Healthy Options & Food Security| Believe in Better

Healthy Options and Food Security

UC Davis Executive Chef Santana Diaz at a local farm

From having access to affordable fresh fruits and vegetables to supporting the region’s farmers, UC Davis Health is committed to farm-to-fork initiatives that improve food security and access to healthy, locally sourced options.

Some examples of our efforts:

employees with fresh produce
Healthy Options, Food Literacy

Spotlight: ‘Farm to hospital’

UC Davis Health strives to become a model for other health care facilities. The medical center is home to one of Sacramento’s largest production kitchens and creator of 6,500 meals a day. In 2017, we began locally sourcing whole-food and plant-based ingredients. The goal: To source the majority of food within a 250-mile radius of the hospital. 

child with apple
Food Literacy

Spotlight: Supporting food literacy education

Our chefs team up with the Food Literacy Center to teach cooking and nutrition in low-income schools, among kids who are at highest risk for diet-related diseases like Type 2 diabetes.

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Farmworker Health

Spotlight: Programs for ag workers

UC Davis Health and UC Davis are home to or involved in a number of projects supporting farmworker health. Some examples:

  • Activate, a demonstration project using digital health to improve well-being of underserved and rural communities, in partnership with community health centers
  • MOVE IT UP, a project to increase access to COVID vaccines, testing and treatment for historically underserved communities, with a focus on Latinos and Latino farmworkers
  • The Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety, founded to improve health and safety of agricultural workers through research, training, and outreach
food bank operations
Food Security

Spotlight: Supporting food banks

UC Davis Health partners with local organizations to support grocery programs throughout our community. The health system has provided support for the River City Food Bank and several other local community-based organizations, assisting hundreds of families.

For example, River City Food Bank’s emergency food distributions located in Midtown and Arden provided nearly 3.5 million pounds of healthy, culturally meaningful food to an average of 2,000 low-income households per week in 2024. The Arden location, which is supported by UC Davis Health, served an average of 1,100 households per week.

More Believe in Better Highlights

Some recent examples of our ongoing efforts to advance health for all.

How war trauma affects Vietnamese Americans’ brain health

Insights from a new study on war trauma on Vietnamese Americans can shape future research on aging, trauma and brain health.

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Opening Doors: Building an inclusive clinical research workforce in Sacramento

The City of Sacramento has provided a grant to expand a UC Davis Health workforce development program that trains people to become Clinical Research Coordinators.

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Yolo County high school students gain hands-on experience in UC Davis research labs

A partnership between the School of Medicine’s Department of Medical Microbiology and Yolo County high schools introduces teenagers to academic research during a 10-week, hands-on internship

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New study: U.S. preschoolers exposed to broad range of potentially harmful chemicals

Children aged 2 to 4 years are exposed to a broad range of environmental chemicals, with a new study showing 34 potentially harmful chemicals detected in more than 90% of children.

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