Aug. 23, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Get your fruits and vegetables here! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Faculty and staff at Northern Arizona University can soon be\n\u201cprescribed\u201d a healthier diet and fill their prescription with bags of free groceries.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the 2018 wellness survey conducted as part of\nthe Healthy U program, though NAU employees ranked strong in wellness, they believed\nthey should be eating more fruits and vegetables. In an effort to help, NAU\u2019s Employee\nAssistance and Wellness (EAW) is partnering with Campus Health Services,\nStudent Health Promotion and Campus Dining to implement a produce prescription\nprogram called Fruits\/Veggies Rx.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cStudents have been taking advantage of this program for a couple of years,\u201d said Heather Nash<\/strong>, director of EAW. \u201cAfter seeing the survey results, we thought extending this program to faculty and staff would be a great way to elevate their concerns of not getting enough nutrition in their diets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The program works like this: If an employee feels they are\nnot getting enough produce in their diets, they can visit a provider, physician,\nnurse or counselor to get a \u201cprescription\u201d of increasing their fruit and veggie\nintake. Then, the employee can take that prescription to the EAW office, room\n2601 in the Health and Learning Center, to pick up a voucher for one free bag\nof fruits and vegetables per week, for six weeks, redeemable at the Open-Air Market<\/a> on NAU\u2019s\npedway starting in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOnce they\u2019ve picked up the voucher, they can swing by the\nEAW table at the market and we\u2019ll talk about nutrition, provide some fun recipes\nand preparation ideas, then send them on their way with a bag of produce.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nash said a lot of the produce provided is locally sourced and introduces people to different varieties of fruits and vegetables that they may have otherwise not tried. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe wanted to provide a jumping-off point for people to\naccess fruits and vegetables, learn how easy it is to prepare them and just how\ntasty they can be. Our hope is that once they realize how easy it is, more\nproduce can be incorporated into their diets to create a healthier lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those who do not qualify for the prescription can use dining\ndollars, cash or credit card to purchase produce and other goods at the\nOpen-Air Market, which runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Wednesday in September\nand October. <\/p>\n\n\n\n