What is ‘food is medicine’? – 2 experts explain this decades-old approach to healthcare that is taking on new life

"Food is medicine" is a healthcare approach that utilizes healthy foods, like fruits and vegetables, to prevent, manage or treat specific medical conditions. The concept, also known as "food as medicine" and "food prescriptions," suggests that what we eat is just as crucial as medication for overall health and wellness.

As researchers focusing on food access and health in rural communities, we have firsthand experience with food is medicine programs in northern Mississippi. These programs provide curated healthy foods, such as fruit, vegetables, and proteins, based on a clinician's prescription to improve patient health and potentially reduce healthcare costs.

Across the globe, food is medicine programs are increasingly vital for people facing food insecurity. In 2024, over 47 million Americans, including 7.3 million children, lived in food-insecure households, meaning they were uncertain of having enough food for everyone in the household. Globally, roughly 673 million people face hunger.

The movement's roots date back over 60 years to civil rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Jack Geiger, who co-founded community health centers in the 1960s. He argued that "the most specific therapy for malnutrition was food," despite government officials' objections to prescribing food to patients in his community in the Mississippi Delta.

Today, the American Heart Association has convened an advisory group of researchers and physicians to review food is medicine research and discuss future steps. An international advisory group, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, has also acknowledged the potential of these programs to prevent or manage chronic conditions, potentially saving the U.S. healthcare system an estimated US$4.3 trillion annually.