There is both a health case and a business case for why a balanced diet is important. Lack of good nutrition is the number one driver of poor health outcomes in the U.S. And suboptimal diets result in $1.1 trillion in annual costs to the economy, accounting for both healthcare expenses and lost productivity.
Recognizing this, payers, health systems and other stakeholders have been ramping up their own individual food-as-medicine efforts. For example, Kaiser Permanente and Highmark Health have both committed millions of dollars for food and nutrition security, and Elevance Health has carved out a specific role centered around food as medicine.
Now, many of these players are banding together to launch the Food is Medicine National Network of Excellence.
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The network, which was announced last week, aims to develop, assess and share the best practices in the food-is-medicine space. The founding members include the Food is Medicine Institute at the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, Kaiser Permanente, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, CVS Health, Devoted Health, Elevance Health, Geisinger and Highmark Health.
“To our knowledge, this is the first coalition or network of major payers coming together to share and understand how [food is medicine] may best be utilized,” said Dariush Mozaffarian, cardiologist and director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University. “The Network’s combined knowledge and efforts will offer a unique and powerful approach to advancing [food is medicine] across the nation. A component of our joint mission is to share our learnings with the public, policy makers, and the larger health care sector to catalyze change.”
What the network hopes to achieve
The network has several main priorities, according to the announcement. The first is to develop frameworks to assess the impact of food is medicine interventions, including medically-tailored meals, produce prescriptions and nutrition education. Medically-tailored meals are fully prepared healthy meals, while produce prescriptions are prescriptions of fruits and vegetables. These interventions are often provided to those with diet-related conditions such as obesity, hypertension and heart disease.
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The network will be creating studies on these interventions among the members’ patient populations. Kaiser Permanente already has some studies underway, including one among its Medicaid population in which those with diabetes receive healthy food vouchers, according to Pamela Schwartz, executive director for community health at Kaiser Permanente.
“We’re trying to understand what the evidence tells us about the most effective interventions, and who we should target so that we can get to the health outcomes that we all want, which is improved health for diet-related disease and lower cost of care,” Schwartz said.
Once the network gathers evidence, it will publish and share its findings with other payers and health systems in the country to help them implement their own food-is-medicine interventions.
In addition, the program members will “promote the effectiveness of Food is Medicine through industry engagement and communication with policymakers and the public,” the announcement stated.
When asked if these conversations with policymakers will include holding food companies accountable, Mozaffarian of Tufts University noted that the issue is much broader.
“The food sector is vast, from farmers to retailers to food manufacturers to restaurants,” he said. “All have been part of the problem, and also must be part of the solution. We need to reward and incentivize innovators who are doing the right thing, and use all the powers of the federal government to shift the priorities of those who are not.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s pick for HHS Secretary, has also been vocal about “making America healthy again.” Mozaffarian noted that he hopes “RFK Jr. will leverage the best established evidence and policy solutions to advance Food is Medicine in healthcare, nutrition security in the federal food programs, and a priority on nutrition science at NIH.”
Schwartz stated, however, that the first step is having conversations with the new Trump administration about the importance of food is medicine and what interventions work before advocating for any specific policies.
Will this have a meaningful impact on food and nutrition security?
The network has the potential to “significantly enhance” food is medicine efforts, according to Kyle Dardashti, founder and CEO of Heali, a food as medicine startup combating chronic diseases. Dardashti started the company due to his own struggles battling Crohn’s disease.
“The Food is Medicine National Network of Excellence offers a valuable opportunity to advance food-based healthcare by focusing on personalized nutrition and condition-specific dietary interventions. … For long-term success, clear and enforceable nutrition standards are essential to guide these interventions within medical care,” he said in an email. “Effective policy support and collaboration with healthcare stakeholders will be critical for scaling and sustaining these programs.”
Another food and nutrition executive said the network is an “interesting concept,” but questioned whether registered dietitians are a part of this network. Vanessa Rissetto, a registered dietitian and co-founder of Culina Health, noted that registered dietitians proselytize on the value of food as medicine. It’s what they do as part of their job. The company serves people with a variety of needs — including weight loss, diabetes, hormone health and eating disorders — and gives them access to registered dietitians.
“[Registered dietitians] understand a patient’s acuity and can assess pretty quickly what you can and can not do, what you’re willing to do and how to help you achieve those goals with the resources that are available to you without judgment or shame. … We should never be an afterthought when it comes to this but rather thought of as part of the interdisciplinary team capable of moving the needle as it relates to outcomes and the reduction of the total cost of care,” she argued.
Schwartz of Kaiser Permanente noted that several of the organizations in the network, including Kaiser Permanente, use registered dietitians in their individual food as medicine strategies. However, registered dietitians are not currently part of the network itself.
Ultimately, by launching the new network, Schwartz hopes to have a long-term effect on food and nutrition across the country.
“I think that together, we’re really positioned to lead progress of food as medicine on a national scale, and our intention is really to drive systemic change that can have far reaching and lasting impacts on the health of the nation and with the potential to change the trajectory of diet-related disease and hunger,” she said.
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