Chances are you've probably heard the saying "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." These days in Lawrence, this old saying is alive and well...and taking on new meaning. With rates of obesity, Type II diabetes, and heart disease skyrocketing amongst Lawrence's poorest residents, physicians at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center are actually handing over scripts that their patients can fill for fresh fruits and vegetables--and for free--at local farmers markets like the three that Groundwork Lawrence currently manages throughout Lawrence. Patients who are at risk of or have a diet-related disease, or suffer from malnutrition, can take part in the Veggie Prescription Program through Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, one of three clinics in Massachusetts awarded with funds from Wholesome Wave, CAVU, and Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources to run the Veggie Prescription Program. To read more about the program, and the positive and health-giving effects it is causing throughout the Commonweath, see the New York Times article published last Thursday, August 12th, here.
