As part of National Health Center Week and our theme, Planting the Seeds for Better Health, we're highlighting Community Health Centers that are improving access to nutritious foods and promoting healthier lifestyles. Today, we're featuring River Valley Health and its innovative community garden program.
The following insights come from Kippy Price, Marketing Coordinator at River Valley Health, who shares how these gardens are helping nourish patients, families, and communities.
Can you describe how your community gardens got started?
Our community garden initiative grew from the vision of our former CEO, Dr. Dennis Freeman. Dr. Freeman was deeply concerned about food insecurity among the patients and families we serve, particularly the lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables. His passion for this issue was rooted in his own upbringing. An Iowa farm boy, Dr. Freeman grew up eating fresh, homegrown fruits and vegetables and maintained those rural roots throughout his life. He understood firsthand the nutritional value, affordability, and sense of community that can come from growing your own food. As he approached retirement, he envisioned creating gardens connected to our clinics that would help address food insecurity while bringing together patients, staff, volunteers, and community members around a common purpose.
How does your community garden improve access to healthy food for patients and families in your community?
The gardens provide a reliable source of fresh produce for patients and families who may have limited access to healthy food options. By growing vegetables locally and distributing them directly through our clinics, we are able to reduce barriers to obtaining nutritious food.
In New Tazewell, Newport, and Maynardville, produce from the gardens is incorporated into our day treatment programs, where participants prepare and enjoy meals made with freshly harvested vegetables. The gardens also help support local food pantry efforts and community food-sharing initiatives.
At our New Tazewell clinic, excess produce is made available on a community table in the lobby so that anyone visiting the clinic can take fresh vegetables home. At our Alcoa location, where there is no day treatment program, employees and volunteers maintain the garden. Produce harvested there is placed in baskets in the lobby for patients to take home, and patients are often provided bags and encouraged to pick their own vegetables directly from the garden as they leave their appointments.
What role does nutritional education play in long-term health outcomes?
Nutritional education is a key component of the program's success. Providing fresh produce is important, but helping people understand how to prepare, enjoy, and incorporate healthy foods into their daily lives creates lasting change.
Through our day treatment programs, participants use vegetables harvested from the gardens to prepare lunches and learn practical cooking skills. Members frequently exchange recipes and cooking ideas, helping one another discover new ways to prepare fresh vegetables. These experiences increase confidence in meal preparation and encourage healthier food choices at home.
Over time, nutritional education helps individuals build sustainable habits that support better physical health, chronic disease prevention, and overall wellness.
How does this program embody the theme “Planting the Seeds for Better Health”?
This program embodies the theme "Planting the Seeds for Better Health" in every sense. The gardens literally begin with seeds that grow into fresh, nutritious food for patients, families, and community members. At the same time, they plant the seeds of healthier habits, greater self-sufficiency, stronger relationships, and improved well-being.
The gardens provide opportunities for physical activity, social connection, teamwork, and hands-on learning. Participants develop organizational skills, learn about nutrition, and experience the pride that comes from growing food themselves. These experiences help cultivate long-term changes that extend far beyond the garden beds.
What began as Dr. Freeman's vision to address food insecurity has grown into a program that nourishes both bodies and communities, creating healthier outcomes one harvest at a time.
Can you share a specific story or example of how the gardens have made a difference for a patient or family?
The New Tazewell Memorial Garden has become an incredibly meaningful part of our program and a fitting tribute to Dr. Freeman's vision. For three growing seasons, it has provided fresh vegetables while creating opportunities for teamwork, responsibility, and personal growth among our members. The garden has become such an anticipated part of the year that questions like, "What are we planting this year?" and "What do we need to do in the garden this month?" begin earlier each season.
One particularly memorable example occurred last year when a mother and her four young children visited the clinic for primary care appointments while our community produce table was available. The children were delighted to learn that each of them could choose a fresh cucumber to take home. Their excitement was contagious, and the cucumbers quickly became the highlight of their day. They talked about them throughout their appointments and left proud of the vegetables they had selected.
While it may seem like a small moment, it perfectly reflects the impact of the gardens. For that family, access to fresh produce became a positive, memorable experience. For many of our patients, especially those facing financial challenges, the produce grown in our gardens represents healthy food that might otherwise be difficult to obtain. Every vegetable shared, every meal prepared, and every person engaged in the gardening process helps fulfill Dr. Freeman's vision of creating healthier communities through access, education, and connection.
By honoring Dr. Dennis Freeman's commitment to addressing food insecurity, our community gardens continue to cultivate healthier lifestyles, stronger community connections, and greater access to fresh, nutritious food—one seed, one harvest, and one family at a time.
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