Food as Medicine
Coverage of Food as Medicine in the Nexus archive.
- Food and culture meet at Maryland nonprofit serving African immigrant communities
AfriThrive is a nonprofit in Maryland that distributes locally grown, fresh, culturally appropriate food weekly to low-income African immigrants. The organization sources produce from local gardens and has launched a 'Food as Medicine' program designed to link participants with clinicians to address diet-related health issues.
- Medicaid meal deliveries reduce hospital visits and costs
A study found that Medicaid patients receiving home-delivered, medically tailored meals had 31% fewer hospitalizations and 20% fewer ER visits, with per-person health costs decreasing by $3,433. The program, offered in states like Massachusetts, is part of a 'food is medicine' movement aimed at improving health outcomes through nutrition.
- Doctors are taking culinary classes so they can prescribe food as medicine — it’s so much more than just ‘eat healthy’
Medical students at Case Western Reserve University are participating in extracurricular culinary classes to better understand food as medicine and make more effective dietary recommendations to patients. This initiative goes beyond basic healthy eating advice by teaching doctors how to prescribe specific foods as therapeutic interventions.