Healing the Body and Mind with Fresh Food

Food has great power. It can be healing and sustaining, but only if it is accessible.

A growing number of healthcare providers are advocating for Marylanders to make better choices and lead healthier lifestyles. So many of the issues plaguing society—high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, weight management—can often be alleviated, if not eliminated when a person’s diet features fresh and nutritious food.

But not everyone has the resources to afford or easy access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

A growing partnership between Johns Hopkins and the Maryland Food Bank is helping to break down those barriers.

In 2019, we teamed up with the Harriet Lane Clinic at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center (HCC) to set up Maryland’s first food pantry in a hospital setting. And when the pandemic broke, the pantry took on a whole new level of importance to the community.

Postpandemic, we have actually expanded the partnership, and thanks to your generosity, we’re now able to support Hopkins’ efforts to connect neighbors who visit their emergency clinic with the on-site food pantry.

Teaming up with trusted community partners like Hopkins helps expand access to nutritious foods for our neighbors I need, which lifts us all up. Learn more about how expanding access to nutritious foods by meeting neighbors where they are already working and living is part of the Maryland Food Bank’s intentional efforts to help more Marylanders thrive. Check out all of the different ways we are approaching hunger.