January 19, 2020

The Dig Deep Farms Food Hub celebrated its Grand Opening on Friday, January 17^th as part of All In Alameda County's new war on poverty.  This truly remarkable and high-impacting “Food as Medicine” initiative has been created by many dedicated partners including Hillary Bass of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, Dr. Steven Chen, the Chief Medical Officer of All In Alameda County, Rob Bennaton of the UCCE Alameda Urban Ag Program, Sasha Shankar and Troy Horton of Dig Deep Farms and Alameda County Supervisor, Wilma Chan.  Many CASI folks know Dr. Chen from his work to scale and spread the Food as Medicine model that bundles together multiple interventions to improve health: a “food farmacy” with food prescriptions through a partnership with Dig Deep Farms, a “social needs pharmacy” to connect patients to community resources, and a group medical visit “behavioral pharmacy” that combines movement, nutrition, stress reduction and social support.  A video that showcases Dr. Chen's work at the Hayward Wellness Clinic where he served as Medical Director before joining All In Alameda County, can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1pwSAEJ-bI&list=PLLjlfxpbNglYF2m7tvApfiR5NXParpvGP&index=2&t=69s   This is a tremendously important and hugely successful effort that is improving the lives of many people in Alameda County.