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UPMC Memorial Hospital’s ‘farm-to-hospital’ program provides fresh produce to patients, staff, community

YORK COUNTY, Pa. — A big part of feeling healthy is eating healthy, and UPMC Memorial Hospital in York County wants to make sure patients and staff have access to medicine and fresh produce.

This is done through their farm-to-hospital program where they hope to harvest about 3 to 4 tons of fresh produce each year.

The hospital says the ultimate goal is for the providers to prescribe fresh produce tailored to patients' ailments--combating chronic illness like heart and renal diseases and supporting the growth and development of babies, children and teens in the community.

The program not only nourishes patients and staff at UPMC Memorial, it's also meant to address food insecurity by bringing produce to the community’s food deserts and food pantries.

UPMC Pinnacle Foundation partners with York Fresh Food Farms (YFFF), a local non-profit that grows and distributes affordable produce to the York community, to employ a farm manager and farmhands for daily operations. York Fresh Food Farms distributes to the UPMC Memorial campus through UPMC Food Services. Other community partners include the Memorial Health Fund, York Excavating and the Powder Mill Foundation.