Food Is Medicine
We’re connecting the CommuniCare community through growing, sharing, cooking and enjoying local food!
Why does CommuniCare consider food as medicine? Food has the power to heal and to bring people together. Chronic diseases can be prevented or better managed when people have access to healthy foods like vegetables and fruit, and when they have the skills and support to make them a regular part of their diet.
Yolo County is an agricultural powerhouse, and CommuniCare partners with local producers to ensure that the food system delivers good health for all.
In 2023, CommuniCare added Produce Rx to the menu of Food is Medicine offerings. Patients with elevated blood sugar can access fruits and vegetables as a part of the healthcare services! Participants receive produce valued at $60 or $80 per month, depending on household size, as a component of their diabetes care. This program is made possible through generous support from the USDA and the commitment of our local partners: Spork Food Hub, the Davis Farmers Market, and the Center for Land-Based Learning‘s Mobile Farmers Market. UC Berkeley Cooperative Extension researchers lead project evaluation to build the evidence base for this innovative initiative.
Our Impact
- Over 10,000 pounds of garden produce distributed to CommuniCare patients (average = 3,000 lbs/year)
- Dozens of cooking classes delivered
- Hundreds of patients have participated in cooking classes
- Over 10,000 patients (some duplicated) have taken home garden-grown produce and recipes
- Hundreds of pounds of food waste diverted from landfill via community composting in addition to all garden plant matter waste
- Over 2,000 volunteer hours contributed to gardening and cooking class delivery
- 116 patients receiving produce prescriptions in year one of Produce Rx
Garden and Outdoor Classroom
Culinary Education
Key Contact
The Hansen Food is Medicine Garden
The garden connects CommuniCare patients to good food and builds community to support holistic health and well-being. Staff and patients can relax, garden, or enjoy a lunch break in this healing environment just outside of Hansen Family Health Center in Woodland. CommuniCare clients are invited to take freshly harvested, garden-grown fruits and vegetables, recipes and nutrition information free of charge in waiting rooms. Cooking classes and food demonstrations also feature garden-grown produce!
Learn More or Get Involved in the Food is Medicine Garden!
Background
Hansen Family Health Center opened to offer comprehensive health care services to the Woodland community in 2014. Staff and patients advocated to repurpose an empty lot south of the health center for producing food, herbs, and flowers; and to extend health care services to an outdoor setting.
Local community members and businesses generously supported the installation in-kind and monetary donations and garden groundbreaking began in February 2020. When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted livelihoods, the looming economic and hunger crisis made the garden’s mission even more urgent.
Our 12 raised garden beds produce a variety of vegetable crops, and three beds are accessible to all abilities. Fruit trees, a grape arbor and herb beds complement the annual vegetables with perennial plantings. The garden includes accessible pathways, a shade structure that serves as our Outdoor Classroom, seating and picnic tables, storage sheds, and a greenhouse for plant propagation.
Culinary Education
Cooking Matters at CommuniCare! CommuniCare’s trained staff and volunteers lead hands-on classes that inspire and support families in making healthy, delicious and affordable meals. Cooking classes are facilitated by staff, community partners, and local chefs, and ingredients and high-quality instruction are available to patients for free!
Can’t make it to a live class? Check out our videos!
Black Bean and Vegetable Quesadilla
Mango Salsa
Locations Offering Food Is Medicine Services:
(530) 405-2800 – Primary Care
(530) 405-2808 – Perinatal and Women’s Health
(530) 405-2811 – Dental Care
(530) 405-2853 – Safe Care Clinic
(530) 405-2815 – Behavioral Health
FAQ’s for Food is Medicine
Produce is harvested and shared in the Hansen Family Health Center waiting rooms for Primary Care, Behavioral Health and Dental Care patients.
It’s free! We use our produce in our cooking classes and distribute the rest in clinic waiting rooms.
Yes! We distribute recipe cards and other nutrition and cooking information along with garden produce. Need more materials? Contact us!
Absolutely! Volunteers are essential to our work. The garden space is managed by Brian, the CommuniCare Farmer, who works with volunteers to grow produce for patient distribution and for cooking classes. Contact us to get involved!