Doctors Prescribe Fruits and Vegetables to Encourage Healthier Eating

In a remarkable new program, Unity Healthcare and Community Non-Profits in Washington, D.C. is giving 35 families "prescriptions" for $60 a week in fruits and vegetables from local farmers markets. According to Mirna Valdez of Unity Healthcare, this will help patients understand the importance of a healthy diet.　 　

"It makes them feel like, they think medicine is important for their health, but also the vegetables", says Valdez.　

By honoring the prescription at 5 different farmers markets throughout the city, patients are also being exposed to the wide variety of produce that is available. For Janet Lopez, an eighteen year-old mother of two, she is already feeling the impact. She says, "I feel healthier because I’m eating stuff that I need and I should be eating".

To read the larger article and see the NBC Latino report, go to this link:

http://nbclatino.com/2012/07/31/doctors-prescribe-fruits-and-vegetables-literally-to-encourage-healthy-eating/

To see some of the healthy food initiatives in Winnebago County, click on the link here:

http://www.rethinkwinnebago.org/nutrition_initiatives.html.