12 Nov ‘Food as Medicine’ Event Offered Healthy Focus

Representatives of local organizations focused on health and healthy eating told North Richmond residents about their services at the Oct. 27 “Food as Medicine” event.

Story and photos by Emily Tenorio Molina

Income should not be a barrier to healthy food and a quality lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle stems from good community relationships with healthcare.

That’s what residents were told at “Food as Medicine” Oct. 27 at the Corrine Sain Senior & Family Community Center in North Richmond.

The event was facilitated by Urban Tilth and the Community Development Housing Corporation. A number of local organizations gave nutritional facts and resources to attendees while attendees enjoyed a morning of free fresh produce and personal health tips.

These organizations included Contra Costa Health Plan, Fresh Approach, Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano and Kaiser Permanente.

The increasing price of groceries across the country has led many people to rely on their local food banks. The Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano has seen a 50% rise among older people using their services.

Local food incentive programs such as the Market Match program from Fresh Approach, give money back to CalFresh recipients when they spend on fruits and vegetables at a farmers market.

Darolyn Turner, the food access and education program specialist for Fresh Approach who drives the Mobile Farmer’s Market bus to the Richmond Public Library on Wednesday mornings, sees many residents take advantage of the incentive and the 50% discount on produce.

Tia Neal, an outreach and engagement program specialist for Fresh Approach, gave out seeds while informing attendees about the multiple meals they can cook with the vegetables they grow.

People from Urban Tilth say they want more nutrition literacy in the Richmond communities.

Marco Lemus, who organized the “Food as Medicine” health fair and is the Food is Medicine project manager at Urban Tilth, said a main intention of the event is for people to view healthy food as a source of healing for communities that are often targeted by bad marketing, which pushes unhealthy food products on Black and Latinx people. These communities also have higher availability of cheap fast food, according to research on racialized food marketing in the United States.

Lemus said a goal of the health fair is to help more people “heal” from an unhealthy diet by giving them access to fresh produce provided by the local organizations present.

“The options we have are unattainable for some people,” he said, referring to Urban Tilth’s other efforts to give the community healthy food.

Urban Tilth provides produce at North Richmond events and gives fresh fruits and vegetables to 500 families a week through its Community Supported Agriculture program, according to Latifah Abdullah, Urban Tilth’s North Richmond farm community engagement manager.

“It’s a great way to make sure people have fresh produce,” said Abdullah. “Otherwise, it would be a food desert here.”

Some participating organizations at the event focused on informing about health coverage programs such as Contra Costa Health Plan. That plan seeks to help eligible residents apply for Medi-Cal benefits.

With nine facilities across the country, Contra Costa Health Plan connects its nearly 200,000 clients with a variety of patient services.

Active engagement around community events is an instrumental tool for eligible residents to get connected with their options for appropriate health coverage, said Angelique McDade, a Contra Costa Health Plan outreach representative.

“We have people coming from other territories, different counties, and they don’t understand how the Medi-Cal process works,” McDade said. “So we bridge that gap and let people know what’s going on.”

To connect with the resources featured in this story, contact Fresh Approach at (925) 771-2990, Urban Tilth at (510) 232-0911 or info@urbantilth.org, the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano at (855) 309-FOOD (3663) or info@foodbankccs.org, and Contra Costa Health Plan at (925) 313-6000.