Food as Medicine Program: Delivering Greater Food Security and Access in North Minneapolis

Camden community members receive personalized weekly grocery packages in pilot program by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, Pillsbury United Communities and North Memorial Health

(Robbinsdale and Eagan, Minnesota) July 8, 2020 -- Food security and access to healthy foods are vital to personal and community health – and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Blue Cross) and North Memorial Health are working in North Minneapolis to develop creative solutions that support both. North Minneapolis has long faced food insecurity and access challenges that stem from redlining, decades of racially discriminative policies, underinvestment, segregation and other factors. Food insecurity and health inequities in North Minneapolis have been further exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic and loss of neighborhood grocery stores.   

Pillsbury United Communities through North Market, Blue Cross and North Memorial Health came together to address this challenge through a new program to meet food and safety needs identified in the community. The newly piloted "food as medicine" program provides personalized weekly grocery packages to vulnerable Camden community members who have chronic health conditions and are at a higher risk for COVID-19. Packages are delivered by North Memorial Health community paramedics, who also assess participants' wellness during the visits.

North Market – a program of Pillsbury United Communities that serves as a full-service grocery store, includes the North Memorial Health wellness resource center and serves as a community gathering place in North Minneapolis – partnered with Blue Cross and North Memorial Health to develop and fulfill the program. The partners share a commitment to identifying the unique needs and solutions of communities within North Minneapolis, where leaders and neighbors know how best to serve the most vulnerable.

"Working with the North Minneapolis neighborhood, North Memorial Health wants to ensure that its most vulnerable customers – those who are food insecure, live alone, are over the age of 50 with chronic health conditions and at greater risk for COVID-19 – can safely receive healthy foods to support their health," said Jennifer Close, CEO of North Memorial Health Clinic. "With the partnership of North Market, we are already seeing some very positive health impacts from the food as medicine program. For example, during a recent delivery, one of our community paramedics was able to direct a participant to COVID-19 testing, as the individual shared having symptoms suggesting that they may have the virus."

The 12-week program begins with care coordinators at North Memorial Health Clinic – Camden who know the health needs of their community members. For the first phase of the program, the care coordinators identified 10 participants who began receiving grocery deliveries the week of May 18. North Market creates the food packages, each of which are personalized to reflect individual preferences and align with the essential foods that support the needs of their chronic conditions. Special requests by participants and essential non-food groceries, like toiletries, are also included in the care packages. The program will expand to include a total of 30 participants around July 20.

"This pilot uniquely meets the needs of North Minneapolis residents and addresses a long, systemic issue of food insecurity. Food as medicine squarely addresses the social determinant of health related to quality food access which we know has significant downstream impacts," said Adair Mosley, president and CEO, Pillsbury United Communities. "Individuals and families have shared with us their desire to eat healthy but are prohibited due to access and cost. This program squarely addresses the barrier, and if scaled, can lower healthcare costs and have positive health impacts." 

Blue Cross and North Memorial Health are conducting ongoing evaluation of the program through weekly satisfaction surveys with participants and monthly health monitoring.

"Community-developed solutions like the food as medicine program support more personalized healthcare. Community members at risk for COVID-19 can practice vital social distancing and still have access to healthy foods. With healthcare providers coming to their doors, their individual health concerns can be monitored closely, which is fundamental to successfully managing chronic conditions," said Dr. Mark Steffen, chief medical officer, Blue Cross.

About North Memorial Health

At North Memorial Health, we are on a mission to change healthcare. We’re delivering unmatched customer service and empowering our customers throughout the Twin Cities to achieve their best health. North Memorial Health offers a complete spectrum of primary care and specialty services to meet customer’s unique healthcare needs. North Memorial Health provides access to the high-quality, low-cost care throughout the Twin Cities through its specialty and primary care clinics, home care offering, medical transportation services and two hospitals – North Memorial Health Hospital and Maple Grove Hospital – and 900+ doctors and 5,000+ team members that are dedicated to delivering a more connected experience for our customers.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota

For more than 90 years, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (bluecrossmn.com) has supported the health, wellbeing and peace of mind of our members by striving to ensure equitable access to high quality care at an affordable price. We are on a mission to inspire change, transform care and improve health for the people and communities we serve by reinventing both ourselves and the broader system. Our more than 2.5 million members can be found in every Minnesota county, all 50 states and on four continents. As a proud nonprofit organization, we believe working to advance wellness for all Minnesotans is the greatest investment we can make. Our goal is nothing less than for everyone to be able to achieve their full health potential, regardless of race or other socially defined circumstances. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, which serves more than 107 million members across the U.S.