Kaiser Permanente's Farmers' Market Program: Description, Impact, and Lessons Learned

Authors

  • DeAnn Cromp Group Health Research Institute
  • Allen Cheadle Group Health Research Institute
  • Loel Solomon Kaiser Permanente
  • Preston Maring Kaiser Permanente Medical Center Oakland
  • Elisa Wong Kaiser Permanente
  • Kathleen M. Reed Kaiser Permanente

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2012.022.010

Keywords:

Farmers Markets, Healthy Food Access, Hospitals, Obesity Prevention

Abstract

Farmers' markets are an innovative strategy to potentially increase healthy nutrition environments. Kaiser Permanente (KP), the largest private, nonprofit healthcare system in the country, has been hosting farmers' markets on its medical campuses since 2003 and now has markets in nearly 40 KP locations in four states: California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Maryland. This paper describes the KP farmers' market program and summarizes the results of a patron survey conducted in 2010 among 2,435 market patrons. The majority of patrons are KP physicians and staff, and a quarter of patrons are KP members and community residents. The markets appear to have an impact on what people are eating: 74% of all patrons reported eating more fruits and vegetables as a result of coming to the market. The KP experience may be generalizable to other healthcare organizations and to other large employers.

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Author Biographies

DeAnn Cromp, Group Health Research Institute

Center for Community Health and Evaluation, Group Health Research Institute, 1730 Minor Avenue, Suite 1600, Seattle, WA 98101 USA; +1-206-287-2732

Allen Cheadle, Group Health Research Institute

Center for Community Health and Evaluation, Group Health Research Institute, 1730 Minor Avenue, Suite 1600, Seattle, WA 98101 USA

Loel Solomon, Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente, One Kaiser Plaza, 21st Floor (Bayside), Oakland, CA 94612 USA.

Preston Maring, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center Oakland

Kaiser Permanente Medical Center Oakland, 280 West MacArthur Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94611 USA.

Elisa Wong, Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente, One Kaiser Plaza, 21st Floor (Bayside), Oakland, CA 94612 USA.

Kathleen M. Reed, Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente, 1800 Harrison Street, 18th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612 USA.
Cover of volume 2, issue 2 (winter 2011-2012)

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Published

2012-03-20

How to Cite

Cromp, D., Cheadle, A., Solomon, L., Maring, P., Wong, E., & Reed, K. M. (2012). Kaiser Permanente’s Farmers’ Market Program: Description, Impact, and Lessons Learned. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 2(2), 29–36. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2012.022.010

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2012): Open Call Papers and Additional Papers on Planners Coming to the Table

Section

Open Call Paper

License

The copyright to all content published in JAFSCD belongs to the author(s). It is licensed as CC BY 4.0. This license determines how you may reprint, copy, distribute, or otherwise share JAFSCD content.