Addressing health outcomes, one meal at a time

How a collaboration between North Sarah Food Hub, BJC HealthCare and Spire is focused on changing health outcomes for St. Louis families

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, of the approximately 1 in 10 Americans with diabetes, nearly 90% have Type 2 diabetes, and many also lack access to nutritious food or experience food insecurity. 

When trying to manage Type 2 diabetes, lack of access to healthy food — and an understanding of how to prepare meals that help manage blood sugars — can present considerable challenges. Unmanaged blood sugar levels can lead to further complications and hospital stays. 

Changing the system of food 

Team members at BJC HealthCare developed the Food as Medicine: Diabetes Medically Tailored Meals program as a creative way to help individuals living with diabetes live healthier lives and develop the knowledge needed to maintain healthy habits. 

The North Sarah Food Hub (NSFH) has been providing meals to impact positive change in the health of community members with diabetes and other chronic illnesses. 

In 2022, in an effort to engage community partners with the capabilities to make an impact, BJC collaborated with NSFH to deliver 8,000 nutritious meals and meal kits made from locally grown fresh produce and ingredients to select food-insecure patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes and their families over a 30-week span as part of the Food as Medicine program through Christian Hospital. 

The impact of the program extends well beyond meals and meal kits, however. With the goal of lowering participants’ blood sugar levels and helping them get their A1c, or average blood sugar level over a three-month period, under control, the program sets up patients for long-term success through education about healthy food choices and cooking. 

The initial pilot through Christian Hospital showed a 2.1 average reduction in A1c levels and a 10% reduction in hospital readmissions for those participating. With their conditions better managed, participants face lower risk for potential long-term complications and learn how to make healthier lifestyle choices. 

These are exactly the results that make Gibron Jones, founder of the NSFH, so passionate about lowering barriers to healthy food. Jones’ team is behind the thousands of nutritious, vegetable-rich meals delivered to BJC patients in the program. 

A grant through the Spire Serves program to the Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital supports the expansion of the Food as Medicine program to Barnes-Jewish Hospital participants and underscores Spire’s focus on feeding people in the communities that the company serves.