New Mom's Meals white paper examines how to scale food as medicine to improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs

ANKENY, Iowa, July 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As healthcare leaders increasingly seek solutions that improve outcomes, reduce avoidable utilization and lower costs, Mom's Meals® released a new white paper, Food as Medicine at Scale: Targeted Nutrition Interventions to Improve Outcomes and Reduce Total Cost of Care. It examines how food as medicine is moving beyond isolated pilot programs and explores the evidence, implementation strategies and policy opportunities needed to integrate nutrition into care delivery at scale.

"Food as medicine has reached an important inflection point," said Chris Choi, chief executive officer of Mom's Meals. "The question is no longer whether nutrition can improve outcomes. The question is how to identify the right populations, align interventions to clinical needs and build sustainable models that deliver measurable results."

As health plans, providers, policymakers and community organizations look for new approaches to addressing chronic disease, maternal health, behavioral health, post-discharge recovery and long-term care needs, interest in nutrition interventions continues to grow. With that growth comes increased focus on identifying effective models, measuring impact and expanding access to evidence-based nutrition support.

Drawing on more than 25 years of experience delivering nutrition solutions nationwide, the white paper shares insights from Mom's Meals on the populations most likely to benefit from food as medicine interventions, the role of medically tailored meals and other nutrition supports, real-world examples that demonstrate measurable clinical and financial outcomes, and emerging policy developments shaping the future of food as medicine.

Among the key themes explored:

• Food as medicine interventions are most effective when targeted to populations with specific clinical needs and nutrition-related barriers.
• Successful programs align nutrition support to the needs of the population being served.
• Medically tailored meals, nutrition counseling and education, and produce and pantry support can improve outcomes when integrated into broader care management strategies.
• Operational scale, implementation expertise and reliable delivery infrastructure are critical to achieving consistent outcomes across diverse populations and geographies.

The white paper also examines the evolving policy landscape, including opportunities within Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and emerging federal and state initiatives that are expanding access to nutrition interventions as part of healthcare delivery.

"The evidence continues to demonstrate that clinically appropriate nutrition interventions can improve health and reduce costs for some of our highest-risk populations," Choi said. "The opportunity now is to make these interventions more accessible and integrate them more fully into care."

Taken together, the findings suggest that food as medicine is entering a new phase, one defined by stronger evidence, broader policy support and increasing demand for scalable models capable of delivering measurable outcomes.

The full white paper, Food as Medicine at Scale: Targeted Nutrition Interventions to Improve Outcomes and Reduce Total Cost of Care, is available to download here.

About Mom's Meals

Mom's Meals is the most comprehensive Food as Medicine solutions provider nationwide, helping health plans, health systems and government programs improve outcomes through nutrition. The company offers medically tailored meals, produce and pantry boxes, oral nutrition supplements, nutrition counseling and education, and other clinically aligned nutrition solutions designed to support complex populations across care settings. For more information, visit momsmeals.com. 

SOURCE Mom's Meals