UTMB Health doctors, medical students, staff, Mayor Craig Brown and Galveston community members gathered to celebrate the opening of the island’s first Farmacy. The Island Farmacy is a collaboration of the doctors of the UTMB Health Family Medicine Clinic - Island West, UTMB Health's SIGHT student organization and Seeding Galveston, a non-profit urban farm project.
The equivalent of 12 standard raised garden beds have been installed into the clinic's patio area and planted with healthy vegetables as an educational model for dialog between doctors and patients on the health benefits of quality nutrition. The plants are identified with their potential health benefits and medicinal uses.
Interns with a focus in nutrition will work with SIGHT students and clinic doctors to develop a curriculum for educating patients on healthy eating through cooking classes, prescribed vegetables, donations of produce and the utilization of food-as-medicine. The ribbon cutting ceremony was held at 6710 Stewart Road at 4:30pm on Friday December 10, 2021. Farm fresh dishes like kale salad, tabbouleh and arugula pesto with watermelon radishes were harvested, prepared, and served by Seeding Galveston.
