Thinking Through Food is Medicine Interventions

Top Things to Know

Four major barriers impact the success of FIM programs: financial barriers (lack of purchasing power for healthy foods), knowledge gaps (limited understanding of nutrition recommendations), culinary skills deficits (inability to prepare nutritious meals), motivational factors (food preferences, stress, and social influences), effective FIM programs must match intervention design to participants' specific barriers.

Cash-like interventions (e.g., produce prescriptions) provide more flexibility and choice but require retail infrastructure for participants to redeem benefits. One the other hand, in-kind interventions (e.g., MTMs) reduce participant burden and support disease-specific nutrition needs but are costlier and logistically complex to administer.

Health care integration is essential, yet most FIM programs operate outside traditional reimbursement models, limiting sustainability. Expanding Medicare/Medicaid coverage, nutrition education in medical training, and policy-driven funding mechanisms can enhance the long-term impact of FIM programs.

Summary of Conclusion/Findings

This narrative review highlights that Food is Medicine interventions are a critical tool in addressing diet-related chronic diseases, but their effectiveness depends on matching intervention design to patient needs, overcoming systemic barriers, and integrating sustainable financing models. While FIM programs show promise in improving diet quality and health outcomes, broader social policies—such as increasing SNAP benefits, nutrition education, and food system reforms—are needed to address structural causes of food insecurity and poor diet quality.