Providing Local Food to Our Community
Local Food Hub seeks to ensure that everyone, regardless of their circumstances, can easily access healthy local food.
Fresh Farmacy
Fruit & Vegetable “Prescription” Program
What? Biweekly shares of 6-9 locally and regionally sourced items, along with educational materials designed to help people prepare and enjoy their food in a healthy way.
For Whom? People in low-resource households with low food access and who are at risk for diet related illness. We partner with health clinics that serve low-resource communities to identify and enroll participants.
Why? To ensure that everyone, regardless of their circumstances, can easily access healthy local food.
How? Local Food Hub sources items specifically from small, local farms in order to help those farms increase their market share. Local Food Hub partners with regionally based vendors to source from producers throughout Virginia and the wider region.
2020
In response to the pandemic, Fresh Farmacy delivered 600% more shares than in 2019. The program expanded to year-round rather than seasonal and begins to incorporate home delivery of shares.
2015
Local Food Hub started Fresh Farmacy in partnership with Blue Ridge Health Department. In its first year, we partnered with three health clinics and served 90 participants.
Where Fresh Farmacy started…
2019
Fresh Farmacy has expanded to serve nearly 300 households, through partnership with 6 health clinics. Feedback from participants is consistently positive.
2024
Fresh Farmacy remains a year-round program with home delivery to 400-500 participants. As we look to the future, we focus on creating lasting lifestyle changes for participants and ensuring program sustainability.
Virginia Fresh Match
Local Food Hub is a proud partner of Virginia Fresh Match.
Virginia Fresh Match (VFM) is a network of farmers markets, mobile markets, and community food stores across Virginia. VFM locations offer nutrition incentives that double the value of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) dollars spent on fruits and vegetables. With VFM, SNAP shoppers can afford more fruits and vegetables, local farmers earn extra income, and more dollars stay in the local economy. Local Environmental Agriculture Project (LEAP) serves as fiscal sponsor. Learn more at VirginiaFreshMatch.org.