An apple a day not only keeps the doctor away, it also could save the United States at least $40 billion in medical bills, report Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy researchers in a new study published July 7 in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Their modeled implementation of a nationwide produce prescription program—which would provide free or discounted fruits and vegetables to eligible Americans living with diabetes —projected extensive reductions in national rates of cardiovascular disease and associated healthcare costs.
Public health agencies and non-profit organizations have been experimenting with variations of produce prescription programs for almost a decade, with accelerating evidence for their effectiveness. Typically, a patient with a diet-related health condition can visit a participating healthcare provider to receive vouchers or electronic cards that can be redeemed for free or discounted fruits and vegetables delivered to the patient’s home or picked up from a grocery store, farmer’s market, or healthcare food farmacy.
