FLINT, MI — A Flint nutrition program that allows pediatricians to prescribe fruits and vegetables for young patients will expand nationally as a result of the recently signed U.S. Farm Bill, according to Michigan State University.
Managed by MSU and Hurley Children’s Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiative, the program was launched at the Hurley Children’s Clinic inside the Flint Farmers Market following the city’s water crisis.
“Healthy food is the best medicine,” Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha said in a news release from the university. "We started this program more than three years ago to make sure that Flint kids had access to nutritious foods they need to grow up healthy. We are so excited that Flint will be sharing this program with the nation.”
Hanna-Attisha, a water crisis whistleblower, went on to lead the PPHI.
In Flint, the program provides parents of children with a $15 prescription that may be filled for fresh fruits and vegetables at the Flint market or through a mobile delivery service.
Details including how much money will be available for the new program and how it will be administered nationally aren’t yet known, an MSU spokeswoman said in an email to MLive-The Flint Journal.
The announcement credited U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, for advocating to include the program in the Farm Bill, which she co-authored as ranking member of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.