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Food is Medicine recognizes that access to nutritious food is essential for preventing, managing, and treating diet-related health conditions. It includes community-level supports, like WIC, SNAP and Virginia Fresh Match, as well as healthcare-based interventions designed to manage or treat disease, including produce prescriptions, medically tailored groceries and medically tailored meals. For people with limited financial resources, managing diet-related conditions like type 2 diabetes and hypertension can be challenging. This can lead to more hospital stays and higher healthcare costs. Produce prescription programs can help with disease management by enabling healthcare practitioners to prescribe free fruits and vegetables alongside nutrition education. This simplifies access to healthy food and supports long-term healthy habits.
Southwest Virginia Produce Prescription (SWPRx) is a 6-month program for adult Medicaid patients with type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, or hypertension. By helping patients obtain fresh fruits and vegetables and learn about nutrition as part of their medical care, SWPRx supports better health and quality of life. It also strengthens local food systems by supporting farmers, local businesses, and economies.
How it works: Healthcare practitioners refer patients with diet-related health risks to SWPRx. Patients participate in the program for six months, attending nutrition classes and getting free fruits and vegetables for their households. They take home produce from the nutrition classes and receive Fresh Produce Bucks to redeem for fresh produce at participating outlets, including area farmers markets, farm stands, and local grocers.
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The need and idea for Produce Rx came from the Community Health Assessment. In the initial program design (2015-2019), health care practitioners at Carlion Clinic and New Horizons enrolled patients with diabetes or pre-diabetes to participate as a group. The group met weekly for nutrition/health education classes and used their produce prescriptions to shop at LEAP’s Mobile Market, set-up on site.
From 2021-2023, community partners redesigned, re-piloted, and modified the Produce Rx program. This Rx program integrated improved clinic-based enrollment and management systems and provided more options for how participants can use their fresh produce prescriptions.
In 2024, partners built on prior learnings, designed SWPRx, and were awarded a highly competitive three-year federal grant through the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP), from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture to implement and evaluate the program. SWPRx partners include Carilion Clinic, Virginia Fresh Match, Feeding Southwest Virginia, Radford University Department of Public Health and Healthcare Leadership, and LEAP. SWPRx launched in April 2025.
Throughout the 6-month program, patients participate in nutrition and cooking classes. With the Carilion health educator and the supportive group, participants explore simple, realistic ways to add more fiber-rich foods, like fruits and vegetables, to meals they already enjoy. The classes focus on small changes that work for the individual—practical cooking tips, demonstrations, and group conversation. Classes feature the evidence-based "Full Plate Living" curriculum, a program created by Ardmore Institute of Health and certified by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Patients who attend classes in person take home produce supplied by Feeding Southwest Virginia and their agency partners.
For patients who have schedule conflicts, transportation barriers, or other reasons that might keep them from being able to go to classes in person, a virtual option is available.
SWPRx participants can use their “Fresh Produce Bucks” at any of the participating food outlets. These outlets include farmers markets, mobile markets, farm stands, and local grocers (full-format and limited selection). Click the “Locations” button below to see all the locations where participants can use their Fresh Produce Bucks.
Interested in becoming an approved location to accept Fresh Produce Bucks?
If you are interested in becoming an approved location to accept Fresh Produce Bucks, reach out to Kelly Key at kelly@leapforlocalfood.org.
From 2025-2027, SWPRx will expand into select localities served by Carilion Clinic primary care practices, including Roanoke, Salem, Floyd, Franklin, and Radford. As SWPRx grows, ongoing evaluation will help track health improvements, healthcare use, and ways to better include produce prescriptions in medical care and community food systems.
SWPRx continues to work with regional, statewide, and national partners to plan and advocate for policy and sustainable funding and/or reimbursement mechanisms to support Produce Rx programs.