The Washington Post this week featured Boston Medical Center’s “food as medicine” program that BMC started more than two decades ago.

As the article notes, “Patients identified as having food insecurity receive a food ‘prescription,’ meaning they could visit a food pantry run by the hospital once every two weeks and receive boxes customized for their medical conditions. The food is enough to feed them — and their families — until their next visit.”

Columnist Leana Wen noted that the program serves about 6,800 patients, distributing 50,000 pounds of food a month. “Every time patients pick up food, staff members add a note in their medical chart so that clinicians can see that they are accessing ‘food as medicine’ therapy,” she wrote. “The pantry also owns four vans that deliver groceries to families who face transportation difficulties.”

BMC grows much of the food on its rooftop.