Everyone’s Harvest’s (EH) Big Idea is to catalyze “Food is Medicine” programs in Monterey County, providing local produce to people from low-income backgrounds experiencing nutrition insecurity. The Fresh Rx produce prescription program partners with physicians to provide weekly produce prescriptions at farmers’ markets in Salinas, Marina, Pacific Grove, Seaside, and Castroville–taking Food is Medicine from theory to practice. The program allows doctors to prescribe fruits and vegetables to patients who need it most, thereby providing local produce to nutrition-insecure families, improving health outcomes, potentially reducing long-term healthcare costs, and supporting local farmers.
The EH model of integrating food and nutrition interventions into preventive healthcare contributed to Medi-Cal health insurance accepting Fresh Rx as medically supportive food. Fresh Rx has expanded from a seasonal to a year-round program, and EH’s complementary programs–Market Match, Edible Education, and Farms Together–have improved with increased match amounts for CalFresh families, new nutrition education programming, and new box distribution locations, respectively, improving health with locally grown produce.
Over the past 10 years, Everyone’s Harvest has provided more than $3.5 million in Healthy Food Incentives through these innovative community food programs to address inequities in food access and nutrition.
So far, 2,420 patients and their families have benefited from the Fresh Rx program, and that totals over $1.1 million of Food is Medicine.
At our six farmers’ markets, families can use public food assistance benefits to expand their buying power through CalFresh and Market Match ($30 of CalFresh = $60 of fresh produce at all Everyone’s Harvest markets)!
Our Edible Education in-person programs grew this year, bringing local chefs to our farmers’ markets to provide cooking demos and tastings featuring healthy produce, nutrition education, and resources to find affordable food at our markets and throughout the county.
Our newest program–Farms Together produce boxes –continued distributing free boxes of produce from the farmers who sell at our markets to residents from low-income backgrounds at the Seaside and Alisal farmers’ markets.
Our farmers’ markets serve more than 2,900 families each week in Salinas, Marina, Pacific Grove, and now Seaside. Local family farmers and food artisans connect directly with customers. In 2025, Everyone’s Harvest has hosted 243 farmers’ markets, helping thousands of local families to improve their nutritional health.
This past year, MCGives! funds were used to fuel the growth of our community food programs, especially the Fresh Rx produce prescription program to advance Food is Medicine. Thanks to contributions through MCGives!, we have been able to continue our long-term partnerships with healthcare providers and add new patients and their providers to the Fresh Rx program.
During this season of giving, please help mobilize Food is Medicine by contributing to Everyone’s Harvest. Thank you!