Farmers Markets Popping Up In Hospitals

A Houston hospital has teamed up with nonprofit Veggie Pals to sell fresh fruits and vegetables just down the hall from the doctor's office.

According to Live Science, a handful of health organizations are creating farmers markets in facilities, allowing patients from lower-class neighborhoods that lack grocery stores to buy healthy foods at a discount.

At Houston's Harris County Hospital District, the fresh food program, called Healthy Harvest, was implemented in November 2011 and has sold more than 5 tons of produce.

As of now, Healthy Harvest is availalble at five of their facilities.

Furthermore, Kaiser Permanente has multiple farmers markets in their facilities across the country, so patients who are told to "eat better" can pick up their prescription, and maybe a package of carrots or two.

The Daily Byte is a regular column dedicated to covering interesting food news and trends across the country. Click here for previous columns.