Author: Sarah Diamond, FNTP, RWP
sarah.diamond@tufts.edu
(781) 572-8424
Abstract:
The United States faces a national nutrition crisis. Our food system is a major cause of poor health, ever-growing healthcare costs, food insecurity, and health disparities. In the face of the global pandemic of diet-related chronic illness, “food is medicine” interventions are used to prevent, manage, and treat chronic diseases. In the 2014 Farm Bill, the USDA provided preliminary funding for the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP), which provides competitive grants for Nutrition Incentive Programs to increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables by low-income consumers suffering from chronic health conditions. One such incentive program, Produce Prescription Programs (PPRs), is more than a general recommendation to eat healthier; rather, they are a formal, sustained intervention where the cost of healthy food is partially or fully covered through a prescription. In 2018, GusNIP was further formalized to become a permanent addition to the Farm Bill, and with it, raised an important question: As the scope and efficacy of this Food as Medicine intervention grows, are PPRs reaching the people and places in America that need them most, i.e., those with the highest rates of chronic disease and food insecurity? This report examines the national distribution of PPRs in the U.S., analyzing current trends in relation to state diabetes rates and food insecurity rates. Analytical frameworks using economics show the change in consumer purchasing power and market demand as a result of PPR programs, and data from the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program Training, Technical Assistance, Evaluation, and Information Center (GusNIP NTAE) Year 2 Impact Findings Report, Wholesome Wave’s U.S. Field Scan Report 2010-2020, and state-level diabetes and food insecurity data from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation are used to illustrate the current PPR Program landscape and attempt to answer this question.
