Nourishing the care experience
Thanks to a donor-supported irrigation system, a garden at St. Joseph’s providing fresh vegetables to residents and patients will be easier to manage and harvest even better yields.
From carrots and broccoli to potatoes and beans, patients and residents at St. Joseph’s Parkwood Institute are enjoying fresh vegetables grown in their own backyard.
The vegetable garden is one aspect of the Nourish Project – a multi-year program with ‘food first’ and ‘food is medicine’ philosophies. The garden is maintained by community partner Urban Roots London, a non-profit organization who specializes in using underutilized land for agriculture.
And now thanks to donor support, a new irrigation system has been installed to enhance the garden. The new system will enrich and increase the yields enabling the teams to spend more time on planting, weeding and with overall maintenance.
The Nourish Garden Project has had several successes but amongst the most gratifying is the feedback from patients and residents who are raving about the taste of their food.
St. Joseph’s is one of only seven teams across the country participating in the 2021-2023 Anchor Cohort through Nourish, which is a national initiative that supports health care to harness the power of food to build health for people and the planet.
An unexpected outcome of the Nourish Project has been the positive impact the garden is having on the wellness of patients in the mental health programs. Through a partnership with the therapeutic recreation team, opportunities have been created for patients to come to the garden as part of their therapy.
Patients have been able to experience and contribute to the garden, and are connecting with nature, building social connections and generally increasing their own sense of hope as they witness the plants growing.
“We are so grateful to donors who have contributed to the garden,” says Michelle Stranges, Process Improvement Specialist in Food and Nutrition Services.
“Their support is ensuring we have a successful garden, which helps to nourish patients, as well as enhancing the healing journey of our mental health patients who come to spend time contributing in the garden as part of their therapy.”