Healing Through Harvest Addressing Chronic Disease with FARMacyWV Written by Amanda Cummins
West Virginia leads the country in chronic disease rates. Part of the long-term solution involves addressing the nutrition-insecurity overlap many patients face, which is a goal of FARMacyWV, a produce-prescription program. Forty-four out of 55 West Virginia counties contain a food desert, which the U. S. Department of Agriculture defines as a lack of a grocery store within a 10-mile radius in a rural area or within a 1-mile radius in an urban area. Lack of access to healthy, fresh food prohibits people from eating and living well. Additionally, lack of affordability of nutritious food dramatically impacts what people purchase and consume. Food prices have increased by 25.6 % from 2020 to 2025, certainly outpacing income growth. Cheaper, shelf-stable and processed foods replace more nutrient-rich options. Diet-related diseases continue to rise, with West Virginia boasting the highest number of patients diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes and heart disease.
FARMacyWV is a nonprofit Food is Medicine( FIM) initiative that encourages the integration of nutrition into health care by giving patients a prescription for produce that is intended to prevent, manage and treat chronic diseases. Proudly using West Virginia farmers and aggregators, this effort supports the local agricultural economy while ultimately reducing health care costs and improving overall quality of life for participating patients.
After seeing their patients fail to make lasting changes, Dr. Carol Greco and Amanda Cummins, PA-C, began examining barriers to better eating. In 2016, the pair debuted their first FARMacyWV pilot program in partnership with Grow Ohio Valley, a local urban farming group in Wheeling, WV. With grant assistance, they provided each person in the 30-patient cohort $ 20 a week in fresh, locally grown produce for three months. The patients received a hand-written prescription, which they exchanged weekly at the FARMacy, a farmers market-style set up, in the clinic parking lot. Weekly, a hands-on, real-time food demonstration occurred, instructing on vegetable preparation as well as providing a tasting of a seasonal recipe.
Lab analysis pre- and post-program showed significant improvement in HbA1C— a lab test for diabetes diagnosis and management— as well as cholesterol improvement. Satisfaction surveys told story after story of appreciative families cooking, eating and feeling better. To Greco and Cummins, the proof was in the parsnips, peppers and parsley, so to speak.
FARMacyWV recently became a 501( c)( 3) nonprofit and has steadily grown throughout the state. In 2025, 35 sites were set up across 29 counties. Hospitals, federally qualified health centers, doctors’ offices and even pharmacies host programs during the West Virginia growing season, providing patients with $ 25 of fresh produce every week.
The nonprofit has had the great fortune of integrative partnerships with the
West Virginia Department of Agriculture, which helps locate local growers for programs; WVU Extension program, which provides in-person and virtual education to sites; and WVU Offices of Health Services Research, which collects and aggregates data from the roughly 900 patients across the state. Geisinger Health Systems FIM data suggests a one-point reduction in HbA1c equates to roughly $ 8,000 per patient per year in health care cost savings. FARMacyWV participants consistently saw HbA1C reduction from 0.4 to 0.9 in the 15-week program measurements. In the 2024 data, 55 % of participants had a 10 % weight loss during the program. Survey data reported patients cooked more at home, ate less processed foods, felt more knowledgeable about their health conditions, felt better overall and connected better with their health care providers.
Not only are the patient health benefits noteworthy but the agricultural economic piece is equally as encouraging. In a 2023 survey, 79 % of participating farmers reported a significant increase to their income directly related to FARMacyWV distribution, with over half reporting up to a 30 % increase in income. In 2025, $ 507,500 was paid to local farmers and aggregators to supply produce to sites across the state. •
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE