Photo by Jessica McDonald
By Greg Stotelmyer/Public News Service
WHITESBURG, 
Ky. – When people think of prescriptions, they usually think of medicine, not tomatoes or cantaloupe.
But there are now some doctors in eastern Kentucky writing their patients prescriptions for fresh produce.
The Farmacy Program – that’s pharmacy with an F – was started last summer by a nonprofit community health center to help lower-income people with chronic illnesses eat healthier.
“It’ll also help those patients extend their family budget for food because, basically, it’s expensive to eat healthy,” says Mike Caudill, chief executive officer of Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation.
With a Farmacy prescription, a low-income family receives a dollar a day per family member to buy fruits and vegetables at the Letcher County Farmers Market.
In addition to helping patients, the Farmacy Program also puts money into the pockets of local farmers…
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