Our Big Idea
Everyone’s Harvest’s Big Idea is to expand “Food is Medicine” programs in Monterey County, providing produce to people from low-income backgrounds experiencing nutrition insecurity through partnerships with family farmers and healthcare providers.
Over the past 10 years, Everyone’s Harvest has provided more than $2.2 million in Healthy Food Incentives through our innovative nutrition programs to address inequities in food access and nutrition, including promoting food is medicine, by fostering lifelong healthy eating habits through our Fresh Rx produce prescription program.
In collaboration with local physicians, we’ve pioneered Fresh Rx–weekly “prescriptions” of fruits and vegetables from farmers at our farmers’ markets. So far, 1,920 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. And our new Food Navigators guide community members to affordable food resources at our markets and throughout the county.
We also initiated a new program this year–Farms Together produce boxes full of produce from the farmers who sell at our markets that we are distributing weekly for free to residents from lower-income households at the Seaside Farmers’ Market and most recently at the Alisal Farmers’ Market.
Our farmers’ markets serve more than 2,750 families each week in Salinas, Marina, Pacific Grove, and now Seaside. Local family farmers and food artisans connect directly with customers. In 2024, Everyone’s Harvest has hosted 213 farmers’ markets, helping thousands of local families to improve their nutritional health.
This past year, MCGives! funds were used to fuel the growth of 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!
