Prince George’s County Councilmember Wala Blegay is concerned about the health of her constituents.
“We live in a food swamp, kind of,” she tells WAMU. “We have unhealthy options of foods everywhere. We have fast food options everywhere and they’re the fast option and they’re the cheaper option.”
The lack of healthy food options in Prince George’s County has real consequences. Heart disease is the number one cause of death and over 60% of deaths in the county are from chronic illnesses, many related to diet-based conditions like heart disease or diabetes.
Blegay sponsored legislation passed by the county council establishing a food as medicine program in the county’s Department of Health.
The program will educate residents on healthy food options as well as options that have medicinal benefits for conditions like diabetes and heart disease.
Dr. Ivan Zama is a palliative care specialist in Prince George’s County. His brother Isaac helps run Asawana Farms, an organic farm that focuses on speciality produce from Amazonia and Cameroon. Dr. Zama started sending patients to his brother’s farm to acquire good organic produce, like bitter melon, that has strong nutritional and medicinal benefits.
“They have anti-diabetic properties, right?,” Zama explained to WAMU. “Now, some of them help increase insulin sensitivity and by helping increase insulin sensitivity, that helps with blood sugar control.”
There are a lot of goals the food as medicine legislation sets forth, but the main action item is establishing a working group. That group will be made up of county officials, local farmers and food experts, as well as medical experts. Their task will include setting up ways to distribute the food to residents, figuring out where that food will come from and finding the money to pay for it all.
The post Prince George’s County lays groundwork for food as medicine program appeared first on WAMU.
Published Date : 2025-11-19 19:50:00
Source : wamu.org
