Three kitchens serve unique needs of communities, connecting education to food access and bridging clinical and community services to promote health.
The Presbyterian Community Health Resource Center houses a robust teaching kitchen program that interfaces with a Food Farmacy and community garden. Its two other kitchens are in a primary care practice in a high-need area of Albuquerque alongside a Food Farmacy, and at Santa Fe Medical Center. These teaching kitchens also connect participants to community initiatives including a Fresh Rx program and farmers’ markets.
Classes in the teaching kitchen include a variety of cooking, nutrition, fitness, and gardening for adults and youth. The two in-house dietitians teach many of the classes and partner with local experts to offer a greater variety. To meet the needs of the local population, Presbyterian Community Health offers chronic disease self-management programs in English in Spanish. Since the teaching kitchen classes can facilitate positive behavior change, instructors began to weave them into their accredited Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support program.
Presbyterian Healthcare Services is a local not-for-profit integrated healthcare system with nine hospitals, a multi-specialty medical group, and a statewide health plan. It is the largest Medicare provider in the state. Community Health provides access to various resources that help support healthy living and social services to help improve overall health.
