Work in Action

UTHealth Houston Partners with Brighter Bites to Evaluate Produce Prescription Strategy

As part of the White House commitment to Hunger, Nutrition and Health, UTHealth Houston and Brighter Bites non-profit organization, are partnering together to implement and evaluate the impact of a comprehensive produce prescription strategy consisting of access to fresh produce plus nutrition education for implementation among food-insecure children and their families through school-based health centers. There are more than 3,200 school-based health centers across 48 U.S. states with over 7 million children receiving primary care at these clinics. The initiative will start in Texas with partners such as Legacy Community Health, the largest Federally Qualified Health Center in Texas. With the national footprint of Brighter Bites, the produce prescription approach will be scaled so that it is available for implementation across school-based health centers nationwide.

Brighter Bites is a national nonprofit with a mission to create communities of health through fresh food. Brighter Bites uses a simple, three-part formula: Produce Distribution + Nutrition Education + Fun Food Experience. The national program provides regular access to a variety of fresh produce along with nutrition education exposure and healthy tips and tools to families in under-resourced communities across the country. When participating in the program, studies show the Brighter Bites families indicate a significant increase in the amount of fruits and vegetables consumed, a significant decrease in the amount of added sugars consumed among children, and an increase in cooking and nutrition label knowledge. And these habits have shown to stick! https://brighterbites.org/research/

Brighter Bites partners with UTHealth Houston to collect data to inform program, policy, and advocacy.

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Shipt

In communities struggling with limited access to healthy food options, Shipt joins in to support 10 local retailers through the LadderUp program. As part of the LadderUp program, Shipt not only lends their retail experience, but also donated $5,000 in individual grants to the 10 retailers in areas designated as a food desert. In addition, the program has a focus on diversity and inclusion with 60 percent of the retail stores owned by individuals who identified as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and/or LGBTQIA+.

Serving Up Healthy Foods for those Most in Need

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.