Growing the Commonwealth’s Health

EachEach spring, as winter thaws, a street-front garden comes to life at Chestnut Street Community Center in downtown Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Dazzling perennials bloom and lush tree canopies make their return, welcoming visitors into the sprawling courtyard of the community resource hub.

On select afternoons throughout the spring, summer, and fall, Lebanon residents are invited to harvest vegetables grown in the center’s community garden, which is tended by organizational leadership, community partners, and volunteers alike. During their visit, locals can also take what they need from a fridge stocked with produce and other perishable food items. All of this—the garden’s harvests, the items in the fridge—is free for the taking. In Lebanon, where a complex mix of social and economic factors threatens food security and healthy nutrition, the Chestnut Street Community Garden and Community Fridge are critical resources for locals who may not otherwise eat fruits and vegetables.

There is no Penn State campus in Lebanon, but the University and its health system’s fingerprints are all over these and other food access resources across the Commonwealth. The offerings are part of Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine’s “Food as Medicine” initiative, which, in collaboration with more than 100 community partners like Chestnut Street Community Center, pursues research and outreach and provides clinical care and education to prevent chronic illness and promote health equity. Thanks to generous support from donors, the program, which started from humble beginnings, is now taking flight and establishing Penn State as a Commonwealth and national leader in food access programming and nutrition education.

“Through our Food as Medicine initiative, we are taking a unique and pioneering approach to solving issues of food access in marginalized communities,” says Ashley Visco, community health director for Penn State Health and co-director of the health system’s Food as Medicine initiative. “Eating fresh fruits and vegetables is critical to general well-being, yet so many factors can prevent healthy choices. Our Food as Medicine programs address food insecurity and other social and economic influences that affect healthy decision-making but are so often overlooked.”

Founded in 2014, the Food as Medicine initiative comprises ten distinct programs—including community gardens and community fridges like those at Chestnut Street Community Center—operating at eighty locations across Berks, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, and York counties.

Each program offers education and services to address a different social, economic, or clinical dimension of healthy food access. Through the Veggie Rx program, for example, clinicians prescribe patients vouchers redeemable for fresh produce at local farmers’ markets, and through the Pantries and Wellness Support program, patrons of local food pantries receive health education, screening, and case management from Penn State Health nurses. In most instances, these projects are fully funded by Penn State Health from both its own resources and donor support.

The Food as Medicine initiative is already making a measurable difference in Pennsylvania communities like Lebanon. One in seven neighborhoods across Penn State Health’s six-county service area plays host to at least one Food as Medicine program. In 2023, the initiative’s signature community gardens, which currently operate at fourteen partner sites in central and southeast Pennsylvania, grew more than 10,000 pounds of produce—or more than 16,000 servings of fruits and vegetables—which were either distributed directly to community members or donated to local food pantries.

“I use the Community Fridge once or twice a month, and it helps to supplement our groceries and save us some money,” says Lebanon resident Mary Simmons. “It adds a lot to our community, and it’s a wonderful program.”

According to Visco, none of the initiative’s impact would be possible without Penn State donors. Rite Aid Healthy Futures and 2021 Corporate Partner of the Year The GIANT Company have infused the Food as Medicine initiative with funding for select projects like the community gardens and Veggie Rx as well as broad support for Food as Medicine programming through gifts to the Community Relations Gift Fund, which offers flexible funding for both established and pilot community outreach efforts at Penn State Health. Philanthropy from individuals to the fund is also helping to establish a dependable stream of support while demonstrating the depth of Penn Staters’ commitment to their neighbors.

“This is truly a collaborative effort across the Penn State community,” says Visco. “It all started with small gifts from community partners and individual donors. From that foundation, we’ve expanded over the years. Truly, there is no gift that is too small. We have many donors who give to our programs monthly, and it all adds up to make a big difference.”

Penn State faculty members have also been critical partners to Food as Medicine programs, both through their expertise and their own generosity. A team of College of Medicine researchers and clinicians helps to measure and evaluate program success at partner sites. Other faculty members make regular gifts to Penn State’s student and employee food pantries to tackle food insecurity closer to home.

The initiative may have been born on campus in Hershey, but Food as Medicine programs are planting seeds of the trademark “We Are” community spirit across the Commonwealth.

“Aside from providing vegetables, our community garden creates a welcoming environment for neighbors,” says Laurie Funk, founder and director of Chestnut Street Community Garden. “Throughout the day, people of all ages wander in to lounge on our benches and chat with friends. The most unexpected and rewarding conversations and connections happen here. I’m grateful to Penn State and its supporters for helping to bring this space to life.”