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Food as Medicine Global

Integrating Fields Virtual Symposium Series Presents

Deaver Wellness Farm: Food as Medicine on a Hospital Campus

ONLINE EVENT

Saturday, March 14, 2026

9 AM - 12 PM Pacific

This activity is approved by the Board for Certification of Nutrition Specialists℠ (BCNS℠) to provide Continuing Education (CE) credits for Certified Nutrition Specialists® (CNS®) for a maximum of 3 CE Credits.

Uniting Agriculture and Healthcare to Support Food as Medicine for All

The Integrating Fields Symposium Series highlights solution-focused initiatives at the intersection of food, health, and community. Each event takes a deep dive into one place-based collaboration, creating space to explore not only its outcomes, but also the relationships, structures, and practices that make the work successful.

Designed as a practical, “how-to” learning experience, the series provides participants with actionable insights and adaptable strategies to help build more just, inclusive, and healing food and health systems in their own communities.

About Us

Uniting Agriculture and Healthcare to Support Food as Medicine for All

Agriculture broadly defined for a diversity of food ways to include farmers, foragers, fishers, subsistence hunters, ranchers, wild-crafters, pastoralists, forest producers, and more.

Healthcare broadly defined for a diversity of health ways to include all those engaged in health and healing practices.

Our Why

The idea of food as medicine resonates with many in health care and food production. Nutrition is increasingly integrated into health professional training, patient care, and discussions around farming, fishing, ranching, and other food systems. However, people across many communities who want to eat well cannot access healthy or even enough food. Many of those producing and providing our food and health care navigate a multitude of inequities.

Join us in creating a more equitable and inclusive Food as Medicine movement!

Deaver Wellness Farm: Food as Medicine on a Hospital Campus

Lankenau Medical Center’s Deaver Wellness Farm is a working farm located on the hospital campus made possible through a collaboration between Main Line Health/Lankenau Medical Center and Greener Partners. It uses food, land, and community as tools for healing. As the featured presentation, this symposium explores how cross-sector partnerships between healthcare institutions and community-based food organizations can create a food-asmedicine model rooted in food justice and food sovereignty.

The session will begin with a presentation introducing Deaver Wellness Farm and the collaborative framework that supports it. Panelists from the healthcare and communitybased agriculture partners will explain how the collaboration was formed, how it operates in practice, and what is required to integrate farming into a hospital setting. Participants will explore how the farm serves patients, local residents, and program participants, and how each group engages with food and farming in ways that promote health, dignity, and autonomy. Practical examples will demonstrate how fresh, accessible, and meaningful food can be incorporated into healthcare settings to support wellness, recovery, and the health of the broader community.

Following the presentation, attendees will have a brief break for reflection.

The symposium will then transition into a facilitated panel discussion guided by three focused questions:

1.What does food-as-medicine look like when it is grounded in food justice and food sovereignty through authentic healthcare–community partnerships?

2.How can hospitals and community food organizations collaborate in ways that honor community autonomy, cultural relevance, and shared leadership?

3.What challenges and opportunities emerge when aligning hospital systems with landbased, community-centered healing practices?

The symposium will conclude with an open Q&A, inviting participants to reflect on their own work and explore how food and farming can be leveraged through collaboration to build more just, inclusive, and healing health systems.

River Wichmann

River has been working within the Philadelphia food system for 10 years. Their experience of working on organic diversified vegetable farms, coupled with working in food retail gives them a unique perspective on the current structure of the food system and a passion for doing what they can to improve the way fresh food circulates in and around urban environments. They strive to connect people to how their food grows, and view food as a tool to build community. In their position of Farm Manager at Deaver Wellness Farm they connect patients facing food insecurity with fresh food, as well as assist the Farmer/Educator in ensuring that Deaver serves as an immersive education experience for a diverse audience.

Amy Johnson

With more than 30 years of experience in organic agriculture, Amy’s passion for farming took root in a college food crops course and never stopped growing. After several years of hands-on agricultural internships, she went on to start and run the first CSA in Delaware County, helping connect the local community directly to fresh, seasonal food. In 2008, she co-founded Greener Partners, where she continues to inspire people of all ages to tap into their own food stories while getting excited about eating more fruits and vegetables.

Beyond the fields, Amy was also deeply involved in public service, serving for eight years as an elected official on her hometown council. During her tenure, she helped lead the implementation of a borough-wide curbside composting program, bringing sustainable practices directly to every resident and reinforcing her commitment to healthy communities from the soil up.

Maureen Krouse, MPH, MCHES

Maureen Krouse has a Masters, Public Health and is a Master’s Certified Health Education Specialist with over 40 years of experience in public health. She currently manages the Main Line Health/Lankenau Medical Center’s Community Health and Outreach department, including the Deaver Health Education Center and Deaver Wellness Farm. She is engaged in education relating to healthy living and nutrition of youth and adults in Southeastern PA . Through her experience and work she is involved in the Social Drivers (Determinants) of Health for the diverse community surrounding and utilizing Lankenau Medical Center.

Ms Krouse has implemented and coordinates the Food Insecurity programs at Lankenau Medical Center, including the The Lankenau Medical Center Deaver Farms patient outreach and the hospital’s commitment to food as medicine. Maureen has been involved in the development and running of the DWF at Lankenau Medical Center and its’ programming and finances since its inception. The farm was featured on the Rachael Ray show in 2022.

Jessica Salt, MD, MBE

Jessica Salt is a board-certified internist with expertise in medical education who practices as a Hospitalist at Lankenau Medical Center in Pennsylvania. She is a Senior Director at Intealth where she supports the education of international physicians who come to the United States for medical training. She previously served as Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.

In her clinical practice, Jessica cares for patients whose health conditions are influenced by diet and access to nutritious food. Inspired by the impact of the Deaver Wellness Farm in the community where she lives and practices, Jessica was drawn to Greener Partners’ mission to strengthen community health through urban farming, equitable fresh food access, and discovery-based learning. She also values the impact that the Deaver Wellness Farm has on medical residents, who learn how they can better serve their patients, while also nurturing their own well-being. She joined the Greener Partners Board in 2019 and currently serves as Vice Chair.

Continuing Education

Additionally, to support a diverse global community, a Certificate of Attendance will be available to attendees who participate in the live event. These certificates may be used to apply for continuing education credits through professional associations.

Please note that requirements for continuing education credits vary. We recommend consulting your professional association to determine whether the certificate meets their criteria.

Currently, we do not offer Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits but hope to provide them in the future. Please contact the ACCME to determine if any credits from this educational offering can be applied toward your CME recertification.