Key Points
- The goal of the Produce Prescription Pilot Program (P4) is to demonstrate and evaluate the impact of produce prescription programs on American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people and their families.
- More specifically, the goal is to improve health care outcomes by reducing food insecurity and improving overall dietary health by increasing consumption of fruits, vegetables, and traditional foods.
- Indian Health Service awarded five tribes and tribal organizations $500,000 each in 2023 to implement a produce prescription program in their communities. The pilot is a 5-year project.
FIM Opportunities
The Produce Prescription Pilot Program (P4) is supportive to Food Is Medicine based on the goal of demonstrating and evaluating the impact of P4 on AI/AN people and their families, specifically by:
- Reducing food insecurity
- Improving overall dietary health by increasing fruits, vegetables, and traditional food consumption
- Improving health care outcomes
Learnings from this pilot will support future Food Is Medicine efforts through lessons learned from the tribal grant recipients funded by P4. Learnings could include, but are not limited to:
- Screening tools for food insecurity in tribal communities
- Evaluation of produce prescription programming measures
- Implementation strategies
Evaluations of each program will include measurement of food insecurity; participant use of services offered by the program; evidence of improvement in health outcomes; and changes in access to healthy and traditional foods.
