A new joint effort between the Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) and the Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA) aims to provide an additional way to boost the health of patients.
According to a survey by the KDA, only 15% of food served at hospitals across the state is locally produced. The “Food is Medicine” campaign aims to drastically raise that percentage by promoting partnerships between local farmers and hospital food services across the Commonwealth.
Jonathan Shell is the Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture. He said the campaign will study how to keep hospital patients healthy through a locally sourced, nutritious diet, rather than by medical treatments alone.
“What that means to us, is finding and identifying ways in order to connect hospitals with local growers in their service regions so they can have healthy options that are locally grown, available in their cafeterias,” said Shell. “For their food service people to be able to cook and prepare those foods there locally.”
Shell said older demographics, especially long-term hospital patients, often lack access to fresh options.
“A healthier Kentucky is a strong Kentucky, and when you look at the populations that we need to impact the most, it’s in your Medicaid and Medicare population. Our more vulnerable populations in the state of Kentucky. And so, the healthier we can make them, the healthier we can get as a whole,” said Shell.
Officials said St. Claire HealthCare is currently beginning to implement the initiative and aims to serve local food in their facilities by the end of the summer. Don Lloyd, President and CEO of UK St. Claire, said the project could be instrumental in addressing the food deserts in the hospital’s service region.
“There's not only health benefits to this project, there’s significant economic benefits to agriculture producers within this commonwealth. And again, it’s another way we can invest in the people of this region and in the communities that we serve,” said Lloyd.
More information on the campaign and agriculture initiatives across the commonwealth is available online at kyagr.com.