“Farmacy Stand” Brings Fruits & Veggies to Houston’s Medical Center

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Here’s a healthy idea that’s sweeping the nation: Doctors writing “prescriptions” for fruits and veggies. The idea is that eating well is something that should be part of a regular routine to stay healthy, just like any important medication would be.

Last Fall, a concerned doctor teamed-up with an organic produce non-profit to begin writing prescriptions for fruits and vegetables and allowing patients to fill their prescription right in Houston’s medical center. Dr. Garth Davis call the new program the “Farmacy Stand.”

The stand is open 10 a.m.-2 p.m. every Wednesday in the lobby of Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center, 921 Gessner Road. The produce stand is located in the East Tower and free parking is available in Garage 3.

Patients present prescriptions for a box of fresh, organic produce. The Memorial Hermann Foundation provided money to build the stand. A box costs $25, but if you have a prescription, $10 is refunded.

Orders must be placed online (rawfullyorganic.com), by 9 a.m. the Tuesday before pick up. People who don’t have a prescription can also order the produce, but there is no $10 refund.

Dr. Davis is hopeful the veggie prescriptions will catch on in his office.

“I think a few other doctors have written prescriptions,” he said in an article in the Houston Chronicle. “I would like to get more doctors writing the prescriptions. Hippocrates said, ‘Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.’ Produce is medicine. The vegetables and fruits are an alternative for use in treating diseases.”

Read more about the Farmacy Stand here.