Prescribing Change: Food is Medicine and the Future of Health

By: Rifka Verma, Spring 2024 Health Law and Policy Clinic Student

What if the simplest prescription for health did not come in a bottle full of pills, but rather in a box full of fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains? What if food wasn’t considered an afterthought in medicine – but instead, as a frontline defense against the chronic disease epidemic that continues to hollow out our health care systems?

These were real questions that advocates, clinicians, and researchers carried with them to Capitol Hill on March 12, 2025, for the second annual Food is Medicine Day. Together, we met with Congressional offices from Massachusetts – a national leader in food-as-health innovation. We arrived with the goal of educating lawmakers on these issues including critical NIH funding, Medicaid and Medicare support for nutrition-based interventions.

Throughout my time at the Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health (HSPH), we have spoken about the promise of food is medicine: of medically tailored meals and produce prescriptions. I have read a dozen scientific papers analyzing the efficacy of these interventions. A year later, I had the surreal opportunity of sitting amongst key stakeholders and decision makers, helping educate them to turn these ideas into tangible reality.

Our conversations were centered around survival, cost, equity – and the science linking poor nutrition to nearly every chronic illness plaguing Americans today.

Hill Day: A Call Echoing Through the Halls of Power

Our delegation began the day in the Columbia Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency, where over 200 voices from 28 states gathered to align on one goal: to make nutrition an institutionalized part of medicine. Throughout the day, my group held meetings with all major Massachusetts Congressional offices. What was striking was the unanimous support for Food is Medicine principles – a bipartisan convergence grounded in data, fiscal pragmatism, and moral clarity.

The conversations were marked by curiosity and momentum. I was especially struck by the forward-thinking openness of staffers in certain offices who were not only supportive, but also actively seeking ways to build on Massachusetts’ pioneering use of 1115 Medicaid waivers to integrate food-based interventions into healthcare coverage.

Why Food is Medicine Matters More Than Ever

Our discussions were grounded in numbers and facts; with a clear and urgent message: Safeguard NIH research to prove and scale what we already know – that food heals; Support access to medically tailored meals under Medicare. Continue to expand produce prescriptions for populations like veterans and Indigenous communities. Each of these policies follow what the evidence already shows – that food-based interventions reduce hospitalizations, improve quality of life, and cut costs.

The numbers are staggering – an estimated $32.1 billion could be saved in one year alone, along with averting 3.5 million hospitalizations, if all eligible Americans received medically tailored meals. Over 500,000 deaths annually in the U.S. are attributed to poor diets. The burden is not distributed evenly – it disproportionately affects low-income communities, black and brown families, and people navigating food insecurity while managing chronic illness.

There is a crucial need to invest in preventive infrastructure and build systems that not only respond to disease but instead, advance good health.

What This Taught Me About Public Health Law – and Its Boundaries

As a graduate student working at the intersection of health law and nutrition science, I am often immersed in regulations and research – this was a chance to see how it all works in practice. On Capitol Hill, I was reminded of something both sobering and electrifying: the law is only as powerful as the vision that animates it.

Food is Medicine challenges a health system that was designed to treat illness rather than prevent it. It forces us to reckon with how narrow our definitions of “treatment” have become. And it pushes us to reimagine the very role of healthcare – not just to manage illness, but to create the conditions for health to thrive.

This experience also reaffirmed that educating stakeholders isn’t just about presenting data – it’s about translating science and its complexities into concrete solutions and outcomes. It is about education on how we can treat food as a clinical input, not just a lifestyle choice. Because at its best, policy can be a powerful tool for delivering compassion at scale.

A Final Reflection: Where We Go from Here

We are living through a paradigm shift, where “food as care” is no longer a fringe idea but becoming an evidence-based pillar of public health.

But this shift will not complete itself. It requires more voices, more storytellers, more students, policymakers, and health advocates who are willing to step beyond their usual roles and bring both evidence and experience to the table.

Food is Medicine isn’t just about meals – it’s about rethinking what constitutes care. It is a reminder that nutrition is a core component of health, that equity depends on access, and that effective interventions don’t have to be complex to be impactful.

I’m deeply grateful to the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation for the opportunity to be a part of this experience. As a student at the Health Law and Policy Clinic, I’ve learned that meaningful health reform begins with showing up for what you believe in. With using our voices to shift what feels possible. CHLPI’s commitment to advancing equitable, evidence-based food policy has not only shaped how I approach the intersection of policy and nutrition, but reminded me that law, at its most human, is a tool for healing.

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