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Darlene A. White
Do you need a tomato for a sandwich? Wayne State University medical students are committed to delivering fresh fruits and vegetables to the doorsteps of children and adults in Detroit who are food insecure.
“Detroit is called a ‘food wasteland’ by the Michigan Department of Agriculture,” said Margo Mekjian, medical student and vice president of the Fresh Prescription Program. “A ‘food desert’ is defined as an area with limited access to affordable and nutritious food. As we all know, eating nutritious foods plays an immense role in our health, especially when it comes to high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. ”
Fresh Prescription, or Fresh Rx, is a student-run organization at Wayne State School of Medicine that offers attendees, particularly Detroit residents with chronic illnesses, a free “prescription” for buying food at markets or delivering fruit and vegetables their houses.
The mission is to reduce the financial burden of grocery shopping and to support patient health by providing fresh fruits and vegetables, and to challenge patients to form health-related goals that they can maintain for the rest of their lives.
“Fresh Rx members are passionate about helping the Detroit community and expanding our role as future doctors to engage our community for a healthier future,” said Mekjian.
The group is important not only to providing access to healthier food options for Detroit residents, but also to providing education about health benefits and lifestyle changes.
The Detroit-wide program began in 2013 as a partnership between the CHASS center in southwest Detroit and the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor. Since its inception, Fresh RX has helped more than 1,000 subscribers and distributed over $ 50,000 in free products to qualified patients in Detroit. In the first 3 years in particular, the WSUSOM Fresh Rx site has served nearly 100 patients and is hoping to increase the number of participants.
The program was brought to the School of Medicine in 2018 by medical student Ethan Firestone as a small pilot program at the WSU-affiliated Robert R. Frank Student Run Free Clinic. The next year, Firestone and his classmate Melissa Wills transferred the pilot to an accredited Fresh Rx student organization for medical students to contribute to the work in Detroit.
“I learned a lot from this program,” said Ethan Firestone, medical student and co-founder of Fresh Prescription. “The program has given me invaluable experience working with underserved members of our community and has helped me be more culturally conscious about my health care.”
Fresh Rx is set up weekly and virtually at clinics in Detroit, including the Cass Clinic on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and the Central City Integrated Health Clinic, 10 Peterboro, on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Patients who enroll in the program can opt for a Fresh Rx debit card that can be used in markets across the city.
“Our hope for Fresh Rx is to expand into every region of the Detroit community and make a positive impact on the lives of as many Detroit residents as possible,” said Austin Mueller, president of Fresh Prescription. “High blood pressure, diabetes and obesity are detrimental to the short and long term health of our community. Fresh Rx believes that through proper nutrition and education, we can lower health care costs for our patients and improve the health of every person who signs up with our organization. ”
Over the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented the Fresh RX program with many challenges.
“COVID-19 really set us back as we were able to personally recruit patients and provide nutritional training, as well as deliver food to patients while personal shopping was closed,” Mekjian said. “It was a challenge to get in touch with patients and organize volunteers virtually. However, Fresh Rx was able (with the help of Eastern Market and other organizations) to deliver this program in the form of online training and food packaging delivery to patients. “
With the setback due to COVID-19, the Fresh RX Group is not being stopped from expanding its reach to the people in the community.
“We want to make sure that Fresh Rx can help as many people as possible,” said Müller. “We have worked with other organizations in the medical school and will continue to join and support other efforts to address food insecurity in our community. We hope that Fresh Rx will continue to grow with Detroit and even expand into other regions where it is needed. “
Over time, we hope to become an easily recognizable organization in the Detroit community known as a compassionate organization of future physicians who care deeply about those we are passionate about, he added.
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https://www.detroitnews.com/story/life/2021/11/26/wayne-state-students-fresh-rx-program-delivers-produce-people-need-who-have-chronic-health-condition/6386417001/
