(HorizonPost.com) – The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched partnerships with the food delivery company Instacart, Feeding America, and the Rockefeller Foundation as part of its “Food is Medicine” summit this week, The Hill reported.
The summit, a bipartisan event that kicked off in Washington, DC on Wednesday, featured panelists from the Biden administration, including HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Also appearing were members of Congress, including Republican Senator Roger Marshall and Democrat Senator Cory Booker. Democrat Reps. Barbara Lee and Jim McGovern also attended.
Wednesday’s summit was part of a broader “Food is Medicine” effort by the Biden administration to invest in wellness and nutrition to reduce health risks and illness.
In a statement, the Department of Health and Human Services said the summit would examine a “broad range of approaches” to promote health through nutritious eating. HHS said that food could be a “powerful tool” to both manage and prevent medical conditions.
As part of its “Food is Medicine” initiative, HHS announced its partnerships with Instacart, Feeding America, and the Rockefeller Foundation.
According to HHS, the Rockefeller Foundation would work to identify food-based programs that could promote better health in so-called “marginalized communities.”
Instacart planned to use its advocacy programs to expand access to healthier foods while Feeding America’s food banks would work with the administration to address hunger.
Last year, Congress allocated funding for HHS to advance its “Food is Medicine” efforts by developing a federal strategy aimed at reducing chronic illnesses related to poor nutrition.
In a news release on Monday, Instacart announced that it was funding five “Food as Medicine” research partnerships and projects with some of the country’s top universities. The projects would each have a “unique focus” to “drive new insights” into how food and nutrition could help promote wellness and lead to “medical interventions.”
According to Instacart, for the “Food is Medicine” movement to reach every community, research and cooperation were needed to meet the challenge.
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