NYC: The first U.S. city to allow doctors to prescribe fresh fruits & vegetables!
Ron Samascott with his local apples at the Union Square Greenmarket in New York. The city is teaming up with Wholesome Wave, hospitals and farm markets to pilot a fruit and vegetable prescription program.
The Raw-Vegan Diet is reaching critical mass and is moving from the fringe to the mainstream via numerous retreats, restaurants, celebrities and books. And now this! We’re at the frontier of change. News like this keeps popping up and we will begin to see more and more of this. Lets welcome this into our lives as evidence that the consciousness ‘Shift’ we’ve been hearing about is taking place and the old world and old beliefs are dissipating! This is only the beginning.
It was the Greeks who first counseled to let food be thy medicine. And, it seems, some doctors are taking this age-old advice to heart.
In New York City physicians are writing prescriptions for fresh fruits and vegetables. That’s right, ‘scripts for produce.
If you listen to my story on All Things Considered, you’ll hear that is the creation of Wholesome Wave, a nonprofit that connects low-income people with local produce.
It’s led by chef , who was motivated to make healthful food more accessible after his two sons were diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. After learning that the Type 2 diabetes can be controlled or even reversed by good nutrition and exercise, he’s made this his life’s commitment.
On a recent Tuesday I met up with Nischan in New York, where we checked in on the Rx Fruit and Vegetable program.
Nischan told me he has pursued this partnership with doctors because so many people rely on their trusted advice. When docs write prescriptions for drugs, people fill them. So why not prescribe healthful food?
Basically, the initiative is designed to nudge the families of overweight kids and teens to change the way they eat. And the big incentive? Free produce as well as tips on how best to cook and economize.
Kids enrolled in the program at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in the Bronx meet with a doctor or nutritionist once a week. During the appointment, doctors measure their blood pressure, insulin levels and weight.
At the end of the appointment they leave with a prescription that can be swapped for Health Bucks accepted at 140 farm markets in the city. Participants receive $1 per day for each person in their family. So a family of four get $28 of free produce a week.
“It’s a little unusual,” says Lincoln Hospital pediatrician , because doctors are accustomed to writing prescriptions for drugs.
Read Full Article Here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/09/12/221757539/no-bitter-pill-doctors-prescribe-fruits-and-veggies
Conscious Nourishment 
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