Food as Medicine
January 7, 2026
Access to food and nutrition consistently ranks as a top unmet social need. Over 20% of Children’s Hospital Colorado primary care patients indicate they are experiencing limited or uncertain access to nutritious food, also known as food insecurity.
To address health, we must also address these kinds of social determinants of health. Children’s Colorado’s Food as Medicine (FAM) initiative is doing just that. FAM consists of:
- Healthy Roots Food Clinic: A facility-based food clinic for those who screen positive for nutrition insecurity or indicate they don’t have enough food for their family
- Healthy Roots Community Garden: A community garden that annually produces over 1,500 pounds of produce directed to the food clinic, as well as educational programs
- Healthy Roots Mobile Markets: Mobile programming in which we provide technical support for schools and communities to launch their own food clinics and health navigation
Colorado Safeway stores have raised more than $1.6 million for Children’s Hospital Colorado, with more than $250,000 of those funds going toward our Food as Medicine Clinic in the past two years. Strategic investments by the community, including corporate donors like Safeway, help us to:
- Grow highly effective programs, such as the Healthy Roots Food Clinic, where families who have children with medical and social complexities can receive on-site help with nutrition education? and access to other services, such as housing assistance.
- Increase Children’s Colorado’s leadership as a Whole Child Health innovation hub, setting national best practices in pediatric care, addressing health disparities and optimizing child health.
Increase Children’s Colorado’s leadership as a Whole Child Health innovation hub, setting national best practices in pediatric care, addressing health disparities and optimizing child health.
Food as Medicine by the Numbers
1,750 children cared for
Healthy Roots Food Clinic — In 2024, there were nearly 700 Food Clinic appointments, at which more than 1,800 adults and 1,750 children were cared for. We also assisted a largely underserved population, and over 81% were insured through Medicaid.
3,000-square foot garden
Healthy Roots Garden —Children’s Colorado opened the Healthy Roots Garden on the Anschutz Medical Campus in the summer of 2018. The 3,000-square foot garden typically grows over 1,000 pounds of produce annually, including more than 30 varieties of fruits and vegetables. There were over 650 visitors to the garden last season, and volunteers logged more than 200 hours.
400 student families
Healthy Roots Mobile Markets — Additional generous donors have helped us initiate and expand these programs. FAM launched a collaboration with Aurora Public Schools (APS) in 2021, providing technical support and resources to launch school-based food clinics, thanks to an anonymous donor. During 2024, APS navigation and outreach services assisted over 400 student families, and more than 9,000 people received nutrition services via the Mobile Markets. Support from the Colorado Access Foundation is helping us replicate this program in Adams County.