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The medical center also spon- sors and supports many programs related to healthy eating that make a positive, lasting impact on community well-being. “We want to encourage people to garden—to grow and eat their own produce,” says Mike Brown, director for spiritual care. “We want them
to be active and outside, and eat healthy.” LIFT projects include:
Community garden plots are available in the Washburn Neigh- borhood Garden. Franciscan Healthcare collaborates with the Washburn Neighborhood As- sociation and, on its Onalaska campus, the City of Onalaska Parks and Recreation Department and Hmong Mutual Assistance Association, to offer the plots, which rent for $30. “Fees benefit St. Clare Health Mission and the Hmong Youth and Elder Project, and gardeners must donate 10 percent of their garden produce to a local food bank,” says Oslund. “Franciscan Healthcare also donated funds to build the hoop
house at the Washburn Neighbor- hood Garden.”
Eat Well, Move More, a Health Tradition Health Plan program that recognizes and rewards the life-long benefits of healthy eating and regular physical activity, was introduced in 2010. Health plan subscribers are eligible for a $100 rebate when they buy a commu- nity-supported agriculture (CSA) share. A CSA is a food produc- tion and distribution system that directly connects farmers and con- sumers. CSA members pay at the beginning of the growing season for a share of the anticipated har- vest and in return receive weekly boxes of vegetables and fruit.
The Market Place Harvest of the Month is a collaboration and expansion effort between the La Crosse County Farm2School and Foot Steps to Health programs, which were created to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among county residents. Each month, two foods are cross- promoted at area schools, restau-
Franciscan Sisters clean fresh-picked beans from their gardens at Villa St. Joseph.
rants, farmers markets, worksites, grocery stores and community organizations. The medical center supports the program by provid- ing copies of its newsletters and recipes, displaying its signage, holding sampling events for staff and visitors in the Market Place restaurant and having the featured recipe and fresh produce available for purchase.
In the Market Place restaurant, the chef and dieticians work to create menu items that meet Cancer Nutrition Consortium guidelines and recommenda- tions. “We hold taste testings at the La Crosse Cancer Center and educate our patients about the consortium’s program,” says Terre McJoynt, administrator with Diag- nostics and Emergency Medicine and member of the consortium’s board of directors. The Cancer Nutrition Consortium brings together resources in health, culi- nary and industry to raise aware- ness of the issue of food, taste and nutrition related to cancer
THE LA CROSSE AREA’S GROWING EXPERIENCE past | present | future
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PHOTO Courtesy of FSPA