Five Pillars of Food-as-Medicine

Core Program

Mobile Produce Pantry

Our mobile produce pantry program is the backbone of Georgia Food for Health's direct service operations. Operating a fleet of five state-inspected, refrigerated box trucks, we deliver farm-fresh produce to communities across 47 Georgia counties every single week of the year, rain or shine. Each truck is outfitted with commercial-grade cold storage maintaining produce at optimal temperatures between 34 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit from the moment it leaves our Atlanta distribution warehouse until it reaches families in places like Moultrie, Valdosta, Albany, and Waynesboro.

We source produce exclusively from Georgia farms within a 200-mile radius of our warehouse, working with 62 partner farms and orchards to ensure seasonal variety, peak freshness, and economic support for rural agricultural communities. Produce reaches our distribution points within 48 hours of harvest, a freshness standard that surpasses most conventional grocery supply chains in the regions we serve.

Each weekly stop serves between 80 and 150 families. Every family receives a curated box containing 15 to 25 pounds of seasonal fruits and vegetables, along with printed recipe cards featuring budget-friendly meal ideas, safe storage tips, and nutritional information. Our pantry stops require absolutely no identification, no proof of income, no paperwork, and no pre-registration. We believe that access to fresh, nutritious food is a fundamental right, not a privilege contingent on documentation.

Weekly Distribution Points

Our 28 regular weekly distribution points span the state from the Blue Ridge foothills in Rabun County to the Okefenokee basin in Clinch County. Major hubs include the Moultrie Community Center (Tuesdays), Albany Civic Center (Mondays), Valdosta State Fairgrounds (Tuesdays), and the Savannah Civic Center (Wednesdays). View the full schedule on our Pantry Locator.

Medical Nutrition Therapy

Medically-Tailored Meals (MTM)

Our Medically-Tailored Meals program provides custom-designed weekly meal boxes to Georgia residents managing serious chronic conditions including Type 2 diabetes, congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease (stages 3 through 5), cancer-related malnutrition, and HIV/AIDS wasting syndrome. Each meal plan is individually developed by our team of three registered dietitian nutritionists based on the patient's specific medical diagnosis, lab values, medications, and personal food preferences.

The program operates through clinical partnerships with Emory Healthcare, Grady Health System, Phoebe Putney Health System, and the South Georgia Medical Center. Referring physicians submit a standardized nutrition referral form, after which our dietitians conduct a comprehensive intake assessment including dietary history, medication review, food access barriers, and kitchen equipment availability. Meal plans are reviewed and adjusted quarterly or whenever the patient's clinical status changes.

Each weekly box contains five to seven fully prepared meals packaged in microwave-safe, BPA-free containers with clear reheating instructions, complete macronutrient and micronutrient breakdowns, and medication interaction warnings where applicable. The program currently serves 340 active patients across 19 counties, with an average A1C reduction of 1.8 points among diabetic participants over six months of enrollment.

Conditions We Serve

• Type 2 Diabetes & Pre-Diabetes (ADA Exchange-based plans)
• Congestive Heart Failure (sodium-restricted, fluid-managed)
• Chronic Kidney Disease (phosphorus, potassium, protein controlled)
• Cancer-Related Malnutrition (calorie-dense, nutrient-fortified)
• HIV/AIDS Wasting Syndrome (high-protein, immune-supportive)
• Post-Surgical Recovery Nutrition (wound-healing protocols)

Youth Education

School Nutrition Education

Our School Nutrition Education program brings certified nutrition educators and garden-based science curriculum to Title I elementary and middle schools across 23 Georgia counties. The program operates on a six-week rotating cycle, with educators visiting each school weekly for interactive cooking workshops, hands-on garden maintenance sessions, and classroom nutrition science lessons aligned to Georgia Performance Standards for Health Education and Science.

Each workshop covers practical skills that students can immediately apply at home: reading nutrition labels, identifying food groups and their functions, preparing simple balanced meals without a stove, understanding seasonal produce availability, and calculating the cost-per-serving of home-cooked versus fast-food meals. Students work in teams to plan, budget, and prepare a complete healthy meal using ingredients from the school garden and supplementary produce from our mobile pantry.

Every participating student receives a weekly take-home produce bag containing enough fresh fruits and vegetables for three to four family servings, along with a bilingual recipe card (English and Spanish) and a family activity sheet. Post-program surveys consistently show that 78 percent of participating families report increased fruit and vegetable consumption at home, and 65 percent of students report trying at least one new vegetable during the six-week cycle.

The program currently reaches 4,200 students annually across 38 schools, with particular concentration in Colquitt, Tift, Lowndes, Dougherty, and Emanuel counties where childhood food insecurity rates exceed the state average by 40 percent or more.

Community Development

Community Garden Network

Georgia Food for Health's Community Garden Network supports 24 active community gardens across 16 counties, providing startup materials, ongoing technical assistance, master gardener mentorship, and seasonal seed and transplant distributions. Each garden is community-owned and community-managed, with our organization serving as technical advisor and resource coordinator rather than operator.

New garden sites receive a comprehensive startup kit including raised bed materials, soil amendments, drip irrigation components, hand tools, fencing, and a curated seed library of 40 Georgia-adapted vegetable and herb varieties. Our agricultural extension partners from the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service provide soil testing, pest management guidance, and seasonal planting calendars customized to each garden's USDA hardiness zone and microclimate conditions.

Gardens in the network collectively produced over 18,000 pounds of fresh produce in the 2025 growing season, with surplus shared through neighborhood gleaning agreements and donated to local food pantries. The network also serves as outdoor classrooms for our School Nutrition Education program, creating a direct connection between the growing process and the meals students prepare in cooking workshops.

Adult Education

Cooking for Wellness Classes

Our Cooking for Wellness program offers free, hands-on cooking classes for adults at community centers, faith-based organizations, public libraries, and senior centers across Georgia. Classes are taught by trained community health workers and supervised by our registered dietitians, ensuring that every recipe and technique taught is both culturally relevant and nutritionally sound.

The eight-session curriculum covers meal planning on a limited budget, batch cooking and meal prepping for the week, safe food handling and storage, cooking without expensive equipment, adapting family recipes to be lower in sodium, sugar, and saturated fat, shopping strategically with SNAP and WIC benefits, and preparing meals that accommodate common chronic conditions. Participants receive all ingredients needed for each class session, a complete set of basic kitchen tools upon graduation, and a printed recipe collection booklet featuring all dishes prepared during the course.

Since launching in 2019, the program has graduated over 1,800 participants across 12 counties. Follow-up surveys at three and six months post-graduation consistently demonstrate sustained improvements in home cooking frequency, daily produce consumption, and reported confidence in preparing healthy meals for their families. Eighty-two percent of graduates report cooking at home at least four nights per week, up from an average of 1.7 nights pre-enrollment.