patient received additional dollars through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s (SNAP) COVID-19 response. In March 2023, SNAP benefits were returned to their pre-pandemic amount, which reduced monthly allocations by at least 95 dollars. Programs like FoodRx are crucial to supporting communities as pandemic emergency policies wind-down.  

People’s Center is committed to building functional and sustainable food insecurity programming that works alongside government entities, partner organizations, and community members.