Maternal Produce Prescription Program - The Utah Department of Health and Human Services’ (DHHS) Community Food Security Program (CFSP) requests $499,932 for year one and a total of $1,998,541 over a four-year project period to administer the Utah Maternal Produce Rx (MPRx) program. This program is a needed resource in both urban and rural communities across Utah. Only 12.4% of low-income Utahns consume the recommended daily servings of FV, and nearly 30% of Utah children ages zero–11 live in households that cannot consistently afford nutritious meals (4,5). Additionally, fewer than half of pregnant women in Utah say their healthcare provider discussed healthy eating and exercise with them at a postpartum visit (13). The overarching goal of this program is to improve access to fruits and vegetables (FV) for pregnant women experiencing food insecurity in Utah while also enhancing maternal care. To achieve this goal, CFSP will enroll up to 2,320 eligible participants into the MPRx program through partnerships with health clinics and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clinics. Participants will receive up to $600 in FV incentives over the course of 12 months, along with gestational and postpartum nutrition education and additional food access resources. Participants will be able to redeem these incentives at a choice of 43 farm-direct, 9 brick-and-mortar, and hundreds of online/delivery locations. MPRx will build on nearly a decade of CFSP experience developing and operating the previous Utah Produce Rx (UT PRx) program and administering other statewide produce incentive programs. CFSP will leverage an established network of statewide partners in addition to engaging new partners with maternal health expertise. Two local WIC clinics will serve as the Community-based Organization partners, and 6 health clinics with 16 locations will serve as the Healthcare Partner Organizations, both playing an integral role in the program’s design and execution. These WIC and health clinics offer invaluable firsthand insight into how food insecurity contributes to adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. Their extensive experience addressing the barriers faced by underserved women makes them ideal community partners to implement MPRx. As key, trusted community resources, all clinics will implement MPRx for participant screening, enrollment, nutrition education, and resource referral. An expansive redemption partner (RP) network will provide flexible options, spanning farm-direct, including farmers markets and farm stands, brick and mortar, and online ordering and home-delivery options. Virtual visit options, including virtual NEd, also provide flexible ways for participants to engage in the program. This model reduces financial and geographic barriers for families, equips clinics with actionable tools for addressing food insecurity, and directly supports Utah’s local food system. CFSP will conduct a rigorous evaluation to assess the program's efficacy and impact as well as participant satisfaction and program fidelity. Through these activities, MPRx will demonstrate increased fruit and vegetable consumption, improved nutrition knowledge, improved household food insecurity, and improved maternal and infant health outcomes.
