Building Community Through Nutrition - Working with HealthRight 360's Food Pharmacy Program

My name is Renee and I serve as the Quality Improvement and Diabetes Coordinator at HealthRight360. I was inspired to serve at HealthRight360 as I wanted to work for a nonprofit with deep roots in the San Francisco community.

Every Thursday, I look forward to Food Pharmacy at HealthRight360. This program supports individuals managing chronic conditions such as diabetes or food insecurity, helping participants achieve their nutritional goals with guidance from our registered, dedicated dietitian. Our Food Pharmacy team develops unique recipes tailored to the week’s produce selection each week. We aim to include ingredients from various cultural cuisines, fostering not only nutrition but also cross-cultural understanding and appreciation.

Through creating recipes, I’ve gained insight into the challenges our patients face in preparing nutritious meals, such as limited access to cooking equipment. To help alleviate these challenges, we adapted microwave-friendly recipes and offered vegetarian options for patients without stovetops. I even experimented with recipe development by using ChatGPT to generate ideas based solely on the available weekly ingredients, giving us more ways to cater to patients' specific needs.

When Thursday arrives, we begin Food Pharmacy by filling baskets with fresh produce for the week—recently, we had pomegranates, mangos, and yam! Then, we conduct quality checks on each patient’s box to ensure everyone receives equal portions. At 1 p.m., patients begin lining up, eager to see the week’s selections. After a month, we’ve built a strong rapport with them, creating a friendly and familiar atmosphere. As we set up their boxes, patients get to choose a protein and a bonus item. A bonus item is an additional item that patients can add to their box, and it is not produce or protein but rather packaged food. Our protein options rotate—eggs are always popular, while ground turkey and tilapia have appeared—and our bonus items also change. Raisins, for instance, recently became a surprising favorite, beating out past favorites such as canned corn and walnuts. We also offer vegetarian options like tofu.

Food Pharmacy is more than a food bank or health management program; it’s a community. We see the same patients weekly, strengthening connection through our conversations about food, cooking techniques, and personal stories. Who knew there were so many ways to prepare zucchini? I’ve even picked up cooking tips from patients, like a recipe for chicken pot pie. These connections are what I value most about my work with Food Pharmacy. Each week, I learn something new from the patients, who share their life experiences and perspectives, making me feel more intertwined with my community. We’ve grown beyond first-name familiarity, and I feel we have built a community support system to ensure that patients meet their nutritional goals.

Looking ahead, I have a few goals for Food Pharmacy. Next year, I want to design more printed materials for patients, such as recipe cards, nutrition guides, and informational handouts. This month, I created produce signs and plan to add signage for weekly selections to make the experience more engaging. I also hope to improve my Spanish to connect more easily with Spanish-speaking patients. As one of the Quality Improvement/Diabetes Coordinators, I’m completing online training on nutrition and chronic conditions to improve my knowledge. My goal is to help implement changes that make our services more equitable, accessible, and enriching for all our patients, strengthening the bonds that make Food Pharmacy such a meaningful place.