Serving Up Healthy Foods for those Most in Need

If you have a chronic illness or are critically ill, it is crucial that you take all necessary steps to care for yourself. Your doctor may have prescribed medications, you may need to regularly check insulin levels, or you may also need exercise and to maintain a healthy diet.

However, people that are critically ill may also be immobile or live in an area with limited access to healthy and affordable foods, also known as a food desert, and may not be able to maintain a healthy diet on their own. The combination of limited access to nutritious food, a lack of financial resources, and the complexity of adhering to dietary recommendations, make an already scary situation even more difficult.

Community Servings, a Massachusetts-based non-profit, has a healthy solution for those in need. The organization provides approximately 25,000 medically tailored meals (MTM) each week for people who are chronically or critically ill and their families.  In fact, since the organization was founded in 1990, Community Servings has provided more than 13 million MTM to people across Massachusetts and Rhode Island who are living with severe critical and chronic illnesses such as HIV, cancer, diabetes and kidney disease.

Valerie Machinist, director of nutrition and client services at Community Servings, said there are 16 different medically tailored diets the organization handles. “What we do is complex, so it helps to get a baseline of what foods our clients can eat and prepare weekly menus featuring diet-specific recipes accordingly.,” Machinist said, “Our food is sourced from sustainable, local farms and we ensure the meals are made to suit different varieties or combinations of diets.”    

As the pandemic was looming in 2020, Community Servings saw a rise in referrals for pregnant persons. While Community Servings’ regular intervention could be helpful for these women, Machinist said these individuals have different needs than their typical clientele, such as increased caloric needs or different nutritional needs. To help, Community Servings launched a program specifically tailored to pregnant individuals during high-risk pregnancies and their post-partum experience.  

Along with serving individuals with medically high-risk pregnancies, Community Servings aids pregnant individuals that are food insecure, understanding that if a pregnant person receives nutritious food, they may be more likely to have a healthier baby.  

David Waters, chief executive officer of Community Servings, pointed out that pregnancy-related complications disproportionately affect marginalized groups, an issue that Community Servings addresses on many levels.  

“Health equity is at the center of everything that we do. We consider how nutrition fits into how we can support all types of communities,” Waters said. “At the end of the day, food is a powerful medicine, and we strive to reach as many chronically and critically ill people as possible to help give them the care they not only need but deserve.”  

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