Community Hospital Anderson fights food insecurity with farm expansion
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowCommunity Hospital Anderson is fighting food insecurity by operating a three-acre farm solely to send its produce to local food banks.
The communal investment means about 30,000 pounds of produce will be served to food-insecure Madison County residents next year. The farm will also produce 200 pounds of honey each year and flowers for hospital patients.
“Health starts outside the walls of the hospital,” Chief Foundation Officer Tom Bannon said told Business of Health Reporter Kylie Veleta. “We want people to maybe never have to be here and live a healthy lifestyle ahead of time.”
The new push also means a new $2.5 million community center and kitchen, called the Jetty Center, which will include a demonstration kitchen where chefs can show residents how to cook with the new influx of produce. Bannon said he doesn’t want there to be a cost barrier to those trying to learn how to cook with the new vegetables in their groceries. Most of the classes will also be free.
“We can give somebody a zucchini, but if they don’t know what to do with that zucchini, we haven’t helped them at all.” Bannon said. “A lot of people will be like, ‘You know, I don’t really like vegetables.’ Well, come let us teach you some ways that will make you like it and try it a different way.”
Madison County is the 12th most food-insecure county in the state at 14.8% and 20.1% for children. That percentage is 35% higher than the national average. Overall, one in seven Hoosiers lack consistent food access.
In 2018, the hospital’s farm started with two raised beds, which turned into 28, and now into three acres. Bannon said some of their 1,600 staffers wanted to start an employee garden, which in turn could feed some food-insecure employees of their own.
It was successful enough that they had too much, Bannon said, so the plot took on new life. The hospital already has a food kitchen, he said, so the expansion made sense.
Community Hospital is Anderson’s largest employer and was also the first in the state to have a farm on its campus. Bannon said is focused on benefiting the community and addressing the severe problem along with their partners.
“There’s always a need, and there’s a great need,” Bannon said. “We could do 60,000 pounds, and it wouldn’t be enough.”
Some of the issue of food insecurity stems from the proximity to grocery stores, he said. Through this push, he said he wants to continue growing this initiative to address this issue in the community. The initiative is funded through the Community Hospital Anderson Foundation.
The hospital also has a physical activity program to increase exercise opportunities as well as a bike share program specifically for the unhoused community.