Health Care by FoodTM Initiative
The American Heart Association’s Health Care by Food™ initiative is building the evidence needed to show clinical and cost effectiveness so patients with acute or chronic disease or with risk factors for disease can access cost-effective food is medicine programs as a covered benefit through public and private health insurance.
Foundational Support
With anchor support from The Rockefeller Foundation, contributions from inaugural collaborator Kroger, and with additional support from Instacart, Kaiser Permanente and the Walmart Foundation, the Health Care by Food initiative is engaging in research, advocacy and education to promote the adoption of interventions that reduce disease and curb health care costs. The Health Care by Food initiative was first announced as the Food Is Medicine Initiative at the September 2022 White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health by the American Heart Association and The Rockefeller Foundation.
Foundational Research
The initiative’s research efforts were announced in January 2024, with funds awarded to foundational research projects across the country led by experts in the food and nutrition, behavioral science, epidemiology and cardiovascular research fields.
These research projects focus on feasibility and implementation science in pilot testing different ways of increasing enrollment and engagement in food is medicine interventions and examining ways to accomplish significant short-term changes in healthy eating behavior. Developing ways to increase engagement now, and incorporating those insights in subsequent tests of efficacy, will facilitate the testing of more potent interventions.
For more information, visit our Science page.
Contact Us: HCXF@vahnet.net