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The shorter version:

• 60% of Americans do not eat food they would describe as very nutritious due to physical and economic barriers
• A report lists four challenges to the food as medicine movement including resistance to diet restrictions and difficulty in tracking compliance.
• A new EU proposed regulation that scores food on a grading scale, adopted in many countries already, meets with growing opposition.
• An American Heart Association study found Produce Prescription Programs can save the United States at least $40 billion in medical bills.
• Why are some of the unhealthiest meals being served in Hospitals? 
• A Food Farmacy is coming soon to Connecticut!. 

The longer version:

Healthy Food Access Is Equally Important as Healthcare for 87 Percent of Americans, Danone Finds. 

87% of Americans think access to healthy food is a top priority, ranking it on par with access to healthcare. The State of Nutrition Equality Study found that 60% of Americans do not eat food they would describe as very nutritious due to physical and economic barriers, factors that disproportionately affect specific communities. A representative sample of 4,000 Americans indicated that these gaps in healthy food access have a ripple effect across families, communities, and the country.  

Food as Medicine the shorter version:

• During the pandemic, American’s life expectancy went down. While other countries saw a rebound post-pandemic, the U.S. has not.
• Your zip code can predict your life expectancy.
• The director of UT’s Medical schools says “the present state of nutrition education in our medical schools is sad.” Thankfully, medical schools are enhancing and evolving their nutrition education.
• Nutraceuticals can replace some pharmaceuticals.
• Weight loss company Jenny Craig closes nationwide. Here’s hoping people turn to food as medicine and not drugs to lose weight.
• By 2024, all hospitals and clinics in federal payment programs must screen their patients for social determinants of health, including food insecurity.

Food as Medicine the longer version:

Living Better: What it takes to get healthy in America

Food Rescue US – Fairfield County is excited to announce that Becca Nell, a long-time volunteer food rescuer and dedicated supporter of our work, will expand her...

The short version: 

• A shocking stat: 80% of healthcare dollars are allocated to preventable chronic disease, yet nine out of 10 Americans don’t meet the government’s own recommendations for fruit and vegetable consumption!!! Check out the end of this blog post for tips on how to include more fruit in your daily diet!
• In 2020, one in six military and veteran families reported experiencing low food security or hunger.
• The American Heart Association and The Rockefeller Foundation’s vision for their Food is Medicine (FIM) Initiative “is to accelerate a future in which millions of patients receive the benefit of a more holistic approach to diet and health.”
• 27% of disabled people live in poverty (which is 2x the rate in the general population!). Disabled people are struggling to access the food they need to stay healthy with the dramatic increase in food prices and the end of pandemic-era SNAP benefits.

The longer version:

‘Food as medicine’ gains more traction

“Eighty percent of healthcare dollars in this country are allocated to preventable chronic disease, yet nine out of 10 Americans don’t meet the government’s own recommendations for fruit and vegetable consumption,” said Cathy Burns, CEO of the International Fresh Produce Association, during a recent Agri-Pulse Ag & Food Policy Summit. “There is a clear and significant role for food interventions in the healthcare system. “You go to the doctor, you get a diagnosis, and they give you a prescription for fruits and vegetables to treat your condition. Imagine a world where your diagnosis is being treated by what’s on your plate, not by what’s in a pill,” Burns added. “This could be transformational for the trajectory of human health in this country.”