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Food Systems

Access to fresh, healthy food is a fundamental component of a community’s overall wellness. We cannot be truly well if there are significant barriers to food. Virginia Mason Franciscan Health is committed to addressing food security, especially for those who have significant challenges accessing food on a regular basis. Our goal is to help meet the nutritional and cultural needs of our communities. 

Through funding from CommonSpirit Health, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health has begun piloting several projects that build capacity in our local food system. This includes partnering with Emergency Food Network on a medically-tailored food box delivery program and providing expert advice on bulk food buying. Additionally, our goal is to support our local food banks in serving the community with culturally relevant foods, creating a welcoming environment, nutritional analysis, educational materials, and nutrition programming. Virginia Mason Franciscan Health will also work on edible food recovery programs and support efforts to increase participation in state and federal food programs. 

To learn more about the Virginia Mason Franciscan Health Food Systems Initiative, reach out to [email protected].

  • This pilot program aims to help meet the nutritional needs of our food insecure patients at the Virginia Mason Franciscan Health Heart & Vascular Clinics in Tacoma, Lakewood, and Gig Harbor; as well as our Diabetes Education Clinic in Tacoma. In partnership with the Emergency Food Network, eligible patients receive fresh produce, two non-perishable grocery boxes, one cold or frozen grocery box every month. These grocery boxes are provided free of charge and adhere to the heart healthy diet guidelines set forth by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

    Similarly, in Kitsap County, the Franciscan Medical Clinic in Port Orchard has partnered with South Kitsap Helpline to provide medically tailored food boxes to food insecure patients with pre-diabetes, type 1 diabetes, or type 2 diabetes. The box contents and cadence of deliveries is similar to that of the program operating in Pierce County.

    The goal of this project is to close the gap of food insecurity and support better health outcomes for our patients with cardiovascular disease and/or elevated blood sugar. Ultimately, we hope this pilot program will provide sufficient data for insurance companies to fund prescription food boxes in the future.

    Program participation requires a referral from a cardiologist, diabetes educator, or primary care provider. If you or someone you know is interested in participating in this program, please contact one of the clinics below:

  • Virginia Mason Franciscan Health contracts with Goodr to pick up excess food from our hospitals, and deliver it to nearby hot meal feeding programs. This program showcases our commitment to environmental sustainability by decreasing food waste, saving water and diverting CO2.

    As of January 2025, we have launched this program at 7 of our hospitals, with plans to launch the program at our 8th and final hospital later this year. By the end of 2024, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health donated approximately 1,972 meals, diverted 2,366 pounds of food from compost or landfills, and prevented 1,285 pounds of CO2 emissions. So far, 7 nonprofits have been able to receive excess food from our hospitals, and serve it to community members in need.

    If your feeding program is interested in becoming a recipient of food, please reach out to us at [email protected].

  • In 2023, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health started working with community partners to complete assessments of local food banks and food pantries. The result is the cultural relevance toolkit, which provides tools, resources, and recommendations that support hunger relief programs in their efforts to become more welcoming and inclusive to a culturally diverse client base. If you would like guidance on how to use these tools, or would like to contribute to the creation of new tools, please send an email to [email protected]. 

  • Virginia Mason Franciscan Health is working with county health departments and internal departments (such as WIC, care management and patient access) to better assess and document food security among our patients, and connect them with the appropriate food resources.

More food system projects

  • Our food systems coordinator and registered dietitian will be co-hosting cooking demonstrations and nutrition education classes with culinary arts students from Olympic College. Join us in the teaching kitchen for tasty samples and take-home recipes! Please visit the activities page on the Marvin Williams Center website for upcoming event details.

  • Our registered dietitian is working with several food banks on the creation and review of a nutrition policy specific to each organization. While this is not a local, state, or federal requirement, many food banks are developing these policies as a way to publicly communicate their intention and plans to provide healthy and nutritious foods to their clients.

    Visit the Washington Food Coalition’s resources page to access guidelines for writing a nutrition policy.

  • Sometimes it is hard to know what to do with food from a food bank. Many people in our community lack the knowledge, skills, or tools to create healthy meals from the ingredients provided. Luckily, the USDA provides nutrition education, storage tips, and serving suggestions for each of the foods they provide to the food banks. Each handout also includes two recipes for the food item! Product Information Sheets are found here. The next step is to navigate to the correct food group, then the item of interest. For example, click on “vegetable”, then “Potatoes, sliced, canned” to get this PDF of nutrition information and recipes.

  • If your organization is applying for grants or other funding and needs a letter of support from a health care organization, please reach out to us. The grant mission and/or specific project must align with our goals to promote community health and sustainable food systems. If for some reason it does not align with our department’s goals and objectives, then we can refer you to the appropriate contact person within our organization.

  • Outside of the projects directly funded by CommonSpirit Health, we are always excited to collaborate with our community partners on their new food system ventures. Some examples include:

     

Food system community partners

Our food systems team is out in the community building and fostering relationships every day! This list is not all inclusive, as it is always growing and changing.