DC Greens has released a new video highlighting the impact of its award-winning Produce Rx program, a Food Is Medicine initiative that helps participants access fresh produce as part of their health care. Through partnerships with medical providers, the program identifies DC Medicaid members diagnosed with hypertension, pre-diabetes, or diabetes who also face barriers to food access. These patients are enrolled for one year and prescribed fresh fruits and vegetables as part of their treatment plan.
The video, which premiered Tuesday evening, focuses on the powerful story of Yameka Sanford. After moving to D.C., Sanford was diagnosed with diabetes, and her doctor enrolled her in the Produce Rx program as part of her care plan.
“Before I started with the Produce Rx program, my A1c was a 12.1,” Sanford recalls. Now? “My A1c is a 5.8,” she says.
When participants like Sanford are enrolled in DC Greens’ Produce Rx program, they receive monthly funds through a preloaded debit card known as the Fresh Connect* card. When shopping at participating grocery retailers, participants swipe the card at checkout, and the produce purchases are deducted from their grocery bill, fulfilling their fruit and vegetable prescription. To remain in the program, participants must also complete a check-up with their health care provider.
DC Greens believes interventions like Produce Rx could and should be a basic form of medical care nationwide. “The change we want to see is that Food Is Medicine programs are an integral part of our health care system,” says Produce Rx Manager, Luisa Furstenberg-Beckman, “that everyone has access to them, and that it is a standard part of health care delivery, like getting a flu shot or going to see your primary care provide.”
The benefits of the intervention also spread beyond just health: in the video, Sanford shares how the ability to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables through Produce Rx also positively impacted her finances and her entire family’s access to nutritious food. “It allowed me to spread health to the kids,” Sanford says.
Since its launch in 2012, Produce Rx by DC Greens has enrolled more than 3,000 participants who have collectively spent over $1.4 million on fresh fruits and vegetables — and counting. The most recent cohort of participants, which began enrolling in October of 2024 and will run for one year, spent more than $43,000 on fresh produce in the first three months.