Our Shared History

Tufts alumni medical bulletin Reproduced from "Boston to Mound Bayou: Columbia Point & Delta Health Center," Hirsh Health Sciences Library, Tufts University.
Article page from the November 1966 Tufts Medical Alumni Bulletin titled “Tufts in Mississippi: The Delta Health Center,” by H. Jack Geiger, describing the creation of a rural health center in the Mississippi Delta to address health and poverty Reproduced from "Boston to Mound Bayou: Columbia Point & Delta Health Center," Hirsh Health Sciences Library, Tufts University.

An Enduring Partnership: Tufts and Delta Health Center

Delta GREENS revives a long-standing relationship between Tufts University and Delta Health Center in Mound Bayou, Mississippi. The Delta Health Center was founded during the civil rights era by three Tufts leaders:

  • Dr. H. Jack Geiger, physician
  • Dr. Count Gibson, physician
  • Dr. John Hatch, assistant professor

Their work grew from a clear recognition: poverty and lack of access to care were shaping the health of people in the Mississippi Delta. The Delta Health Center was built to address that directly.

North Bolivar County Farm Cooperative

As part of the Delta Health Center’s founding, Dr. John Hatch launched the North Bolivar County Farm Cooperative (NBCFC), rooted in a simple but powerful idea: access to healthy food and economic well‑being are directly connected to health.

Historical black and white photograph showing Dr. John Hatch and a cooperative farm member harvesting vegetables in a Mississippi Delta field. The two men stand beside a wooden bushel basket filled with fresh produce, with another worker visible in the background Photograph by Dr. Doris Derby. Courtesy of University of North Carolina Press
Historical black and white photograph showing Dr. John Hatch standing in a vegetable farm cooperative field in the Mississippi Delta. He wears a white polo shirt and light-colored pants while holding freshly harvested produce. Multiple rows of crops stretch behind him across the flat agricultural landscape, with trees visible on the horizon Credit: Dan Bernstein, Southern Historical Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill

The North Bolivar County Farm Cooperative demonstrated how agriculture, employment, and health care could be intentionally aligned to meet community‑identified needs. 

Through this work, Dr. Hatch built a community‑centered agricultural and health system that:

  • Secured funding enabling Delta farmers to transform land and labor into food, income, and improved health outcomes
  • Employed more than 300 Black families, strengthening local economic stability
  • Partnered with clinicians and nutritionists at the Tufts–Delta Health Center to align food production with nutritional needs identified by the community itself
  • Created a region‑wide, community‑centered food distribution system connecting local farms to local people

Food as Medicine, Before It Had a Name

When physicians at Delta Health Center encountered malnourished children, they responded with a straightforward approach:

  • Wrote "prescriptions for food," specifying milk, eggs, meat, and vegetables just as they would any other therapy
  • Filled those prescriptions at local grocery stores in Black communities across northern Bolivar County
  • Reimbursed the costs through the health center's pharmacy budget

When federal officials questioned the use of pharmacy funds for food, Dr. Jack Geiger replied, "The last time I looked at my textbooks, the most specific therapy for malnutrition was food.”

That logic, both radical and self-evident at the time, laid the groundwork for what is now widely recognized as an early model of Food is Medicine.

Historical quote displayed on a white panel describing health and nutrition challenges in northern Bolivar County, Mississippi. The text explains how food insecurity, malnutrition, and poverty created barriers to healthcare progress in the region, noting the paradox that residents could be both overweight and malnourished while subsisting primarily on beans and grits. This quote provides historical context for the community health challenges Credit: Dan Schultz, photo of quote images from Mound Delta Health Center Museum
Text regarding the importance of diet to the clinics health of the patient Credit: Dan Schultz, photo of quote images from Mound Delta Health Center Museum

Continuing the Legacy

Delta GREENS continues this work today by bringing together food access, clinical care, and community partnerships to improve health in the Mississippi Delta.

Discover key documents, archives, and media that highlight the legacy of the Delta Health Center and its influence on community health.

Discover Delta Health Center History Explore Tufts Library Archives Watch: Out in a Rural