Indy health care workers take hands-on approach to ‘food as medicine’ concept

Health care companies and organizations are promoting a simple concept these days: food is medicine.

Also referred to as food as medicine, it’s a long-discussed concept that’s surging amid concerns about health care costs as well as high consumption of processed foods and chronic conditions, including obesity and hypertension. It emphasizes the role of nutritious foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, in medical prevention and treatment.

Roche Diagnostics, as part of its charitable efforts, revamped and expanded the garden at its north-side campus, where employees grow fruits and vegetables not for themselves, but for people with financial needs and limited access to nutritious food.

Indianapolis-based health insurance giant Elevance Health announced this week a new program with the National Association of Community Health Centers to train primary care providers of those covered by Medicaid on incorporating nutrition and food into patient care.

“Incorporating Food as Medicine directly into primary care enables us to treat nutrition not just as a social driver of health, but as a clinical lever for improving outcomes,” Dr. Shantanu Agrawal, chief health officer for Elevance Health, said in a written statement announcing the collaboration.

The concept is also being promoted by the federal government.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a website dedicated to its Food is Medicine Initiative, to help users “find resources to prevent, manage, and treat diet-related disease states and promote health and well-being through food and nutrition.”

Roche harvests 350+ pounds of vegetables

The Roche Community Garden, about 5,000 square feet, is slightly larger than an NBA court.

At least two or three employees tend to the garden seven days a week, said Lori Satterfield, senior manager of community engagement for Roche Diagnostics.

The garden, expanded from its beginnings in the mid-1990s, now has tomatoes, strawberries, watermelons and a variety of peppers. Satterfield said the garden is pesticide free.

All fruits and vegetables from the garden go to Jane Pauley Community Health Centers to be used as part of the American Heart Association’s “Check. Change. Control. Cholesterol” program.

Last year, Roche employees harvested more than 350 pounds of food from the garden. This year, Satterfield is hopeful the total garden fruit and veggie haul will be closer to 400 pounds. Satterfield said heavy rain this spring and the excessive heat this summer have impacted the harvest.

She said about 30 Roche employees actively volunteer in the garden.

“They come out and volunteer in the heat and humidity to make sure they keep that garden growing,” Satterfield said.