Courtesy Pitney Meadows Community Farm
Pitney Meadows Community Farm has received a three-year grant from The Hortense and Louis Rubin Community Health Fund of The Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region to expand its Food as Medicine: Clinical program with Saratoga Community Health Center.
The partners plan to scale the Nutrition Rx program and further integrate locally grown produce into patient care. The collaboration is entering its seventh year.
Over the next three years, the program is expected to grow from 20 to 40 to 80 participants per year across Saratoga Community Health Center and the Saratoga Backstretch Clinic.
Patients receive weekly prescription produce boxes during a six-month growing season, nutrition education in a group setting and ongoing support. Participants complete pre- and post-program assessments to track changes in food access, health outcomes and behavior.
“This is a turning point for how healthcare shows up for people in our community,” said Brooke McConnell, Executive Director of Pitney Meadows Community Farm. “Over the past seven years, our partnership with Dr. Rodriguez and CHC has proven that when you connect people to fresh, nourishing, local food, health outcomes change. Now, we have the opportunity to scale that work… embedding food not as a supplement, but as a fundamental part of care and overall wellness.
“This is what it looks like when healthcare expands beyond the exam room,” said Dr. Renee Rodriguez-Goodemote, Medical Director at Saratoga Community Health Center. “When patients have reliable access to fresh, nutritious food, combined with education and support, we see real, measurable changes in their health. Food is not an add-on to care. It is essential.”
The program is part of Pitney Meadows’ broader Food for All programming, which also includes Farm-to-Pantry and residential-based Food as Medicine efforts. Pitney Meadows said it contributes more than 100,000 servings of produce each year to food pantries and community partners across Saratoga County and offers free cooking and nutrition education.
Provided by Pitney Meadows Community Farm; edited for style and length.