Food As Medicine

Heali’s food-as-medicine platform to improve nutrition, food access for consumers, businesses

21-Nov-2023 By Deniz Ataman

With $3M in seed funding from Astanor Ventures, Heali plans to expand its personalized nutrition services for consumers and patients with chronic illnesses through its database of evidence-based nutrition research, while developing a larger presence with...

Futureproofing The Food System

Food as medicine movement can boost economic, environmental health as well as patient well-being

17-Nov-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

The growing food as medicine movement has the potential to support not just the health of patients who are managing diet-related disease, but also that of the planet and local economies depending on how the food is grown and sourced, industry stakeholders...

Futureproofing The Food System

Watch on demand: What will it take to win over prescribers, insurers to food-as-medicine movement?

16-Nov-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

As the concept of “food as medicine” gains traction, doctors, dietitians and insurers already active in the space are keen to distinguish the difference between “better-for-you” products and those proven to effect a health change and therefore worthy...

Reintroduced Medical Nutrition Therapy Act could boost food as medicine movement

15-Nov-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

The bipartisan, bicameral reintroduction of the Medical Nutrition Therapy Act yesterday by Sens. Susan Collins and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Reps. Mike Kelly (R-Penn.) and Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) “would strengthen food retailers as a health and well-being...

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

08-Nov-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

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...

Innovating for women’s health: An unmet need with opportunities across categories and life stages

27-Oct-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

Women’s diverse nutritional needs have long been overlooked or pigeonholed to focus primarily on appearance, but a new class of products made by women, for women across life stages are on the rise as is research to support the development of sex-specific...

Launch of Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University signals turning point for health and nutrition collaborations

25-Oct-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

Last week’s launch of the Food is Medicine Institute at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University marks an inflection point for food-based health care interventions, which have steadily grown from small community-driven and...

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Instacart Health bridges stakeholders to foster food as medicine movement

23-Oct-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

Good food is the foundation for good health, but according to the US Department of Agriculture 10% of Americans, or approximately 33.8 million people, don’t have reliable access to healthy nutrition – a sobering statistic that online grocery technology...

Instacart expands access to food as medicine by partnering with Alignment Healthcare, InComm Payments

03-Oct-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

Instacart and Alignment Healthcare will offer co-branded Medicare Advantage plans in 2024, which will allow participating consumers in qualifying counties to be reimbursed by Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and other eligible programs for “eligible groceries,...

Join us next week for FoodNavigator-USA's digital Futureproofing the Food System Nov. 14-16

03-Oct-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

To feed a global population of 10bn people by 2050 we need to produce more food in the next 40 years than we have in the past 8,000 years, but as illustrated by the Green Revolution simply increasing available calories isn’t the answer – they need to...

Season Health brings prescription food services to health care plans across the country

26-Sep-2023 By Deniz Ataman

Following his experience witnessing the effects of ingredient-and-recipe meal kit services on consumer health during his tenure as Plated's former CEO, Josh Hix now leads Season Health as its CEO. The company collaborates with health plan benefits...

Prescription produce programs associated with better health, food security – bolstering food as medicine movement

05-Sep-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

New research shows adults at risk of heart disease who were prescribed produce ate more fruits and vegetables and after six months had lower blood pressure, body mass index and blood sugar levels – buttressing calls by public health advocates and The...

Joint venture between Cult Foods and Peqish Food Co. focuses on medically tailored food and cellular agriculture

15-May-2023 By Deniz Ataman

Cult Foods, an investor of cellular agriculture technology and products, and Peqish Food Co., a ready-to-eat culinary medicine food brand, are joining forces to develop and commercialize cellular agriculture food products within the medical foods framework.

Food as medicine gains traction as Veterans Health, Rockefeller Foundation pilot prescription produce

26-Apr-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

A new partnership between the US Department of Veteran Affairs and the Rockefeller Foundation will test the impact of fresh fruits and vegetables on veterans’ health, and could help build the business case for more health care systems and insurers nationwide...

Albertsons taps into rising food as medicine trend with wellness tracking ap that features enhanced search function, curated lists of health-focused products

11-Apr-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

As consumer interest in food as medicine rises, Albertsons is helping shoppers connect the dots between well-being, diet and the types of food and products that support their health goals with the launch of a new digital wellness platform within its grocery...

Free From Market promotes “food-as-medicine” digital health platform as key tool in preventive health

15-Mar-2023 By Lauren Nardella

The food-as-medicine movement is at an inflection point, and Free From Market is gearing up to make its patient-driven, digital health platform a solution for improving health outcomes.

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Step One Foods directs consumers, healthcare professionals down food as medicine path

06-Feb-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

Most Americans think about food in terms of servings, but Johns Hopkins-trained cardiologist Elizabeth Klodas talks about the snack bars, pancake mix, granola-like sprinkles and packets of oatmeal she offers under her brand Step One Foods’ in terms of...

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Investing in food as medicine opens business opportunities

16-Jan-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

The idea of food as medicine is as old as food itself, but only recently has the mainstream US health care system begun to take notice, and action, as community-directed efforts to prevent, manage and treat diet-related illnesses through nutrition education...

