Photos by Lucie Monk Carter
It took just one season for Farm to Work to catch—ten weeks, ten boxes of fresh produce delivered from a local farm to each enrolled employee at Baton Rouge’s Our Lady of the Lake and St. Elizabeth hospitals. And when ten weeks ended, you can bet they wanted an encore.
The program, instituted by the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, began in spring 2014 as an effort to help the hospitals’ employees live healthier lives as they care for others in the community.
Now bi-yearly, Farm to Work delivers boxes in summer and fall. Employees, who pay for the service themselves, can opt between a five-box “every other week” service for $125 or a ten-box “every week” delivery for $250. Each box contains over ten types of fruits and vegetables, and the rare complaints are resolved quickly.
Eric Morrow, owner of Morrow Farm in Ponchatoula, has been providing the locally grown fruits and vegetables for the boxes since Farm to Work’s inception. Since then, it’s estimated 16,000 boxes containing 300,000 pounds of produce have been delivered to the workplaces of participating businesses, a roster that’s expanding outside of healthcare workers. In addition to OLOL and St. Elizabeth, two other hospitals in the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System are participating as well as employees of EBR City-Parish, Pennington Biomedical, Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System, and many more. Slowly, the program is affecting the way these professional communities think, cook, and eat.
“We know that as a state we have serious health problems,” said Jeff Soileau, health and wellness program manager for Healthy Lives, the organization that manages Farm to Work. “When we think of corporate wellness, we often think of visiting HR and getting your finger stubbed and your cholesterol taken. While all of that is extremely important, it isn’t fun. This is fun.”
Each week, the boxes change. While Morrow provides the majority of the fruits and vegetables from his own farm, he also partners with other local farmers. One example: oranges. While Morrow doesn’t grow them, he knows another local farmer who does. The variety in the boxes is ever-changing. “You get whatever is ready to be harvested,” Soileau said. “Fresh beets, carrots, zucchini. A lot of people have never cooked fresh beets. Fresh beets are something you’d never buy at the store. When people think of beets they think of beets in the can. But since this is food they purchased, they’re not going to waste it and they’re forced to try it.”
Which is how the cycle of healthy eating begins. In addition to the produce, the boxes come with recipes specific to what’s being delivered. If an unfamiliar fruit or vegetable does appear in the box, the recipient will have instructions for properly cooking and consuming it.
“It is impacting behavior,” said Judy Deshotels, assistant vice president of mission integration of Our Lady of the Angels Hospital in Bogalusa. “Those participating are making healthier choices year-round.”
That energy and enthusiasm is lasting beyond the ten weeks. Morrow, who also participates in the Red Stick Farmers Market, has seen his business increase when the delivery cycles end. In a survey of participants six weeks after the program ended, three quarters said they were eating more fresh fruits and vegetables after the program ended than they did before.
“There’s a sense of enthusiasm among colleagues and coworkers that builds,” added Deshotels. “Others hear the conversation who aren’t involved, [and they] begin to get energized, too.”
Visit ourhealthylives.org/farm-to-work for details on Farm to Work and information on how your business can enroll.
