Rockefeller Foundation, American Heart Association, Instacart and Recipe4Health explore strategies for equitable access to nutrition, food as medicine

08-Nov-2023 - Last updated on 08-Nov-2023 at 15:17 GMT

Source: William Reed

The potential for food as medicine to prevent, manage and treat diet-related diseases is tremendous, but consumer awareness of and access to it are still limited – prompting public health advocates, government leaders and stakeholders across the food system to work together to help more people access the nutritious food they need to live healthier.

In the US, 140 million people now suffer with obesity, one of the top risk factors for many chronic diseases, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer, which together the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates affect nearly 60% of American adults.

The risk of chronic disease related to poor diet are not equally shared in the US – groups disproportionately impacted include Black Americans, Hispanics, Native populations, Pacific Islanders as well as rural communities, veterans and communities with high rates of low income, all of which are more likely to struggle with food insecurity.

In response, the White House is throwing its weight behind the concept of ‘food as medicine’ as part of a broader, ambitious goal to end hunger and increase healthy eating and physical activity by 2030 so that fewer Americans suffer from diet-related chronic disease. This is opening new paths to market and sales opportunities, as well as inspiring innovative products, partnerships and business models.

At FoodNavigator-USA’s upcoming free-to-attend virtual Futureproofing The Food System Summit Nov. 14-16, we explore the impact of some of these efforts as well as the extent and impact of poor nutrition on health, accessibility issues, initiatives to measure and build evidence for a large-scale ‘food as medicine’ movement in the US and policy efforts to support healthy food as a covered benefit by insurers.

During the session, Resetting the table to ensure equitable access to nourishing and sustainable food, we also look at barriers to equity and efforts to address them, including strategies and solutions from:

Devon Klatell, vice president, Food Initiative, The Rockefeller Foundation;
Kevin Volpp, director, Penn Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics;
Sarah Fleisch, Director, policy research and development, Instacart, and
Steven Chen, chief medical officer, Alameda County Recipe4Health.

Learn more about this and other sessions during the free three-day event and register today.