Our Work

The Farm to Clinic (F2C) Initiative is currently housed in the Department of Nutrition Science at East Carolina University under the direction of Lauren R. Sastre, PhD, RDN, LDN. Dr. Sastre engages in research, teaching, and outreach/service. Current and past work in The F2C Initiative has focused on:

• Patient’s preferences, needs, interest and experience participating in a produce Rx program.
• Impact of medically tailored emergency food bags on hospital re-admissions.
• Farmer’s perceptions and barriers to gleaning/salvaging efforts in rural, Eastern North Carolina.
• Development and evaluation of complimentary programming and resources to produce Rx programming to maximize impact on nutritional status, health outcomes and disparities.
• Identifying best-practices for the implementation and evaluation of preventative programming that intersects between agriculture, academic, community and clinical organizations/partnerships to address nutrition and lifestyle driven health disparities.
• Investigating impact of preventative nutrition and lifestyle programming on chronic disease related health disparities (health outcomes, promotion health equity) and healthcare expenditures (economic impact, health care cost-savings), with a focus on under-served/under-resourced patient groups.