Patients at the methadone clinic at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington are introduced to farm-fresh fruits and veggies through the Intervale Center's gleaning and food rescue program. The patients, who receive counselling and maintenance therapy at the clinic, have been battling heroin or prescription pill addiction.
Stacey Sigmon, a researcher at UVM's Vermont Center on Behavior and Health, told necn she wanted to boost nutrition among substance abusers, who often have trouble buying healthy meals.
The Intervale Center has been donating weekly deliveries of excess produce from its farmland to the methadone clinic, to give to patients free in the waiting room.
One patient at the clinic said he is hopeful the produce will help him combat a side effect of methadone that some patients experience: weight gain. And of course: "The better your body is, the better your mind is. Any education that we can have for people who live below the poverty line about proper nutrition is a wonderful thing. I think there isn't enough of it.”
