When residents walk through the doors of Food Pharmacy in Danbury, they are greeted by a bright, open space with neatly stacked shelves. His Food Pharmacy, one of several “food as medicine” initiatives in Connecticut, will open in October 2023 and will be the first facility of its kind to be integrated into the community.
UConn Extension’s Community Nutrition Program Specialists are key partners in Food Farmacy, providing education programs on healthy cooking and nutrition.
Food Farmacy is the result of a $1,050,000 grant received through the U.S. Congress by Nuvance Health, the Connecticut Institute of Communities (CIFC), Community Action Agency of Western CT, and UConn Extension. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy supported the project.
“We have strong community partnerships. We have worked with United Way on projects in the past,” said Heather Perachio, an Extension education assistant based at the Fairfield County Extension Center. Masu. “I am honored to be part of a team that is improving health outcomes and food security. Nuvance provides the clinical aspects. The Connecticut Community Institute (CIFC) makes it a priority to provide the space. The downtown location is very beneficial for our customers.”
Sunamita Lang ’21 (CAHNR) worked with Perakio as part of her nutrition internship during the spring 2024 semester while enrolled in the Master of Science in Nutrition program at St. Joseph’s University. Lang, a Bridgeport native, previously worked with the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and she partnered with Perakio to develop nutrition education courses at Food Her Pharmacy. and gave guidance.
There are over 110 regular shoppers, all of whom have been prescribed healthy foods at the Pharmacy by their medical team due to high blood pressure issues.
Perakio and Lang will create classes for Food Pharmacy shoppers on a different topic each month from January through June. Clients can attend any class. A core group attends monthly, and some bring their families. Classes are tailored to the needs and interests of participants. Food pharmacies also have nutritionists and social workers on site to assist shoppers.
In June, the UConn Extension team transitions to seasonal produce, with 30 programs scheduled in and around Danbury through November. Food Pharmacy shoppers will also receive information about these classes.
“This was a whole new group of people who had never taken a nutrition or cooking class,” Juliana Restrepo Marin, education program assistant at UConn Extension, said of the food pharmacy participants. “We started by focusing on basic, foundational skills like how to hold a knife and cutting skills. The content of the workshop is also about food security and food safety.”
Each month, class participants sample a monthly Lang Creation recipe created in class. They can take the ingredients home and make their own meals, providing additional food for the month.
“We saw how beneficial it was for children to bring everything together, from doctors’ statements to nutritional information, and put it into practice in the classroom,” Lang said. “I provide a learning space for class participants, asking them to think about things like how to make nutritious meals using the ingredients they have on hand. It’s rewarding to hear people put what they’ve learned into practice. And that resonates with me.”
Each class has a curriculum and recipes, but Perakio, Restrepo Marin and Lang also adapt to the needs of their customers.
One week, the class spent time discussing the use of SNAP benefits at the farmers market because not all participants understood that was an option. Ms. Lang also worked with her teenage mothers at Danbury High School through an internship with UConn Extension. She taught in English and Spanish and helped participants understand how to maximize their WIC and SNAP benefits and the importance of certain nutrients such as iron in their diets.
Danbury’s food pharmacy class is just one of a series of classes and resources offered across the state by UConn Extension’s Community Nutrition Program. Bilingual programs in English and Spanish are offered throughout the state, and UConn Extension works with community partners in a structure similar to a food pharmacy to meet customers where they are.
“There’s an affinity between bridging the gap between the hardships people face and helping others in the same way. We want people to know they have access to many resources,” Lang said. says.
This study is related to CAHNR’s strategic vision area. Promote health and well-being locally, nationally and globally.
UConn Extension is part of a national collaborative extension system that connects the public with land-grant university research and resources. UConn Extension is comprised of faculty and staff with Extension appointments throughout the College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources.
to follow UConn CAHNR on social media
