Prescription For Health: Buying Fresh
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Cecilia Evans tries to choose between
flavors of honey at the Koolau Clinic’s
Fresh Wednesday market, while Kaiser’s
Dr. Vernon Ansdell makes a purchase.
The market is open every first and third
Wednesday morning.
Koolau Clinic is making it easier for Kaiser members to eat healthy and “thrive,” as the motto goes, by bringing them into very close contact with fresh vegetables and fruits.
Its new “Fresh Wednesday” produce market on the Windward side has six vendors who offer their food and products from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the first and third Wednesday of each month. They set up in front of the Kaneohe clinic, which is next to a city bus stop on Kamehameha Highway. The produce is available from 7 a.m.
“It started,” explained Ashlyn Izumo, “after one of our mainland physicians (in 2003) observed the craft sales Kaiser was having and asked: ‘What are we doing?! We’re a health care organization!’ “
Vendor Toonnekeo Brooks (center) packs up produce
purchased by Pat Torres (left) as clinic employee
Arleen Santos waits her turn during the grand opening
of the Koolau Clinic market in February. The “Fresh
Wednesday” market in Kaneohe is a growing presence
at Kaiser Permanente and other hospitals and clinics to
encourage members and the community stay on a
healthy path.
That’s when the HMO decided to walk the walk and talk the talk, she said. “Now we have five markets going every week on Oahu, and sometimes I have to ask myself, ‘Where am I going today?’ “
Izumo, an Enchanted Lake resident, is regional coordinator for Kaiser Permanente’s fresh-day markets, which also are held twice a month at the Honolulu, Nanaikeola and Waipio clinics, and weekly at Moanalua Medical Center.
At Koolau, the vendors are Alex Produce of Kahuku and Pearl City, Nalo Meli Honey of Kaneohe, Hawaiian Orchids of Waimanalo, Xian Enterprises (fresh salsa, healthy cookies and nuts), Roy Chun (coffee alternatives) and Watanabe Floral.
As the HMO’s newest mobile grocery store, Koolau Clinic got off to a slow start in wet February and March. But Izumo continues to seek more vendors “doing healthy things,” and she wants the general public to know they’re welcome to browse and shop the stalls along with the staff and members who happen to have appointments on market day. She also sent out 500 fliers to Windward homes.
“It’s Kaiser’s national initiative for fresh markets. We now have 22 markets going in five states.” They’re a community service, Izumo added, not moneymakers for Kaiser.
Some other mainland hospitals also host fresh produce vendors on site, finding that it educates the public, supports small farmers and promotes better health in general. After all, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms that nearly three-fourths of Americans do not eat the recommended five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day.
Interested vendors may call Izumo at 432-2270.
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