A $2.8 million federal grant is being used in a University of Hawaiʻi study that involves giving some patients funds for locally grown fruits and vegetables — and to see how access to local and healthy food impacts high blood pressure and food insecurity.
The National Institutes of Health awarded the grant to UH Mānoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience.
As part of the so-called “produce prescription” program, about 250 patients with hypertension will receive $100 vouchers monthly to buy produce from designated farmers markets.
“We've been able to offer ‘produce prescriptions’ similar to this through other grant-funded programs, and what we've observed is that people with high blood pressure might benefit more from these fresh fruits and vegetables compared to some of the other chronic conditions,” said Monica Esquivel, an associate professor in CTAHR’s Department of Human Nutrition, Food, and Animal Sciences, and the project’s lead.
Esquivel said the project is focusing on high blood pressure, or hypertension, because of its relationship to food security.
“Most people enrolling in produce prescriptions also have another mental health diagnosis. … It does seem that these conditions — high blood pressure, stress, food insecurity — they're kind of all interrelated,” Esquivel said.
Patients in the study will be from Waimānalo Health Center, Hamakua Kohala Health Center and the Waiʻanae Coast Comprehensive Health Center.
They will likely start receiving vouchers as part of the yearlong study in mid-2026.
