(Photo courtesy of HDFFA)
VeggieRx is the High Desert Food and Farm Alliance’s (HDFFA) free, fresh produce prescription program that helps improve healthy eating habits and prognosis for individuals experiencing food insecurity and a diagnosis with diet-modifiable disease(s). Participants receive ten weeks of fresh locally grown produce, nutrition education, and one-on-one support from HDFFA’s registered dietitian.
On April 2, we will open enrollment for the summer season. There will be two ten-week groups: May 15-July 17 and August 7-October 9.
Participants enrolled in our program eat more vegetables/fruits and experience less food insecurity. Participants are provided tools to shop for produce on a budget, use fresh ingredients, and stretch their meals to last longer. True to our mission of supporting local, all the produce is purchased or provided by regional farmers. Since the program began in 2018, we have invested $134,899 in fresh food from local farmers, with a total impact of $191,855 on the local economy.
This year we have three locations for VeggieRx. The program is offered in Bend, Madras and Warm Springs. Each location has a different delivery model. The Bend location will have a Farmer’s Market shopping model. Madras will have a CSA produce-share delivery model, and Warm Springs will have a CSA-share pick-up model. We have partnered with Around the Bend Farms and Ag Connect this year to provide produce for the Warm Springs CSA pick-up group. In Warm Springs we are partnering for the second year in a row with the Warm Springs Family Resource Center, which hosts the site for local participants to pick up their produce boxes.
To qualify for this program, you must be 18 years or older, experiencing food insecurity (no proof needed), and have some type of diet-modifiable disease(s). If you or know someone interested in participating in VeggieRx, please contact your provider (eg. dietitian, doctor, nurse, therapist, or social worker) to send a referral by phone or email to our VeggieRx Senior Manager: Kelly@hdffa.org or 541-310-3111. Enrollment starts on April 2 and will stay open until all spots are filled.
High Desert Food and Farm Alliance:
HDFFA is a nonprofit organization established firmly in the belief that everyone deserves good food. This means a sufficient quantity of affordable, culturally preferred, nutritious food that is sustainably produced in Central Oregon.
