Amy Saxe-Custack is dedicated to the evaluation and expansion of nutrition programs that target children and families living in Flint, with a focus on improving access to fresh foods. Much of her work examines the impact of a fruit and vegetable prescription program for pediatric patients. 

July 27, 2019

Flint Fresh the "food hub," which serves as a central location to aggregate, process and distribute healthy fruits and vegetables supplied from nearly 40 area farmers. 

Many children in Flint now participate in a new fruit and vegetable prescription program in which pediatricians prescribe fresh produce to children. "The purpose of the program is to support the development of healthy eating patterns by providing children easy access to fresh, high-quality produce," said Amy Saxe-Custack, nutrition director of the Michigan State University-Hurley Children's Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiative, which manages the nutrition prescription program.

"Early results of a study examining the impact of the pediatric produce prescription program indicate that many children in Flint are largely not meeting dietary recommendations," said Saxe-Custack. "The average intake of vegetables among our sample of 365 children is less than one serving per day before receiving a prescription.

Unfortunately, poor access to high-quality produce has been an issue in Flint for decades."

Read more about Flint Fresh.