By Melissa Kimbrell

Early Saturday afternoons community members on Buffalo’s East Side gather to discuss their favorite foods and health goals in their native language — Bengali. Food is so much more than just what we eat. It also comprises our culture and memories.

Jericho Road Community Health Center’s (Jericho Road) new Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program (FVRx) is a collaboration with the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Erie County’s SNAP-Education team. The program links patients to guidance and resources to help prioritize their nutrition goals. FVRx helps provide patients with immediate and long-term access to affordable healthy food, and helps individuals who are diagnosed with diet-related chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. Following each workshop, patients receive vouchers, which can be used for fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices from local vendors.

FVRx is currently available at two clinics, in both English and Bengali. “We are honored to be working so closely with Jericho Road Community Health Workers who are a part of the Bengali community. They have really gone above and beyond to make this come to fruition,” said Brittany Denz, a SNAP-Education team nutritionist.

So far, FVRx has helped over 70 patients and distributed over $2,600 in food vouchers to those in need. FVRx has also reinvested $1,900 in assistance to vendor partners — Massachusetts Avenue Project (MAP), Feedmore WNY’s farm markets, and Al Aqsa Supermarket. Each vendor partner helps to ensure that produce, spices, and herbs are available for participating patients. MAP also makes classroom space available for prescription classes for Jericho Road’s Barton Street facility patients.

Early research suggests that produce prescription programs are effective in helping prevent and manage diet-related chronic disease. Programs like FVRx and others are popping up all over New York state, inspiring health care centers to engage in conversations about food and nutrition security as it relates to overall health.

In a desire to continually improve, adapt, and expand FVRx, the next goal is to adapt and expand the program by offering it to native Swahili speakers at Jericho Road’s Barton Street location, as well as to additional health centers throughout Western New York.

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Erie County uses local experience and research-supported solutions to build stronger communities and provide educational programs to county residents in Agriculture and Food Systems, 4-H Youth Development, Nutrition and Community Health, Environment and Natural Resources, Sustainable Energy, Climate Change, and Consumer and Economic Vitality.

Melissa Kimbrell is Regional Coordinator at Cornell Cooperative Extension’s SNAP-Ed Program. To learn more about the FVRx program, contact Melissa at mjk397@cornell.edu.