Food Is Part of the Care
Through ProduceRx, fresh food became one part of a larger circle of care built around access, trust, and partnership.
A box of vegetables can look like a simple thing.
For one ProduceRx participant, it meant replacing canned food with something fresh. For another, it meant finally learning to enjoy squash. Someone else found that cooking brought back memories of meals with their grandfather.
The Nashville Food Project’s ProduceRx connected participants with fresh produce and support for preparing it. The program began with a practical understanding: health is shaped not only in a clinic, but also by what is available in the kitchen, whether someone can get to it, and whether they feel supported along the way.
The early pilot was small, with feedback from six participants, but their experiences offer a meaningful glimpse of what this kind of partnership can make possible.
Participants described trying unfamiliar vegetables, learning new recipes, planning fuller meals, and relying less on processed foods. Some froze produce for later. Others shared what they had with roommates and neighbors.
One participant said, “These are foods I would normally eat out of a can, if at all. This gave me access to real food.”
The produce mattered. So did the relationships around it.
Regular check-ins gave participants a consistent point of connection. In one case, that ongoing engagement helped someone remain connected long enough to receive additional support they needed. The program did not separate nourishment from the rest of a person’s life. It treated food as one part of community care.
The pilot also surfaced important questions for what comes next. Transportation made pickup difficult for some participants. Others wanted more fruit, easier-to-prepare foods, or additional guidance for working with dietary needs and limited kitchen equipment.
Listening to those experiences is part of the work.
Food Is Medicine can sound clinical. In practice, it can be deeply human: fresh greens prepared in a new way, squash that recalls someone you love, extra vegetables passed to a neighbor, or a familiar voice checking in again.
As The Nashville Food Project looks toward its next 15 years, partnerships like ProduceRx point toward a future in which food access, health, and community care are not treated as separate concerns.
Because sometimes care begins with a prescription.
And sometimes, it begins with what is for dinner.
