As director of farming and healthy lifestyles for Trinity Health Michigan, Amanda Sweetman oversees two hospital-based farms that provide fresh produce for patients, staff and community members, reports CBS Detroit.
Trinity's St. Joseph Mercy Health System opened the first 23-acre farm at St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor (Mich.) in 2010. This spring, the system opened a second Michigan farm, about 1 acre, at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland in Pontiac.
Last year the health system donated produce to 1,300 patients and distributed more than 11,000 boxes of produce to community members. The newest farm in Pontiac will also offer classes for staff and visitors to promote healthier lifestyles.
The farms allow St. Joseph Mercy to "return to our roots and bring this idea [that] food is medicine into our healthcare practice and out into the community," Ms. Sweetman told CBS Detroit.
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