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Food

Our Work

Poor diet, exacerbated by food insecurity, is now the leading cause of death and disease in the United States. Health care providers and payers have begun to seek clinical and non-clinical opportunities to address food insecurity and malnutrition in patients to improve health outcomes and decrease health care costs. The Health Law Lab develops resources describing current gaps, innovations, and policy opportunities on this topic, and works with partners to drive related health system reform.


Key Projects

Food is Medicine Massachusetts (FIMMA)

A multi-sector coalition, co-led by CHLPI and Community Servings. FIMMA is tasked with coordinating the implementation of the Food is Medicine 15, a series of targeted policy recommendations outlined in The Massachusetts Food is Medicine State Plan.


The Massachusetts Food is Medicine State Plan

A two-year initiative that investigated the access, gaps, and barriers associated with Food is Medicine services across Massachusetts from food insecurity screening to food and nutrition interventions. The report provides a blueprint for building a health care system that recognizes the critical relationship between food and health and ensures access to food and nutrition services Massachusetts residents need to prevent, manage, and treat diet-related illness.

To learn more about FIMMA and the State Plan visit foodismedicinema.org.


Food is Medicine Research Priorities Action Plan

In collaboration with the Aspen Institute’s Food & Society program, CHLPI is leading development of a Food is Medicine Research Action Plan. With the goal of informing the integration of nutrition interventions into our current and near-future health care system, the Action Plan assesses the peer-reviewed evidence base for the use of food in health care and issues a series of recommendations for making the most impactful investments in Food is Medicine research moving forward.


Mainstreaming Produce Prescriptions

Through its Mainstreaming Produce Prescriptions project, CHLPI works to identify strategies to fund, scale, and integrate Produce Prescription Programs – a popular nutrition intervention that improves patient access to fruits and vegetables – into health care delivery and food system infrastructure. In March 2021, CHLPI released Mainstreaming Produce Prescriptions: A Policy Strategy Report, which outlines 20 core recommendations for increasing access to these important programs across the United States. Earlier in 2023, CHLPI released a companion resource, Mainstreaming Produce Prescriptions in Medicaid Managed Care: A Policy Toolkit and Resource Library.


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