Lettuce, radishes, and other vegetables are growing in three temperature-controlled greenhouses, technically called high tunnels, that sit near Loucks Road on the campus of UPMC Memorial in West Manchester Township.
It marks the first planting for the Farm to Hospital program aimed at offering fresh food to help fight the root causes of illnesses, such as heart and renal diseases, and to support healthy women and babies. It's paired with fitness, mindfulness and spiritual healing.
The project is led by Dr. KimberLee Mudge of Leader Surgical Associates-UPMC. The breast surgeon who dabbles in hobby farming had been reading about the failure to address wellness amid the high-tech advances and rising costs in healthcare. In addition, many people no longer eat for nourishment as they did a century ago − nowadays, it's for entertainment.
"... here we are in a society that's full of obesity. We've lost sight of exercise and being outside," she said. "We eat processed foods because they can feed more people in mass production. And we're losing sight of what it means to be healthful."