HAZARD, Ky. (WYMT) – Kentucky Department of Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell stopped at a pop-up Perry County Farmer’s Market to connect with local farmers and community stakeholders.
The Dept. of Ag is partnering with the Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA) and ARH to launch the new “Food is Medicine” initiative. The campaign aims to promote healthier living among Kentuckians.
“We’ve got the best farmers and the best AG products in the entire world right here in Kentucky,” said Shell. “What we’ve got to do is focus more on the end user. How we’re actually marketing that and getting it to that end product to where that profitability is at its maximum point in Kentucky.”
The campaign’s main areas of focus include:
- Studying the foods being served to hospital patients
- Creating partnerships between hospitals and local farmers
- Connecting patients with resources to get healthy food consistently
- Creating outreach for patients with special diet needs
- Expanding existing initiatives that connect Kentuckians to healthy food options
A task force is being formed to help execute and accomplish the campaigns goals.
Following Monday’s Farmer’s Market, Shell joined ARH President and CEO, Hollie Harris, along with other stakeholders for a healthy cooking demo and a roundtable discussion.
One topic of discussion was how they can create greater access to local foods and use them to treat illnesses on the front end.
“I think if you talk with any health care provider they would much rather not have to prescribe medication and do surgeries rather than do checkups and well care, but we’ve gotten into such a shape now that medication and operations are the forefront of what we have in our healthcare system,” said Shell. “So, looking at how can we get fresh foods available through food boxes that could potentially be prescribed by a doctor to get into their hands.”
Shell said this initiative will be a long-term project and they are making it a priority to make locally grown foods easily accessible across the state.
WYMT’s Steve Hensley will sit down with Shell for Monday’s edition of Issues and Answers on WYMT at 7 p.m.
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