Doctors’ Orders: Pass the Fresh Produce and Pass on the Pills WATWB#

All too often, the negativity and hatred expressed in social media and the news assault our senses. Since focusing on hatred only begets more hatred, We Are The World Blogfest (#WATWB) urges us to banish the darkness by lighting lamps. In that spirit, we focus on love and positivity. Many an oasis of love and light exist. Sharing these stories increases our awareness of hope in our increasingly dark world.

A special thanks to this month’s fabulous co-hosts: Shilpa Garg, Simon Falk, Mary J Giese, Dan Antion,  Damyanti Biswas.

I’m hooked on healthy food and consider the side effects of many pharmaceuticals worse than the benefits. So when I read about this Detroit-based prescription service for fresh fruit and vegetables rather than drugs, I just had to share. I like that this program gets healthy produce to people who badly need it, from pregnant women to low-income folks with chronic diseases, to needy children.

The program reinforces food as medicine, rather than just relying on pharmaceuticals. Patients learn about the connection between what they eat and how they feel. The program also helps small and medium-sized farmers, keeping money within local economies.

This prescription service links the healthcare and food systems, a much-needed connection in this day and age when 60 million Americans struggle to put healthy food on the table. A sad fact: diet has now surpassed smoking as the number one cause of death and disease in the US, prompting one trillion dollars ($1,000,000,000) to be spent here each year on diet-related illness.

Check out the full article at:

https://www.positive.news/2018/society/33356/fresh-pickings-prescribing-produce-not-pills/

6 Comments

  1. Dan Antion on June 30, 2018 at 12:53 pm

    Thanks you so much for sharing this story with us for WATWB – I love the idea of correcting medical conditions with diet and exercise rather than pills and side-effects. I hope this catches on and spreads across the country.



    • Lizbeth Hartz on July 1, 2018 at 8:14 am

      And thank you, Dan, for reading and commenting. I read your “no facilities” blog post and was moved to rewrite my author page because of this. I realized my “bio” was dry and factual, and so I’ll rewrite it to be more like yours, where I am pulled in. Thanks for sharing.



  2. Kalpana on July 1, 2018 at 5:34 am

    Food definitely is medicine and the fact that this program helps small farmers and educates people about food is very promising.



    • Lizbeth Hartz on July 2, 2018 at 2:01 am

      I agree, Kalpana, and thanks for commenting. I also visited your site and read your heartwarming article, left a comment:)



  3. Eric Lahti on July 1, 2018 at 3:55 pm

    I think there are legitimate needs for some drugs, but I also feel they’re way overprescribed because it’s easier to take a pill than change your lifestyle. I’ll admit, I don’t eat as healthy as I always should, but I know I feel worlds better when I eat well and get regular exercise.



    • Lizbeth Hartz on July 2, 2018 at 1:57 am

      I think there are legitimate needs for some drugs too, Eric, and, especially for painkillers, it’s imperative to have them when you need them. But when I hear those TV commercials listing dozens of side effects for drugs advertised, I wonder why anyone would choose to go that way. I know of horror stories…including my twin sister’s, who took Fosamex for thin bones for years and ended up with necrosis of the jaw, a dead jaw, and bone fragments shooting into her mouth. And I know of patients taking lots of medications who recovered when they stopped taking all of them. On a different note, loved your posting on dialogue, left you a comment.