Rockefeller Foundation Invests $3.5 Million to Support American Farmers, Improve Nutrition & Address Chronic Disease

Funding will support projects and advance research that connects small and mid-scale farmers to Food is Medicine programs across the U.S.

NEW YORK, Feb. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Rockefeller Foundation announced today $3.5 million to expand and strengthen Food is Medicine (FIM) programs across the United States in collaboration with 4P Foods, Adelante Mujeres, Alameda County Recipe4Health, Community Servings, Harvard University's Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation, Hawaii Good Food Alliance, and Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. As part of The Rockefeller Foundation's $100 million FIM commitment, these grants will advance research, while supporting small and mid-scale U.S. farmers, improving health outcomes for people with chronic disease, and mitigating rising health care costs in communities in California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. In addition, funding will support state-based efforts nationwide to include FIM interventions as a medically covered benefit under Medicaid programs.

"I have seen firsthand how some of The Rockefeller Foundation's partners are growing and distributing nutritious food for produce prescriptions and medically tailored meals to support health outcomes for patients with chronic diseases," said Elizabeth Yee, Executive Vice President of Programs, The Rockefeller Foundation. "By sourcing food locally, these Food is Medicine programs are improving health outcomes, while also improving livelihoods for farmers and supporting economic development in their communities."

Food is Medicine represents a robust and growing market in the United States that has the potential to unlock billions in revenue for American farmers. FIM programs, which include produce prescriptions and medically tailored meals, provide food and nutrition support that improve health for patients with chronic disease. With support from The Rockefeller Foundation, the following partners will demonstrate best practices, innovate new approaches to linking regional producers with health care food delivery, and advance research that evaluates the economic and environmental impact of these programs, along with the people they serve:

• 4P Foods – Aggregating and distributing sustainably grown food from regional farmers, delivering healthy food boxes to families enrolled in produce prescription and nutrition assistance programs, and supporting evaluation and learning on the economic and environmental impacts for participating farms in Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

Tom McDougall, Founder and CEO of 4P Foods, said: "At 4P Foods, we're reimagining how food systems can function to support not just local economies, but the health of our communities and the planet. This investment will allow us to accelerate the transition toward regenerative practices that restore soil health, increase biodiversity, and develop regional supply webs that can be woven into more conventional supply chains."

• Adelante Mujeres – Expanding and evaluating the effectiveness of community-based FIM programs in Latine communities in Oregon, including sourcing food from local communities.

Bailey Matlock, Grants Manager at Adelante Mujeres said: "At Adelante Mujeres, our Food is Medicine work is deeply engraved into our community care. As a culturally responsive community-based organization, we partner with The Rockefeller Foundation to provide food-based intervention programs to prevent, manage, and treat diet-related disease. Our Latine and immigrant community drives our programming, and through their feedback, we continue evolving our work to advance the Food is Medicine Initiative."

• Alameda County Recipe4Health – Evaluating the environmental, economic, and health impacts of integrating locally sourced food into its Recipe4Health Produce Prescription program, which integrates food-based interventions into health care settings to treat, prevent, and reverse chronic conditions in this northern California county that is home to more than 1.5 million people from urban centers, such as Oakland and Berkeley, to smaller cities and rural communities.

Dr. Steven Chen, Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Alameda County Recipe4Health, said: "Where does the food for Food as Medicine come from? How is it grown? Answering these central questions can unlock the next level of impact for the Food as Medicine movement. With The Rockefeller Foundation's generous support, Recipe4Health will develop a 'Health-Cubed, Equity' (H³E) impact framework to measure co-benefits to human, economic, and climate/soil health when sourcing food grown regeneratively and/or organically from local underserved farmers. This framework will support the scaling of sustainably sourced Food as Medicine programs across the country to ensure underserved farmers, patients, health systems, and communities benefit." 

• Community Servings – Expanding and evaluating the effectiveness of Medically-Tailored Meal (MTM) programs and Medically-Tailored Grocery programs, which serve people with chronic illnesses in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, to integrate locally- and sustainably-sourced food.

David B. Waters, CEO of Community Servings, said: "The Rockefeller Foundation has taken an innovative approach to looking at the intersection of Food is Medicine and 'good food sourcing.' With their generous support, this project will study and evaluate our local foods practices to develop educational tools that will advance the goal of increasing good food sourcing practices among Food is Medicine providers. As the region's largest medically tailored meals provider and a national leader in the Food is Medicine field, we look forward to sharing our experience and best practices with fellow providers."

• Harvard University's Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation (CHLPI) – With flexible funding, providing technical assistance to state-based efforts to include FIM interventions as a medically covered benefit under Medicaid programs nationwide and additional support for states' efforts to prioritize local food purchasing.

Heather Latino, Clinical Instructor at CHLPI's Food Law and Policy Clinic, said: "What food we grow, how it is produced, and where it is grown have spillover effects, including on the health of people, the planet, and local economies. We are excited to work with The Rockefeller Foundation and its partners to support broader systems change and policies that will help maximize the impact of Food is Medicine programs across the country."

• Hawaii Good Food Alliance – Evaluating and expanding a produce prescription initiative statewide that aggregates regional, sustainable, and indigenous foods through the Hawaii Food Hub Hui's network of farmers for delivery to FIM patients.

Ka'iulani S. Odom, Executive Director of the Hawaii Good Food Alliance, said: "Through this funding, the Hawaii Good Food Alliance will serve as an administrative hub, breaking down barriers so that Hawaii's newly instituted 1115 Demonstration Waiver is used to serve low-income and food-insecure communities while supporting local small and midsized farmers. This opportunity has the potential to catalyze Hawaii's food systems, establish reliable institutional markets for local farms and food hubs, and improve the health and economic well-being of local families.

• Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy – Analyzing the economic, livelihood, and environmental needs and impacts for farmers participating in the Delta GREENS Produce Prescription program, which aims to improve health outcomes via FIM interventions in the Mississippi Delta, one of the poorest regions in the United States, in collaboration with the Mississippi-based Reuben V. Anderson Center for Justice.

Christina Economos, Dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, said: "The Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston, MA, and the Reuben V. Anderson Center for Justice in Jackson, MS, are collaborating to strengthen rural economies, increase the profitability of local farmers, and promote sustainable agricultural practices that improve access to nutritious foods through the Delta GREENS Project. This work aims to contribute to a healthier and more prosperous America. One key initiative from this partnership is the Food is Medicine (FIM) market study, which this Rockefeller Foundation grant will support. This study explores whether FIM programs, like the Delta GREENS intervention, have the potential to serve as a market that enhances profitability for small-scale farmers."

"The Rockefeller Foundation is proud to invest in these efforts to connect Food is Medicine initiatives with high-quality food sourced from family farms, many of which also prioritize good environmental practices," said Noah Cohen-Cline, Director, Food Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation. "Together, these grants will help improve health outcomes, lower health care costs, drive revenue to farmers and rural economies, and promote planetary health."

About The Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a pioneering philanthropy built on collaborative partnerships at the frontiers of science, technology, and innovation that enable individuals, families, and communities to flourish. We make big bets to promote the well-being of humanity. Today, we are focused on advancing human opportunity and reversing the climate crisis by transforming systems in food, health, energy, and finance. For more information, sign up for our newsletter at www.rockefellerfoundation.org/subscribe  and follow us on X @RockefellerFdn and LI @the-rockefeller-foundation.

SOURCE The Rockefeller Foundation