The nonprofit collaboration began in 2023 to help People’s Health Clinic patients receive food they otherwise could not afford.
Now, with the help of Summit Community Gardens & EATS, the program is extending the ways it nourishes those in need.
Before becoming Summit Community Gardens & EATS’ executive director, Helen Nadel worked in food security services at the People’s Health Clinic.
“It’s a real challenge to get fresh fruits and vegetables, whether it’s a question of access, because of transportation, or because of price. It’s a real issue,” Nadel said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Thursday.
So People’s Health Clinic providers began issuing food prescriptions to patients experiencing food insecurity and chronic illnesses, like diabetes and hypertension.
The Christian Center of Park City joined in to collect produce from the community garden and deliver it to patients and the Food Farmacy was born.
This year the garden is building on those services, with a new pop-up at the People’s Health Clinic on women’s health days every other Wednesday.
People’s Health Clinic case manager Joana Saucedo said it partnered with the garden to better serve its members, many of whom are Latino families.
From lettuce and kale to cilantro and radish, Saucedo said the food is familiar to Latino families.
“The produce that we are receiving is culturally friendly in a way as well,” she said. “That really helps because then, they feel comfortable, you know, like saying, ‘OK, I can take this and I can, I don’t know, make a salad with it or I can make soup with it,’ that, you know, they traditionally make at home.”
The new pop-up launched July 16 in the clinic’s lobby and continues through Sept. 24.
