At Taste of Home, we want local, plant-based ingredients to be the default choice for our patients. Toward this goal, we will reduce barriers preventing families from using local ingredients year-round by providing freeze-dried options that extend shelf-life, maintain nutrients, and allow for cultural preferences.
Plant-forward diets significantly improve glycemic control, as well as systolic and diastolic blood pressure(Clem & Barthel, 2021). However, patients at our Food as Medicine (FAM) clinic cite barriers to obtaining minimally processed, low sodium, low added-sugar produce year-round. Meanwhile, participating farmers produce a surplus of food in-season that go to waste without the benefit of being preserved. Our proposal bridges that gap.
MetroHealth FAM will conduct a feasibility study in the use of local, freeze-dried ingredients for its Taste of Home program. To start, FAM will partner with a commercial kitchen to access a freeze dryer. Miles Love Farm will grow and freeze-dry herbs for FAM patients. Thereafter, FAM will source ingredients from other local farms to freeze-dry into patient-advised recipe kits starting in Winter 2025.Ultimately, we will build a strategic, ongoing reserve of local ingredients.
Sponsors:
- Miles Love Farm
- MetroHealth Institute for HOPE
- North American Food Systems Network
- Case Western Reserve University Farm
- Ohio City Farms/ReSource Cleveland
Collaborators:
- Miles Love Farm
- MetroHealth Institute for HOPE
- North American Food Systems Network
- Case Western Reserve University Farm
- Zinga’s Garden
- Rid-All Green Partnership
- Coit Road Farm
How Can You Get Involved?
- Volunteer to assist with freeze drying, packaging or recipe development.
- Donate funds or supplies to help us access a commercial freeze dryer and compensate our growers for the food and education they provide.
- Donate part of your crop or surplus produce to our team so it can be freeze dried into recipe kits for FAM patients.
- Send us your family’s favorite recipes so we can recreate them with our produce for Taste of Home.
Asya Aretskin-Hariton, MPH, MS
Asya is Clinical Coordinator at MetroHealth’s FAM Clinic and a graduate of Baldwin Wallace University. For more than a decade, she has supported community-based research and grassroots initiatives to enhance client agency and improve cultural relevance within food security nonprofits throughout Cuyahoga County.
Beverly Cody
Beverly is a graduate of Cleveland State University with a degree in Urban Studies. She served in FoodCorps in Cleveland and volunteered in various grassroots organizations. As an urban farmer, she collaborates with healthcare providers to provide access to fresh, seasonal produce and plant-based remedies.
This team graduated from the REACH Fellowship, a program of the Mary Ann Swetland Center for Environmental Health. For more information about the REACH Fellowship, click here.