Fighting Food Insecurity With Fresh Produce
Kaniz Fatema has always worked to support her family. But after immigrating to the United States in 2021, she learned she had developed heart disease and diabetes. Now 60 years old, Kaniz’s frail health prevents her from working fulltime. Fortunately, Kaniz receives fresh vegetables from Delema G. Deaver Wellness Farm so she and her family have something healthy to eat. “I do not know what I would do without this food,” Kaniz said. “It’s very hard for me. I need the food very badly.”
Kaniz focuses her modest food budget on protein. Thanks to the farm, she can create well-rounded meals including lettuce, spinach, carrots, cauliflower, tomatoes and other vegetables that are vital to her health.
At Main Line Health, fresh food is considered medicine, and its commitment to health equity includes addressing the food insecurity that its patients face.
The effort started in 2016 when the first crops were planted at the half-acre Delema G. Deaver Wellness Farm, located on the campus of Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood. Created in part as an education garden to teach about the connection between fresh food and health, the farm provided produce for patients in need at Lankenau Medical Associates (LMA).
When COVID-19 hit and patients couldn’t visit LMA offices, the System began delivering a bag of food weekly to 40 patients facing food insecurity. The bags contained about six different vegetables or fruits each, as well as recipes and information about the specific produce.
In 2020, a local farm group called The Common Market received a U.S. Department of Agriculture farm-to-table grant to supply 150 boxes of fresh food to the area. The market teamed with Main Line Health to deliver half of them to patients in need from oncology, the Emergency Department and home healthcare. The other half was distributed through a church organization and a group serving people living in low-income housing.
The following year, the Lankenau Medical Center Foundation began funding the deliveries. Over time, the number of deliveries expanded to provide 10-12 pounds of fresh food biweekly to 150 patients, including many referred by doctors, outpatient physical therapy and the System’s social work department. Those in need are identified through a two-question survey given to all patients.
Main Line Health also purchases fresh food from local farms to supplement what it grows at Deaver Wellness Farm, which supports the local economy. In 2023, Main Line Health distributed more than 1,000 bags to patients.
Response from recipients of the food has been “absolutely overwhelming,” said Maureen W. Krouse, Manager, Community Health and Outreach, Lankenau Medical Center. “We received one sweet letter from a woman and her husband who called the deliveries a lifesaver.”
The Lankenau Medical Center Women’s Board expanded the effort in February 2022 by establishing the Food Pantry, which has distributed more than 700 bags of shelf-stable basics such as canned tuna and chicken, pasta, beans, rice and oatmeal. The bags are available year-round through LMA, which primarily serves underinsured and uninsured patients.
Main Line Health’s programs to alleviate food insecurity among patients contributed to the American Hospital Association selecting Main Line Health as recipient of its 2024 Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care Award, Transforming Winner.