Last Friday (Oct. 25), Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to launch its Healthy Food Program that will provide patients with type II diabetes increased access to healthy food, expert dietary consultations, and nutrition education.

“Right now, the program is limited to members of the Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center. They will look at their patient database for people who have type II diabetes,” said Ed Gaskin, the executive director at Greater Grove Hall Main Streets, a partner in the initiative.

“People will then get referred internally and meet with the dietician, Sophie. She will tell them about the program and explain they would get $100 a month to buy food.”

The initiative, also offered in partnership the Grove Hall Stop & Shop, is funded by the Boston Public Health Commission. Participating patients can use their $100 grants to buy groceries and such at the Stop & Shop.

Once in the program, patients will access their funds through iQpay, a cloud-enabled payment and order processing platform. Unlike a typical food bank, this technology allows individuals to visit Stop & Shop whenever they want and use their personalized grocery lists.

Gaskin believes the digital cards make the program more convenient and ease the anxiety that some might feel. “A lot of people, even though they need the food, are embarrassed about the stigma of being seen in a line at the food pantry. Now you’re just going to the grocery store and can buy whatever you want,” he said.

While the program encourages independence, it does not leave clients entirely on their own. Shoppers can browse the aisles with Christine Sinclair, Stop & Shop’s registered dietitian, who will help them purchase items approved by Stop & Shop’s Guiding Stars program, which ranks each product's nutritional value.

“If you’re trying to buy Twinkies with it, it won't work,” said Gaskin with a laugh. But products like vegetables, fruit, and meat are all fair game.

Added Harvard Street Health’s registered dietician nutritionist, Sophie Walton: “For diabetes, the biggest recommendation is to eat more vegetables and meat, and those foods are expensive.”

Walton thinks that allowing patients to pick out their groceries also teaches them to make healthy choices well beyond their time in the program.

“With this program, they will learn. We can talk about stuff, make a list, and then they can go to the store and pick out what they want using their best judgment. We’re teaching people and educating them on what foods are good for you,” said Walton.

Gaskin added: “Now that you have this knowledge, the other food resources you might have, like SNAP or other food banks, you know how to make these better selections when you use those things. The idea is to get lifestyle behavior change.”

Both Walton and Gaskin believe that this system is more culturally inclusive. “When you go to a food bank, typically they just give you a box of stuff of whatever they have that week and everyone gets the same thing,” Gaskin said.

The Healthy Food Program is considered unique because it allows patients to embrace their identities in and outside of the kitchen. “The second part of the program is that if you meet with a dietician here once a month, you get an additional $50. That’s because we’re trying to build in educational knowledge, awareness, things like that so you know better about what you need to do in the future,” said Gaskin.

Instead of offering classes, the program lets each participant to meet with Walton individually. The one-on-one meetings “give the patient the freedom to ask questions more pertinent to them,” Walton said in an interview. “They can ask me about their medication or glucometer, and it’s more face time in the clinic to have access to the other services they might need.”

She plans on measuring the success of the program through her patients’ clinical results. “We can look at A1C, which shows how well your blood sugar is controlled over a certain period and we can do finger sticks, which show your blood sugar at any given moment,” Walton said. The program will also conduct surveys to measure dietary quality.

Charles Murphy, Harvard Street’s CEO & president, is proud of the work Gaskin and Walton have done.

“Is it going to save the community? No. But is it another step in the right direction? Absolutely. If we have 100 people in the program, that’s 100 people who are getting healthier on many levels. It’s only going to help in the grand scheme of things,” he said. “It’s a small program. I think it’s something Ed can replicate around the city, and I suspect he will.”

Gaskin hopes to bring this program to other health centers adjusting it to the needs of each center’s patient population. He is also working on a partnership with Instacart so that patients with mobility issues can have their groceries delivered to their door.

“We’re starting here with this pilot but because this is easy to be replicated. It could go to all the other health centers in the city,” Gaskin said. “Public health is not just looking at individuals but communities.”