FARM Rx: Wholesome Wave Georgia’s place based Food for Health Program in Athens, Georgia.
Myrna and Martha’s Story
Myrna was born just outside of El Paso, Texas, and moved to Georgia in her 20’s with her mother, Martha, and her five siblings. They’ve now lived in Georgia for 31 years, and are part of a thriving hispanic community in North Athens. They enrolled in the FARM Rx program at an outreach event at the Pinewoods Spanish-language library early last Spring, and have attended, without fail, every single Saturday market since the start of the program on April 13th.
The FARM Rx program enables Myrna and Martha to purchase fresh and local produce, which they use to prepare their favorite Mexican dishes. Many of the foods we have available at the market– like tomatoes, tomatillos, jalapenos, habaneros, squash, corn, onion, and garlic– are foods that are cultivated widely throughout Central and South America.
In this joint interview, Martha recalls the Mexican dishes she enjoyed making for Myrna and her other kids back in the 90’s– chile California con queso, elotes asados, carne asada, nopales, calabazas– while Myrna, who’s now a mother, too, explains that she cooks those same dishes from her childhood for her two sons. One of Myrna’s son’s suffers from a developmental disability, which requires Myrna to be extra thoughtful about what she feeds him. She is thankful that the FARM Rx program makes healthy food so accessible, as it gives her and her family the freedom to eat well.
Porch Chat Interviewer: What foods do you enjoy buying at the market?
Myrna: “We use a lot of spinach because spinach is so healthy and has a lot of fiber in it. And then it’s also good for my special needs child. Yeah. And my mom too.
Martha: “A mi me gusta venir aquí porque compró– como ahorita compre elote, y lo voy a hacer con calabaza y quesito. La semana pasada llevé pepino, y también chile y se los hice pero en rajas. También me lleve sandía – los ponemos en el refrigerador…y frescas…mmmm! ¡Qué rica! ¡Es que aquí todo es fresco! Estamos comiendo algo de la tierra. Directo de la tierra. No es de un estado a otro– no está muy paseado porque es del campo a la mesa.”
Translation: “I like coming here because I buy corn and I’m going to cook it with squash and cheese. Last week I brought cucumbers and chile and I cut them into slices. I also bought watermelon – we put them in the refrigerator…so fresh…mmmm! So delicious! Everything here is fresh! We’re eating something from the land. Straight from the land. It’s not from one state to another – it’s not very far because it’s from the field to the table.”
Porch Chat Interviewer: Did you enjoy attending the classes? What did you learn from them?
Martha: “Aprendí mucho porque ahí te acabas de dar cuenta lo que es bueno para ti y lo que es malo para ti. Ahí acabamos de afirmar las cosas si tienes duda. Que lo que tiene azúcar y que lo que no tiene. Que es saludable y no. También aprendes un poquito más a cocinar con las cosas básicas y eso es bueno. Y las porciones.. Es muy importante la porción porque cuando uno tiene mucho a comer, ¡te llenas! Y no, no es de llenar…es de poner porción. Tener control.”
Translation: “I learned a lot about what has sugar and what doesn’t. What’s healthy and what’s not. You also learn a little bit more about cooking basics and that’s good. And the portions… The portion is very important because when you have a lot to eat, you get so full! It’s not about filling up…it’s about setting the portion. Having control.”
Myrna: “It’s a lot of new things that you learn. How much sugar the sodas have and other things that you don’t think it had sugar in it. How to feel satisfied, not too full.”
Porch Chat Interviewer: Do you look forward to the market each week? How has your experience been interacting with the other participants and the farmers?
Martha: “¡Oh sí! Me encanta venir porque cuando vengo aquí no me siento rara. Me siento como en familia y aparte de eso, vengo para ver lo que hay de nuevo en el market porque cada mes según lo que de la tierra es lo que va ver. Entonces, uno disfruta en ver lo que hay de nuevo y eso me gusta mucho. Se siente un ambiente bonito. Estamos escuchando música tranquila, hay muchas cosas que se venden, hay artesanía que se hace, hay playeras que tienen el emblema del market y eso es bonito porque uno lo puede llevar y sentirse orgullosa de pertenecer a el programa. Además, los que venden son muy amables y eso es lo que importa.”
Translation: “I come to see what’s new at the market because every month, depending on what’s coming from the land, that’s what I’m going to see. There’s a nice atmosphere. We’re listening to calm music, here are t-shirts that have the market emblem and that’s nice because one can wear it and feel proud of belonging to the program. Also, the sellers are very kind and that’s what matters.I was asking [a farmer] questions in Spanish, then
an American girl who studied Spanish came up and I asked her ‘how old are you?’ and she asked me questions back. We both spoke! We communicated. I feel like I’m with my family here. I feel calm.”
About FARM Rx
FARM Rx is the Athens-based Food for Health program that works in partnership with Wholesome Wave Georgia, St. Mary’s Hospital, and the Athens Farmers Market. The program runs for eight months (April to November) and provides participants, and their families, with weekly allotments of tokens which they can use to purchase locally grown fruits, vegetables, and edible plants from the Athens Farmers Market. Participants also attend nutrition education classes that UGA SNAP-ED hosts. This program serves those suffering from food insecurity and diet-related illnesses, with the idea that improving both food access and nutrition education will improve participant’s health and overall quality of life.
About Wholesome Wave Georgia Food for Health
Wholesome Wage Georgia’s Food For Health promotes affordable access to produce and healthy eating in underserved communities through partnerships with healthcare providers, community organizations, and retailers. Healthcare providers give families innovative prescriptions that can be spent on fruits and vegetables at participating farmers markets.
This Porch Chat was conducted and written by Maya Alandete.
The 2024 Athens Food for Health Program was made possible through the support of UnitedHealthcare’s Empowering Heath Grant.
