Feeding America study finds Food as Medicine improves health, food security, reduce hospitalization

Feeding America has released the nation’s largest evaluation of Food as Medicine programs, finding that consistent access to nutritious food reduced self-reported hospitalizations by 14%, emergency department visits by 11%, and increased food security by 47%. Evaluated by the Center for Nutrition & Health Impact, the three-year initiative screened more than 1.45 million patients for food insecurity and connected more than 161,000 households across 13 states to nutritious food through 21 Feeding America network food banks and more than 50 health care sites. The Food as Medicine program is supported by $14.1 million from Elevance Health Foundation.