COLUMBUS—More than 1.7 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer this year and it will kill more than 600,000, according to the American Cancer Society.

At OSU, there is a research team trying to change that by helping survivors reinvent what they put on their plates. 

Just outside the Columbus skyline sits 261 acres of food, research, and education.  

It's the Waterman Agricultural and Natural Resources Laboratory at Ohio State University where every plot of land has it's own purpose, including the HOPE Gardens.

"Hippocrates said, 'Let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food,'" said Dr. Colleen Spees, an OSU Associate Professor and HOPE Lab researcher. "And that speaks to the importance of how we can control our destiny with foods."

Back in 2012, Spees planted a seed of an idea about using a plant-based diet to help save people's lives. 

"What I do is a farm to fork to future type of prospective," she explained.  "We absolutely know for a fact that second to smoking and tobacco use, overweight and obesity is one of the main drivers of cancer."

Her team started inviting cancer survivors and caregivers to harvest their own produce and then supply them with additional education and cooking classes.  

"Adopting a primarily plant-based diet can protect us," Spees said.  "All plant-based items, including fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, have chemical compounds call phytochemicals in them."

Phytochemicals help plants fight off dangers like predators and too much sunlight. 

"When humans eat those foods, we actually confer some of those same cancer-prevention benefits," said Spees.

The results of their study with adult cancer survivors were so astounding they started inviting children cancer survivors and their families.

"We are definitely showing there's biologic improvements that decrease their risk of recurrence but also decreased their body weight, improves their body composition," the researcher explained. "They start to show benefits to mental health and quality of life."

Anna Marconi is a program coordinator and horticulture outreach specialist at Waterman Operations.  

It's the job of her and her team to find different foods to plant that will appeal to the participants, creating a menu filled with flavors and colors. 

For instance, "Ground cherries, which is a fun finger food for them to harvest," Marconi said. "The kids absolutely love them. They call it their garden candy.  When patients have cancer, their tastebuds change.  And that's also why it's so important to have a variety of crops grown out here."

As survivors unearth a rainbow of carrots or vegetables they've never even heard of before in this living laboratory, they're digging into a natural way to get healthy with their entire family. 

"What we're trying to do too is to get people to love food again," Spees said.

The success of this research has done so well, the team has expanded their harvesting and educational programs again.

Last year, they were awarded a 5-year USDA grant to bring in at-risk children and families in underprivileged communities of Columbus. 

Spees says they have found participants continued their new healthier habits even after the program finished.  And she says families as a whole reported more engagement with each other, including grocery shopping together and preparing meals together.  

Planting has just started for the season and the programs will start up again in the summer.