In 2012, and every year since, Food & Farm crews have connected Vermonters with weekly shares of farm-fresh food.

Find more information about the Health Care Share on our What We Do page.

2024 Update: In a 2023 report by Farm to Plate CSA and Healthcare Community of Practice, VYCC’s Health Care Share is identified as the largest prescription vegetable program in the state. Among five programs that provide a ‘healthcare CSA’ in Vermont, VYCC accounts for more than half of all households served and has the largest geographic reach.

Here is the Health Care Share’s origin story:

In 2008, VYCC acquired the eastern parcel of its current-day campus. The additional land and buildings enabled VYCC to drastically expand its programming, and one of those expansions was a small garden. As that garden grew into a CSA, VYCC sought to shift the destination of its produce to members of the community who might not have access to farm-fresh food.

In a conversation between VYCC’s Thomas Hark and Dr. Marvin Malek of Central Vermont Medical Center, the idea of a partnership between VYCC and medical centers emerged. VYCC is an organization that engages young people in seasonal outdoor work, and CVMC is a hospital working to help its patient community realize their wellness goals. CVMC could identify patients that would benefit greatly from no-cost farm-fresh produce.

In 2012, the first Health Care Share season served 150 households within the CVMC community: in Barre and surrounding towns.

The project took off quickly. Other partners joined in, and in 2018 the project won a national award: Project of the Year from The Corps Network.

Central Vermont Medical Center remains a steady partner. Shares have grown in size, duration, and variety. Today, certified organic vegetables are complimented on occasion by locally gleaned fruit, value-added products donated by local businesses such as Cabot Cheese and King Arthur Flour, eggs and chickens raised on the Farm by Corps Members, and freshly prepared, vacuum-sealed goods including pesto and flash-frozen vegetables.