Nourishing communities

Understand the needs of your community

Conduct patient food insecurity or health screenings to identify hunger as a health need.

• Develop an accessible and reliable database of social resources and connect patients to these resources.
• Implement an active referral system.
• Provide patients with supportive services, such as patient navigators.
• Reduce or remove language and cultural barriers.
• Connect patients with resources that address social determinants of health that are interconnected with food insecurity, such as housing and transportation.
• Ensure that screening results are shared publicly (anonymously and in aggregate) and used to inform strategies to address food security.

Assess and address staff food insecurity.

• Survey staff about food security.
• Develop and implement a program or protocol for referring food insecure individuals to community-based resources.

Consider your hospital’s role in supporting community food needs.

For nonprofit hospitals, conduct community health needs assessments (CHNAs).

• Use data sources to assess food access, environments, and behaviors in CHNAs.
• Engage the community to understand food needs.
• Engage food policy councils or other advocacy organizations in community health needs assessments and improvement strategies.
• Integrate valuable climate co-benefits of new or existing food-related initiatives into your community benefit implementation strategy.
• Consider community health risks of industrial agriculture as part of your community health needs assessment process.
• Make the case to leadership for community benefit programs that address food insecurity and healthy food access.

Support food access programs that directly expand access to healthy food for low-income residents and/or people of color, with the goal of increasing food security.

Identify community assets that contribute to healthy food access.

Get involved in healthy food initiatives in your community. 

• Ensure that the community health needs assessment includes data on food insecurity and food environments, and include at least one food advocacy organization in the process. 
• Actively support or sponsor initiatives that directly expand access to healthy, culturally relevant food for low-income residents and/or people of color.
• Support student health and community food systems through farm-to-school programs through financial investments, staff time, or in-kind support. Provide community benefit support to enhance the reach and impact of school meal programs.
• Participate in summer, after-school, and weekend meal programs.
• Support off-site hospital farms, farm stands, and/or food-producing gardens through financial investments, staff time, or equipment and materials donations.

Build critical partnerships that support access to healthy food.

• Partner with food banks and food pantries to increase access to healthy food.
• Partner with public health departments and local agencies to increase access to and promote healthy food options in corner stores and other retail settings. Hospitals can support these efforts by providing funding, training, and resources to help store owners stock and promote healthy food choices. 
• Work with community partners to identify funding sources to support collaborative and sustainable financing of healthy food access initiatives.

Include values-based purchasing in these food initiatives to expand their impact.

Engage community partners and stakeholders in evaluating healthy food access interventions.

Develop interventions to promote healthy food access and healthy eating for patients, staff, and community.

Offer healthy food access programs at your facility. 

• Establish on-site farmers markets or farm stands and ensure these outlets accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
• Offer community supported agriculture (CSA) food box program for patients, employees, and/or community.

“When our 11-year-old daughter was diagnosed with cancer, as an undocumented family our [food] resources were very limited. We are so grateful for La Cosecha because it was how we started as a family to find solutions for what we could do with our limited resources in battling this serious illness.”
 — La Cosecha patron 

• Set up an on-site hospital farm, farm stand, and/or food-producing garden.

Increase staff and community wellness opportunities 

• Develop and implement an employee wellness program that includes health and nutrition education (avoiding diet culture biases). 
• Ensure that food service patrons (including staff) have access to healthy and culturally relevant meals with adequate time to eat during their shifts or meal times.
• Offer healthy meal incentives at your facility.
• Accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or other incentive redemption options at your facility. 
• Share food access resources, webinars, and events widely. Some hospitals use cafeteria spaces (table tents, TVs, signage) to share resources. Consider including post-hospitalization food access resources on patient trays and with discharge papers.
• Implement community health and nutrition education programming. You might consider an interactive/educational garden program on-site if your facility has a food-producing garden or farm. You can also coordinate off-site farm visits to engage hospital staff and the community and connect them to regional food producers. 
• Engage community members via public relations events. Health fairs, tabling, sponsorship, and co-branded events can help the institution share its values with the community and connect with community members to better understand their needs. Speak with the institution’s public relations team about creating these opportunities.
• Provide staff time and expertise to carry out healthy food access program components.

Prescribe nutrition

• Take a lead role in managing a fruit and vegetable prescription program or partner with another organization or coalition that is managing the program.

“With eight people in our family, I’ve had to really watch what I spend money on, so I do a lot of coupon clipping. But you don’t find coupons for fruits and vegetables – the Veggie Rx program has been absolutely great because it helps me to actually afford the healthy food that I want to feed all my kids.”
– Bethany Thompson, Veggie Rx client

• Provide grant support for fruit and vegetable incentive programs. 
• Offer medically tailored meal programs, groceries, and food pharmacies at your facility. 
• Support policy/advocacy efforts to make healthy food a covered benefit for Medicare/Medicaid patients.

Include values-based purchasing in these food initiatives to expand their impact.