Futureproofing The Food System

Is the Western diet slowly killing us? Join us in conversation with Dr. Charles Platkin

21-Nov-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

Despite “overwhelming evidence” demonstrating dietary health impacts, and growing consumer interest in nutrition as a wellness tool, widespread adoption of food as medicine in the West faces significant structural challenges that will require stakeholders...

Futureproofing the Food System starts Tues November 15! Have you registered yet?

13-Nov-2022 By Elaine Watson

Want to hear from Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown on the challenges facing plant-based meat? Or environmental scientist Dr Matthew Hayek on what happens if you model a nationwide transition from grain- to grass-finishing beef production systems in the US?

Futureproofing the food system: How are food insecurity and health outcomes connected and what benefits do produce prescriptions, medically tailored meals and personalized nutrition offer?

21-Oct-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

Researchers are calling on clinicians and the healthcare system to screen for food insecurity and better promote food access programs after discovering that Americans with limited or uncertain access to adequate food is on the rise and they are more likely...

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: From food as medicine to sustainable packaging – trendspotting at Expo East

10-Oct-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

Natural Products Expo East may not be as big as its West Coast counterpart, but the 18,500 registered attendees and more than 1,200 exhibitors who convened in Philadelphia earlier this month for the annual conference were just as enthusiastic and the...

Introducing the FoodNavigator-USA digital summit: Futureproofing the Food System Nov 15-17

01-Oct-2022 By Elaine Watson

The western diet – and the food system that underpins it – is becoming increasingly unsustainable, for the health of humans and the planet. So how do we futureproof the food system to deliver healthier, more sustainable products that nourish our bodies...

myAir blends technology with food as medicine to tackle growing stress pandemic

28-Sep-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

By using a patent-pending algorithm to pair and assess physiological responses to stress and diet tracked by smart watches with psychological data gathered through an online quiz, food-tech start-up myAir has found a way to overcome one of the biggest...

Could reframing ‘food as medicine’ counter rising prices that are pushing healthier options out of reach?

27-Sep-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

Food prices at near forty-year highs now overshadow most other consumer concerns about grocery shopping – including fears of contracting COVID-19 or experiencing violence in stores – prompting many to rethink where they shop, what they buy and what product...

Food as medicine continues to gain traction and inspire innovation post-pandemic

18-Aug-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

The acute health threat of COVID-19 may be ebbing for most Americans, but the desire it instilled in many to bolster their physical and mental wellbeing continues to push consumers to seek food as medicine, according to industry insiders.

Dietitians forecast a future of food innovations, warn against Tik Tok pseudoscience

11-Feb-2022 By Asia Sherman

Food innovations fueled by the pandemic will answer consumer demand for snacks, immunity and comfort, but beware of nutrition misinformation shared on social media, says the 10th annual What’s Trending in Nutrition survey.

Performance Kitchen taps healthcare insurers to raise brand awareness, sell food as medicine

09-Feb-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

Former better-for-you frozen food brand Luvo’s mission to make eating nutritious meals easy and delicious lives on under new leadership in the recently rebranded and repositioned Performance Kitchen, but with a narrower focus – for now – on the insurance...

Investing in the Future of Food: Alchemy FoodTech makes “bad carbs good” with unique fiber blends

07-Apr-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

Startup Alchemy FoodTech is arming manufacturers of baked goods, pasta, rice and other products high in refined-carbs with a new weapon in the war against carbs led by advocates of the keto, paleo and other low-carb diets.

Brightfield Group: Reaching the COVID-concerned consumer with empathetic brand marketing

05-Feb-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Stressed by COVID-19 and its financial and emotional ripple effects, consumers have turned to functional food as a stress-reducing and health-boosting tool to get through the pandemic, recent consumer insights from market research firm Brightfield Group...

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Muniq offers ways to close the race-related health disparity gap with nutrition

12-Oct-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Frustrated that many of the underlying health conditions that increase the risk of contracting COVID-19 disproportionately impact black, indigenous and people of color, the founder of Uplifting Results Lab wants to help close the race-related health disparity...

Coronavirus impact underscores need to integrate nutrition in to health care, social services

23-Jul-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

The US needs a more integrated nutrition security system to help fight the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which disproportionately impacts people with underlying health conditions – often related to poor diet, according to an expert from The Rockefeller...

Startups in Food-X’s 11th cohort offer solutions to weaknesses in the food system revealed by COVID-19

14-Apr-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Rather than hit pause during the ongoing pandemic like many other investors, global venture capital fund SOSV’s Food-X accelerator is moving full steam ahead by welcoming to its 11th cohort eight companies that are directly tackling challenges coronavirus...

FarmBox Rx & Vibra Health Plan advance ‘food as medicine’ with free, prescription food boxes

04-Feb-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

If an apple a day can keep the doctor away, the founder of Farmbox Direct and select health insurers are hopeful that an entire box of free, “life-saving produce” can keep older patients managing or at risk of developing diet-related illnesses away from...