When a serious eye problem sent Dorchester
executive professional Laura B. rushing to Boston Medical Center’s emergency
room, she had no job, no health insurance, and no idea how she’d be able to
receive the care she needed to address the chronic health conditions she’d been
coping with.
In 2006, eleven years into her stint as
director of a South Boston nonprofit, Laura was laid off and has struggled to
maintain gainful employment and stable income ever since. She’s also had to
grapple with Type 2 diabetes, weight problems and glaucoma, serious ailments
she had neither the knowledge nor the money to monitor and manage.
But shortly after becoming a BMC patient,
Laura received a prescription not to a pharmacy, but to the hospital’s food
pantry, an innovative food assistance program where patients receive referrals
to obtain free food that can improve their health.
Now, Laura is one of some 7000 local
residents that receive over 20 tons of free fresh fruits, vegetables and meat
the hospital gives out each month.
For the last ten years, the Boston Medical Center Food Pantry has brought a sense of stability to the lives of local
residents with socio-economic barriers that prevent them from accessing healthy
foods and quality healthcare. A referral to the food pantry is often the first
step for patients on the path toward getting fresh, wholesome foods and learning
and adopting healthier eating habits. Pantry patrons are also encouraged to
participate in food preparation classes in the medical center’s demonstration
kitchen, where they can learn how to cook food, control portion size, and more.
On October 25, South End restaurant maven
Joanne Chang and master TV food chef Ming Tsai cooked up special dishes as special
guests Catherine D’Amato, executive director of the Greater Boston Food Bank,
and philanthropists Ted Cutler, Marc and Clare Perlman, Don Rodman and other
longtime supporters mixed and mingled at the Seaport Hotel in celebration of
the pantry’s tenth anniversary.
The intimate reception also included
cooking demonstrations by BMC Demonstration Kitchen chef Tracy Burg and gave hospital
staff an opportunity to honor the benefactors who have helped sustain the
pantry, which is funded entirely by philanthropic donations, over the last
decade.
The demo kitchen has been a crucial part of
reinforcing the pantry’s purpose: to connect patients with both the resources
and information they need to choose healthier foods and behaviors.
“When people come in [to the kitchen], we’ll
bring in something from across the hall at the food pantry, and people will
say, ‘I would never buy that at the grocery store because I have no idea how to
cook it or how to cut it’,” says Burg. “So I teach them how to prepare it, and
I give them recipes they can take home with them and that we cook and they
taste. They get to try these new foods, and a lot of them, it’s their first
time experiencing some of these foods. But as a result, they start making
healthier selections at the grocery store because they know how to use the
food.”
Since she started receiving food at the
pantry and taking classes at the demo kitchen three years ago, Laura’s lost and
kept off forty pounds. She says the pantry has been crucial to helping her
achieve her health goals. “I
don’t think my cholesterol would have come down so far or that my sugars [would
be] under control. I don’t think that would have happened if I didn’t have the
benefit of the good food I’m getting.”
Pantry manager Dr. Latchman Hiralall says
the high cost of healthy food often prevents patients from eating well, but
that the free food and cooking demonstrations help them better save and budget their
money. “The money they save, they use it to pay their bills, especially during
the winter months when things are really tough.”
Food pantry coordinator Emile Kamadeau
knows about tough times. When Kamadeau first came to Boston from his native
Cameroon, he had a hard time finding work as an IT professional. With little to
no income, purchasing nutritious food proved difficult. As a result, his diet
and eating habits became unhealthy and expensive. “The type of food I was
buying with the little money that I had wasn’t what I was looking for,” he
recalls.
After receiving a referral to BMC from
Massachusetts General Hospital, Kamadeau was promptly provided with a
prescription to the pantry. “When I started collecting food here, I had fresh
vegetables [and] meat, so I was able to cook something that was actually
appropriate to my needs,” he says.
That was in 2004; seven years later,
Kamadeau has been a pantry employee for more than five years and says
recognizing the positive impact the program is having on people’s lives pushes
him to provide the best service he can to his fellow patients. In return,
patients express their appreciation for the pantry and its staff at nearly
every turn.
“A
lot of people, they are very, very, very grateful for what we are doing here,”
he says. “So that’s the payback, when people tell you that they really
appreciate what you’re doing.”
Laura is thankful that the pantry has
alleviated some of the financial burden of being unemployed.
“Fresh fruit and vegetables are expensive, so
[without the pantry], I would be eating whatever it was I could afford that’s
less expensive, and that doesn’t tend to be fresh produce,” she says.
“I wish I wasn’t in the financial situation
I am in, but I’m glad they’re here, and I never feel like I’m treated as less
than because I need the help – that never, ever happens.”
published in The South End News
published in The South End News
