Vermont Food Access in Health Care
The FAHC is a federal grant funded program supporting the creation of networks to better integrate food and food access into health care in rural Vermont. The linked handout provides an example of frameworks for analysis to reflect this integration.
Examples of the types of programs that support this goal include:
Systems for Food Insecurity Screening, Referral to Resources, and Integration of Food Security into Setting Individual Health Goals / Treatment Plans
Access to Nutrition Counseling and Nutrition Education, and Building Teams that Combine Licensed, Certified, and Peer-Based Supports
Implementation of National Models of Evidence-Based Food Interventions, such as Produce Prescriptions, Food Boxes, and Medically Tailored Meals
Developing Sustainable Funding Streams to Support Food as Part of Health Care
We partner with food access programs and public health initiatives in this goal. Hospital-based food services and food sourcing for health care are not a primary focus area. We work with members of groups such as Health Care Without Harm that have a strong local sourcing / value-based sourcing focus for the food served in health care.
This website is designed to share information. We provide light analysis of the linked resources to help translate between different sectors involved in this topic - health care, public health, human services, food, agriculture, community based organizations. . . this analysis is for general education only, please consult your attorney / auditor / finance team / compliance officer before making any decisions based on materials found here. These materials do not reflect the official opinion of Bi-State Primary Care Association or our federal funders.
Bi-State Primary Care Association is the organizational home of the Food Access and Health Care Consortium.
FAHC Members:
The following groups provide input into information gathering and strategic planning around food access and health care in Vermont as part of the FAHC:
Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets
Vermont Blueprint for Health
Vermont Department of Health
Vermont Farm to Plate
RiseVT
Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care
Bi-State Primary Care Association (Project Director)
Vermont Foodbank
Hunger Free Vermont
NOFA-VT
Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems (VAHHS)
Overview of Materials:
This website shares documents for people working at the intersection of food and health care in Vermont. The content here reflects general project areas prioritized by FAHC. Check the Updates section for upcoming events, news, highlighted resources and other timely information about current work.
Archived information from 2020 sessions on staying current about food options during COVID-19.
Overview of statewide resources for food referrals.
Examples of outreach materials, including a link to VTFoodHelp a resource hub for 3SquaresVT
Toolkits and case studies for different models of health care practices integrating food access
Background information on food insecurity screening
Medically Tailored Meals (MTM)
Background on what defines MTM programs
Results of a detailed assessment of Vermont capacity and options for building MTM programs
Links to publicly available research libraries / databases focused on food access in health care
Vermont sources of data, including community health dashboards
Introductory information on linking food interventions to individual patient outcomes
A (detailed) overview of pathways to sustainable funding for food as part of health care
No, this does not contain an easy answer
Transportation (coming soon. . . )
2020-2021 FAHC strategic planning work identified transportation barriers to food access as a critical challenge, in 2021-2023 we will be working with Vermont Farm to Plate on options to address this issue
Contact Us:
The lead contact for this project is Helen Labun, hlabun@bistatepca.org
Project Funding:
Creation of this website was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $189,892.00 with 0 percentage financed with non governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.