We’re passionate about teaching people that food is medicine!
Learn moreOur story
While Tulsa has made tremendous progress in many areas, we continued to struggle with equality indicators that lead to urban resilience. Many economic and community factors, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, have led to food shortages and highlighted the vulnerabilities within our overtaxed healthcare system.
In a presentation to the Tulsa Food Security Council in 2021, Dr. Kent Farish of Crossover Health Services shared that his diabetic patients—compliant with prescriptions and doc visits—were continuing to get worse! Dr. Farish presented research from the Geisinger Fresh Food Farmacy, a study that demonstrated how diabetics could reduce their A1c levels by 1-2% in a year or less through a combination of education and consumption of healthier foods. He concluded that this lack of access to education and fresh produce was a significant factor in his patient’s ability to manage their own disease.
Dr. Farish, with the help of the Council, put together a subcommittee of potential community and funding partners to test this concept in North Tulsa. FreshRx founder Erin Martin was asked to join the committee and influenced the group to source local, regeneratively grown produce for the patients in the trial. Erin—a gerontologist whose background is in how nutritious food affects lifespan and chronic diseases—knew that lobbying for local, organic produce would not only increase the nutritious content of the food improving health outcomes, but also support the economy of North Tulsa.
The pilot program of FreshRx was launched in April of 2021, has tripled in size, and since gained national recognition for the innovative way we systemically address food and health.
Our program
We’re a USDA funded non-profit food prescription program (PRx). PRxs are medical or preventive services that give healthy fruits and vegetables to patients with diet-related health conditions, who are food insecure, and/or face challenges in accessing nutritious foods.
In 2021, we started the first-of-its-kind PRx in the state of Oklahoma. We are proud to receive funding from private philanthropic organizations, private donors, and the federal government. Our federal funding comes from the USDA NIFA GusNIP programming. GusNIP supports projects that demonstrate the impact of PRxs on fruit and vegetable consumption, food insecurity and healthcare usage for vulnerable populations. To see our grant, and other nutritional program funded by GusNIP, visit the Nutritional Incentives Hub.
A central goal of both GusNip and FreshRx is to build health equity in North Tulsa. To do that, we work to address:
- historical and contemporary injustices
- obstacles to health and health care
- reducing preventable health disparities (those differences in opportunities experienced by people disadvantaged by their social or economic status, location, or environment)
Health disparities for people living with diabetes in North Tulsa can be greatly reduced through nutritional interventions like FreshRx.
Our mission
We’re committed to giving nutrient dense, locally grown produce to people to help manage their diabetes and improve their overall health. Through person-centered care, education, and food as medicine, we give people more ways to stay healthy.
Our members
Our team
Erin Martin
Julie Barlow, RN
Kiandra Call
Debra Cooper
Jalen Williams
Julie Barlow, RN
Julie believes in the importance of proper nutrition to control chronic diseases. Through personal experiences with weight loss and pre-diabetes reversal, she’s improved her overall health and found the inspiration to help others—specifically those with diabetes—to empower themselves and learn how to eat and live healthier.
Jalen Williams
Jalen, our Produce Coordinator, oversees our aggregating produce at our food hub and distribution site. Jalen joined us in 2022 after working in grocery retail and food service. He holds a bachelor’s degree in management and is passionate about living a healthy lifestyle. While Jalen has always been in athlete, he became an advocated for his own health when he used a whole food diet to go from 300lbs down to 195lbs! Jalen has seen what a healthy diet can do first-hand and is devoted to our mission of providing fresh produce to underserved communities.
Debra Cooper
Debra, our Outreach Coordinator, helps to enroll new patients and connect them with resources. Debra joined us after a career in the health insurance field and completing our first program year of FreshRx!! She’s passionate about helping our patients and being an example that “if you work the program, it works!” She began FreshRx with an uncontrolled A1c level of 13.6 and graduated with a 6.6! And, Debra saw results in only 11 weeks!
Kiandra Call
As our Education Director, Kiandra oversees our cooking and nutrition classes and content for our YouTube channel. Kiandra joined FreshRx in 2022 after working in restaurant management. Kiandra holds a national nutrition certification from Utah State University and has a passion for helping others. She’s a great resource for our patients, calling on her own experience with Type 1 Diabetes and losing over 125 lbs. She continues to use whole foods and nutrition to manage her diabetes.
Erin Martin
Erin’s passion for helping others started at fifteen after working in a retirement community. After working on long-term care and serving low-income seniors in HUD housing, Erin saw clearly the inequities in our healthcare system particularly polypharmacy and processed foods. Erin is a Gerontologist and certified in Regenerative Soil Advocacy. She’s passionate about spreading the gospel of food is medicine and the link to soil health.
Our board
Because we provide medical interventions, we have a Medical Advisory Board. This group meets regularly and gives medical oversight to the FreshRx program model, including any medical testing, data, and evaluation.
Current members
We also work with an Internal Review Board (IRB) at Langston University to provide ethical oversight, help us maintain HIPAA compliance, and review patient documents.
We also contract with Oklahoma State University to act as our data partner, evaluating our pre- and post- survey data, to determine whether or not we are achieving our program goals (i.e. calculating if increased consumption of fresh produce by our patients does actually correlated to better health).
Our food
Food as medicine is the use of nutritious and wholesome foods to support and enhance our overall health and well-being. The food we consume not only serves as a source of energy, but also contains nutrients that can positively impact our bodies and promote healing.
Using food as medicine has the potential to prevent, manage, and even treat various health conditions. A good diet plays a crucial role in maintaining a balanced immune system, reducing the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers, and supporting optimal bodily functions. By being intentional with what we eat, we can harness the healing power of food to improve health outcomes.
When we eat whole, unprocessed foods rich in essential nutrients, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals, these food work to reduce inflammatory and boost immunity promoting more wellness and resilience.
And the best part is that food as medicine recognizes the uniqueness of each person’s specific dietary needs. It encourages people to explore different foods and customize what they eat in a way that works for them.
By making conscious choices about what we eat, we can proactively support our bodies' natural healing processes and achieve optimal health.