Produce Rx, a project in collaboration with UC Berkeley, UC Davis and CommuniCare+OLE Health Centers, is beginning to evaluate Yolo County participants six months after giving them a “produce prescription.”

CommuniCare+OLE recommended diabetes and prediabetes patients to the program; patients then received free produce monthly as a way to manage their blood sugar and help reduce any food insecurity they may be experiencing.

Susana Matias, an assistant professor and Cooperative Extension Specialist at UC Berkeley, collaborated on the project with Edye Kuyper, the Food and Wellness Manager at CommuniCare+OLE. Matias leads the evaluation process.

“This is a federally qualified health center, which means they serve people regardless of income,” Matias said. “Which as a researcher makes me feel like the research I’m doing is actually reaching, potentially, those who will benefit more from these results.”

In the first cohort, 112 participants were given monthly produce prescriptions valued from $60-$80 based on household sizes, Matias explained. Matias works with campus and UC Davis students to conduct weekly evaluations of 52 of the participants.

Researchers primarily evaluate blood hemoglobin A1C levels, which is used to evaluate diabetes management, according to Kuyper.

Kuyper added that campus researchers evaluate fruit and vegetable consumption, food security status and preferences for fruits and vegetables.

“By partnering with UC Berkeley we’re especially taking the evaluation up a notch,” said Kuyper.

Participants are able to access produce based on where they live in Yolo County.

Matias said that Davis and West Sacramento patients receive monthly vouchers for the local Davis farmer’s market or mobile food market, respectively. In addition, Woodland residents get produce boxes put together by Communicare+OLE employees.

“One of the reasons why this program might work is in part because one of the barriers for being able to manage diabetes diagnosis is limited resources to buy produce,” Matias said.

Kuyper credited a similar project in Alameda County conducted by Dr. Steven Chen for some of the inspiration behind Produce Rx.

In the project’s next two years under USDA funding, Matias and Kuyper hope to  continue to improve the project and make it sustainable by seeking reimbursements through California Medi-Cal.

“We’re seeing that the [voucher] redemption rates are not as high as we would like them to be and we want to understand why or what can be done so people who are enrolled in the program actually do get the produce,” Matias said.