The New Health Dialogue

Watch out strip mall drugstore. You may have some competition. Natasha Singer reported recently in the New York Times, “The farm stand is becoming the new apothecary, dispensing apples—not to mention artichokes, asparagus and arugula—to fill a novel kind of prescription.”

Wholesome Wave, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing access to healthy foods, announced its “Fruit and Veggie Prescription Program" pilot program where physicians at community clinics can prescribe vouchers for local farmers markets and then monitor the impact of increased fruit and vegetable consumption on a patients’ health. (Watch Dr. Shikha Anand on CNN talk about the program here.) It's being tested in Holyoke, Lawrence and Boston, Mass., and in Portland, Maine.

The food scrips contribute to an ongoing effort in Boston to subsidize fresh fruits and vegetables and bring healthier foods to “food deserts." The Boston Bounty Bucks initiative, for instance, matches farmers’ market purchases made using SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits for up to $10, writes Patrick G. Lee of the Boston Globe. 

Moving forward, food policy will play an increasing role in health policy, as we institute programs and policies to curtail the obesity epidemic. According to John Cawley, associate professor in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management at Cornell University, incentives, including food prices, agricultural policies, income, maternal employment and technology, all contribute to the spike in childhood obesity. One study, for example, found that the increase in a mother’s average weekly work hours explains 11.8-34.6 percent of the rise in childhood obesity in high socioeconomic-status families, as children spend more time watching television and eat fewer home cooked, nutritious meals.

Cawley pointed out that while the real price of food fell significantly between 1990 an 2007 (the McDonald’s quarter-pounder with cheese fell 5.44 percent and the two-liter bottle of Coca-Cola fell 34.98 percent), the real price of fruit and veggies rose 17 percent between 1997 and 2003. Fast cheap burgers and pizza versus labor-intensive and more costly home-cooked veggie-rich meals contribute to childhood obesity, which in turn has significant health and economic consequences, which compound throughout a person’s lifetime.

Reading these articles, we started wondering just how common farmer's markets have become. We've started to see them more and more -- but we live in a city. Turns out, it's not just us. There are more farmers markets, everywhere. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has kept a tally of farmers markets operating throughout the country since 1994, and, since then, the number has jumped from 1,755 to  6,132 -- with a 16 percent increase between 2009 and 2010 alone. The U.S. Census of Agriculture of 2007 shows that the value of agricultural products sold directly to individuals for human consumption (roadside stands, farmers’ markets, pick-your-own sites, etc.) was 6.2 percent in 2007, up from 5.5 percent in 2002, and we'll bet it's on its way up more. (A farm, by the way, is defined as "any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the census year," and, since 1850, this definition has changed nine times.)

The growth in farmers markets is driven by an interest in food safety, nutrition and "eating local" --  preserving local flavors, economics, culture, and farmers. Here, the USDA points out all the benefits of farmers markets -- for the community, small and medium size producers and, of course, for you and me. Use this tool to find one. We found 28 in our own city, Washington D.C. The states with the most farmers markets include: California 580, New York 461, Illinois 286, Michigan 271, Iowa 229, Massachusetts 227, Ohio 213, Wisconsin 204, Pennsylvania 203 and North Carolina 182.

"Seeing such continued strong growth in the number of U.S. farmers markets indicates that regional food systems can provide great economic, social and health benefits to communities across the country," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement. "Farmers markets provide fresh, local products to communities across the country while offering economic opportunities for producers of all sizes.

How to connect these markets -- which are still outnumbered of course by fast food outlets and convenience stores -- to better health? We'll be interested in seeing what happens with the New England test project. This country, and its children, can use a "wholesome wave."