Food as Medicine

Supporting Young Children’s Health from the Start: Food as Medicine Programs for Pregnant People

Nutrition security is critical for the prevention of diet-related diseases. The food as medicine movement, which includes nutrition incentive (NI), medically tailored meals, and produce prescription (PP) projects, is spreading rapidly. Health professionals are increasingly recognizing the role of healthy food in treatment and prevention. However, food as medicine programs that address the unique needs of pregnant people have largely gone unstudied.

No Kid Hungry’s Early Childhood team seeks to identify and support the earliest interventions for food insecurity in young children. Prenatal care is an important, early opportunity to intervene (Sandoval et al., 2021¹). Food insecurity decreases a pregnant woman’s ability to access nutritious food essential for a healthy pregnancy. Prenatal household food insecurity has been linked to future adverse pediatric outcomes. In response to the recent growth in the food as medicine movement, No Kid Hungry partnered with the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition to conduct a landscape analysis of food as medicine interventions that target pregnant people. The landscape analysis included a systematic review and interviews with 36 program implementers and their support systems.

Download the full report

No Kid Hungry created this directory to serve as a centralized location for information on food as medicine programs for pregnant people. The directory includes each organization’s contact email, website, state, program type, and description.

No Kid Hungry continues to explore strategies in the field of produce prescription for pregnant people and meet with experts in the field. Program information will be updated regularly to inform further research and spark collective learning.

"It’s about that child getting the best start in life as possible. It also creates this culture, if the mom is eating good, then most likely the rest of the family is going to eat well." - Program Implementer

See our directory below for a list of Food as Medicine programs for pregnant people nationwide.

Please contact Bethann Mwombela at bmwombela@strength.org for any requested updates or additions to the directory.

