Yale medical students open a free food pharmacy to help food insecure patients manage their health

CT Insider – Tuesday, November 12, 2024
By Cris Villalonga-Vivoni

NEW HAVEN — Yale medical students are joining to provide nutrition education — as well as the necessary groceries to prepare healthy meals for free — in the hope of addressing growing food insecurity in New Haven, across the state and the nation.

The Food Pharmacy is a new program through the university’s student-run Haven Free Clinic. With the help of trained volunteers, clients can build three to four different healthy meal options and pick out enough ingredients for 10 to 15 servings, said program co-founder Katrina Dietsche, a second-year Yale medical student.

The goal is to create a comfortable environment that encourages patients to talk about their food needs, ask questions and learn how nutrition can improve their health and help them manage their chronic conditions better, she said.

“We’re truly a food pharmacy,” Dietsche said. “We want to be helping with these diseases that the patients are presenting with.”

More than one in eight — around 12.9 percent — of Connecticut residents were considered food insecure in 2022, a rise from previous years, according to the most up-to-date data from the annual Map the Meal Gap, a national study conducted by the Chicago-based nonprofit Feeding America.

Jason Weinstein, a second-year Yale medical student and fellow co-founder of the Food Pharmacy, said there’s been a rise in the number of people experiencing food insecurity, especially in Connecticut as pandemic relief programs ended and inflation led to high food prices.

According to Connecticut-based nonprofit Foodshare, the number of people in this state who are food insecure grew by 90,000 individuals from 2021 to 2022.

Weinstein said that not having steady access to nutritional food can lead to more complicated health issues. When someone is nutrient deficient, it can impact their physical health and worsen chronic conditions. For example, people who experience food insecurity are two to three times more likely to have diabetes, according to Data Haven, a New Haven-based nonprofit working to further equity and quality of life among residents.

Food insecurity can also cause mental strain and stress, Weinstein said.

The idea for the Yale Food Pharmacy was inspired by Dietsche’s previous work with the Children’s National Hospital in Washington D.C. She said that she witnessed the “incredible impact” of their own food pharmacy program and wanted to implement a similar program through Yale.

Dietsche and Weinstein met during their first year at medical school and said they’ve been discussing ways to address food insecurity since then. She said it feels “surreal” to see the pharmacy come to fruition after talking about it in their first few weeks of medical school.

Over the last year and a half, Dietsche said they spoke with several food pantries in New Haven and Hartford to learn how to establish an equitable program and what the best practices are. They wrote the application for a Hellman Foundation grant and received funding to open the food pharmacy as part of the free student-run clinic for the next three years.

Established in 2005, the Haven Free Clinic is a Yale student-run primary care clinic that provides medical, behavioral and social services for New Haven residents ages 18 to 65 with no health insurance. Services are offered at no cost to patients and are provided by Yale students under the supervision of medical professionals. According to its website, the clinic operates only on Saturdays out of the Yale Physicians Building and sees an average of 70 patients weekly.

An informal survey of patients at the clinic showed that around 60 to 80 percent had some type of food insecurity, Weinstein said. In addition, clinic staff often work with patients who have diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions that can be helped with a proper diet.

Dietsche said eating nutritious food is a significant component of managing certain conditions, so patients are taught about that while at the clinic. Still, many don’t have access to healthy foods or can’t afford them. This is where The Food Pharmacy steps in.

All the food offered through the pharmacy is picked up from Stop & Shop or from a local grocer right before the clinic opens its doors, Dietsche said. If there is any leftover food at the end of the day, it’s donated to a local food pantry.

As patients come in for their regular appointments, Dietsche said medical students and staff work to identify residents living with chronic conditions and experiencing food insecurity. They are then “prescribed” a visit to The Food Pharmacy located just outside the clinic.

Set up similar to a farmer’s market, patients have autonomy regarding their food selections. Weinstein said it is operated by volunteers who guide patients through the pharmacy, ask questions, and provide nutrition education and recipes developed with registered dietitians.

Weinstein said the volunteers would get to know their patients, ask why they were coming, explain how it works, and walk down the aisles to pick out the foods that interest them.

“We want patients to feel like this is almost like a grocery store for them, but not something that’s been given to them,” he said. “Even though it’s prescribed, you can take the rice and put it in your bag. You can take the chicken and put it in the bag.”

Dietsche said their hope is that patients enjoy using the Food Pharmacy and come to trust it as a resource. Throughout the next three years, she said they will be hosting phone interviews with patients to survey what foods they enjoyed, get input on the service, and gauge its impact.

Funding lasts for the next three years, which Dietsche said is enough time to find a more sustainable source so it can continue after the grant runs out.

Dietsche said they serve about 10 to 15 people a week through the pharmacy, but they hope to expand to help as many patients as possible.

“I just hope more than anything, that the patients enjoy what we can provide them, and they feel seen and respected and appreciated,” she said.

Dr. Nate Wood, director of culinary medicine and instructor at Yale School of Medicine, said this is the first time the university has implemented a food pharmacy. He said it’s also the first time they explore the growing field of “food is medicine.” He said the goal of this type of care is to prevent and treat diet-related diseases by addressing food and nutrition insecurity through efforts like medically tailored groceries, public health policy changes and nutrition education.

He said the Food Pharmacy does just that by providing their patients with enough food that will help support their body’s health. It’ll also offer patients an opportunity to try new foods and recipes without the risk of wasting money. He hopes that the program can eventually be expanded into Yale New Haven Hospital, which already offers nutrition therapy programs.

“Even if people receive food from the Food Pharmacy for only a short period of time, it can still have a lasting impact. For instance, perhaps they receive an eggplant at the Food Pharmacy. It’s possible they’ve never bought, cooked, or even tried eggplant. But when it’s given to them, they’re more likely to try it,” said Wood, who is also the food pharmacy’s faculty advisor. “When they stop receiving food from the Food Pharmacy, they may be more likely to go out and buy it once they know how to prepare it and how much they enjoy eating it.”

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