Organization	Contact via	State	Rurality	Program Type	Description
Augusta Health	Website Email	Virginia	Urban & Rural	Food is Medicine - General	Free groceries are available in the waiting area for all in need, including pregnant persons.
Blue Ridge Free Clinic	Website Email	Virginia	Urban & Rural	Food is Medicine - General	Free groceries (dairy, meat, produce, and shelf stabe items) are available in the waiting area for all in need, including pregnant persons.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, Obesity	Website	Georgia	Urban & Rural	Food is Medicine - General	CDC is funding programs that focus on reducing health disparities in communities through collaboration with clinical programs.
Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation-Harvard Law School	Website Email	Massachusetts	Urban & Rural	Food is Medicine - General	Works to address gaps in access to Food is Medicine services by integrating them into health care delivery and financing. CHLPI advocates to establish sustainable funding streams, enhance research and evaluation efforts, and improve the infrastructure that Food is Medicine services rely on such as food insecurity screening, HIPAA-compliant data sharing, and nutrition education for medical and oral health professionals.
Centura Health*	Website Email	Colorado	Urban	Produce Prescription	Centura St. Mary-Corwin Hospital providers can give food vouchers that are redeemable at area grocery stores and farmers markets to eligible patients.
Ceres Community Project	Website Email	California	Urban & Rural	Medically tailored meals, Produce Prescription	Pregnant persons who receive Medicaid identified at healthcare appointment for eligibility to receive a combination of medically tailored meals and produce bags through five weeks post-partum
CommuniCare Health Centers*	Website	California	Urban & Rural	Produce Prescription, Education Materials	Pregnant persons who receive Medicaid identified at healthcare appointment for eligibility to receive a combination of medically tailored meals and produce bags through five weeks post-partum
Community Farm Alliance	Website Email	Kentucky	Urban & Rural	Produce Prescription	Pregnant persons who receive Medicaid receive redeemable farmer's market vouchers at healthcare appointments or from a referring community partner. Program implemented at 9 farmer's markets and 2 CSA programs.
Culinary Medicine Specialst Board (CMSB)	Website Email	Washington, DC	Urban & Rural	Education Materials	The CMSB manages the Health meets Food curriculum to change the dialogue between healthcare professionals and expectant parents about food and health.
Fang Fang Zhang-Tufts University & Tufts Medical Center	Email	Massachusetts	Urban	Produce Prescription	Pregnancy is a critical period during which nutrition plays an important role for maternal and birth outcomes. We are assessing factors for effective design and delivery of produce Rx for pregnant women through qualitative interviews and evaluating the feasibility of implementing produce Rx in prenatal clinics for improving maternal and child outcomes among a pilot intervention of 20 pregnant women who receive up to 16 weeks of produce Rx.
Feeding Change Food is Medicine Taskforce	Website Email	Washington, DC	Urban & Rural	Food is Medicine - General	Food Is Medicine interventions include produce prescriptions, medically tailored groceries & meals, and nutrition incentives. The Food Is Medicine Task Force leverages research and thought leadership to catalyze systems change, embed FIM interventions into policy and financing, and promote nutritional security.
God's Love We Deliver	Website Email	New York	Urban	Medically Tailored Meals, Education Materials	Healthy Starts - Free, delicious, nutritious meals for pregnant people with Gestational Diabetes This service – the first of its kind in New York City – offers medically tailored home-delivered meals, support from Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, and an on-demand education series (in English and Spanish) to support pregnant peoples’ management of gestational diabetes for a healthy pregnancy, delivery, and recovery. The service is available to people from the point of their gestational diabetes diagnosis to two months postpartum. The menu is designed by our Registered Dietitian Nutritionists to meet the nutrition and caloric needs of a pregnant person diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and is comprised of 1 breakfast, 1 lunch, 1 dinner, and 2 snacks per day. All of our services are free to clients, full of love, and without regard to age or income.
Healthy Families Produce RX (HFPRx)*	Website	Louisiana	Urban & Rural	Produce Prescription	Pilot studies with medically tailored meals and produce prescription for individuals with chronic health conditions to build evidence for food as medicine programming
Kaiser Permanente	Website Email	Washington, DC	Urban & Rural	Medically Tailored Meals, Produce Prescription	Pilot studies with medically tailored meals and produce prescription for individuals with chronic health conditions to build evidence for food as medicine programming
Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance-MANNA	Website Email	Pennsylvania New Jersey	Urban & Rural	Medically Tailored Meals	MANNA serves people who are at acute nutritional risk due to serious illness, such as cancer, diabetes, renal disease, and high-risk pregnancy. MANNA delivers 21 delicious, wholesome meals each week, personally tailored to each client’s medical needs, to help nourish our clients through the debilitating effects of their illness.
Mom's Meals	Website Email	Delivers Nationwide	Urban & Rural	Medically Tailored Meals	Mom’s Meals provides nutritious, refrigerated, ready-to-heat-and-eat meals that can be chosen based on taste preferences and unique health situations. Our meals are specially crafted to deliver great taste, convenience, affordable pricing and quality nutrition. We are a family-based business that treats clients like we do our own loved ones, and we’ve been delivering to homes nationwide for over 20 years.
Nourished Rx	Website Email	Connecticut	Urban & Rural	Comprehensive Pregnancy Nutrition Program, Food is Medicine - General	NourishedRx supports health plans and other partners in improving the health of their pregnant members through food and nutrition. Our mission is to nourish the most vulnerable, to build connections, and to support health equity. We make this possible by combining the power of food, people, and technology to deliver comprehensive and personalized nutrition programs and experiences to improve health experiences and outcomes and drive lasting dietary change.
Nourishing Beginnings	Website Email	Ohio	Urban	Food is Medicine - General	Connects pregnant people and their families to fresh foods. Participants are randomly assigned to one of two study groups: 1) receive boxed food items, or 2) money for food.
Need More Acres Farm	Website Email	Kentucky	Urban & Rural	Medically Tailored Meals, Produce Prescription	Grows food year-round and partners with health clinics to provide medically tailored meals, groceries, and produce to pregnant people.
NYC Health + Hospitals	Website Email	New York	Urban	Produce Prescription	Pilot study of a 12-week F&V home delivery program for pregnant and postpartum women at a public hospital in NYC
Presbyterian Healthcare Services*	Website Email	New Mexico	Urban & Rural	Produce Prescription, Education Materials	Provides families with 16 weeks of fresh fruits and vegetables and nutrition education.
Produce Perks Midwest, Inc	Website Email	California	Urban & Rural	Produce Prescription	During patient appointments healthcare providers determine mode of produce delivery (vouchers for farmer's markets or grocery stores or delivered to home) for pregnant or postpartum and food insecure persons, including up to 5 members of the household. Program in 8 locations across the state of OH.
Project Angel Food	Website Email	California	Urban & Rural	Medically Tailored Meals	Provide medically tailored meals to those who are part of Medicaid managed care plans with Gestational diabetes or other high-risk perinatal conditions
Tanner Health System*	Website Email	Georgia Alabama	Urban & Rural	Produce Prescription, Education Materials	Provide medically tailored meals to those who are part of Medicaid managed care plans with Gestational diabetes or other high-risk perinatal conditions
Umoja Supply Chain Solutions	Website Email	Texas	Urban & Rural	Food is Medicine - General	Umoja Supply Chain Solutions solutions tailored to meet the needs of food banks or hunger-relief organizations. They have done work with Food as Medicine with people who are pregnant and food insecure, but their main focus is on being a food and logistics business with a social mission. They have global sourcing capacities to ensure they always have the products someone would need. Examples include having meal kits, containing shelf-stable foods and are distribution-ready to deliver for easy disbursement by your team. They have a wide variety of menus and a great selection of products, and the ability to customize boxes as well.
University of Michigan - Special Delivery	Website Email	Michigan	Urban & Rural	Food is Medicine - General	Special Delivery is a NIH funded clinical research trial that aims to evaluate the impact of home-delivery of healthy foods on weight gain and diet during pregnancy and associated pregnancy outcomes. Young pregnant moms who enroll are randomly assigned to one of three groups and will either receive a 1-year grocery delivery membership after they have their baby or receive groceries delivered to their homes during their pregnancy.
Vitamix Foundation	Website Email	Ohio	Urban & Rural	Food is Medicine - General	Funds food is medicine programs before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and the first 2000 days.
Vouchers for Veggies	Website Email	California	Urban & Rural	Produce Prescription	Vouchers 4 Veggies is an evidence-based produce prescription program that improves health and increases food security. V4V sees the same successful outcomes in its rural and urban replications through partnerships with non-profits, healthcare, and government. V4V partners with clinics (WIC, departments of public health, and community-based organizations) to enroll pregnant people to receive vouchers redeemable for fruits and vegetables.
Wholesome Wave	Website Email	Connecticut	Urban	Produce Prescription	Patient-directed choice of vouchers to redeem at farmer's markets or grocery stores for Latina pregnant persons.

* Denotes contacts/partners from Cooking Matters and the Health Systems team who have a Food as Medicine program

¹ Sandoval, V. S., Jackson, A., Saleeby, E., Smith, L., & Schickedanz, A. (2021). Associations between prenatal food insecurity and prematurity, pediatric health care utilization, and postnatal social needs. Academic pediatrics, 21(3), 455–461. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2020.11.020