Health Centers’ Bold Solutions to Address Food Insecurity

Photos clockwise: Tri-Area Community Health food pantry, Asian Health Services' cooking class, Delaware Valley Community Health System hydroponic garden, Cabin Creek Health Systems class.

Community Health Centers are the largest primary care network in the United States, serving more than 32.5 million people, or one in 10. Many health center patients experience food insecurity because they either live in food deserts or can't afford groceries. With food insecurity in the United States rising in recent years, NACHC's Innovation Incubator, supported by the global healthcare company Abbott, has been focused on the creative ways health centers are tackling the problem.

Food, like medicine, can be both preventive and restorative, and at NACHC, we believe that food access should be as integral to healthcare as any clinical service. Health centers, with their deep ties to their communities and their 60-year track record of providing culturally responsive care, play a unique role in bridging the gap between food and health.

In its second year, the goal of NACHC and Abbott's 2024 Innovation Incubator is to find new ways to integrate healthy food into clinical care, and eight community health centers were selected in June to receive funding, expert guidance and training to design and test new solutions to help advance nutrition and improve care in their communities.

NACHC President and CEO, Kyu Rhee, MD, MPP, (left) with Incubator participants at the November Milken Institute's Future of Health Summit.

In November of 2024, the months-long program culminated in health centers sharing their local strategies to address hunger at the Milken Institute's Future of Health Summit in Washington, DC. Alongside our excellent partners from Abbott, we watched as the health center finalists made their pitches to a panel of esteemed judges in the hopes of winning $15,000 to help them continue their innovation.

The panel of judges were:

• Dr. Kofi Essel, Director, Food as Medicine, Elevance Health

• Holly Freishtat, Senior Director, Feeding Change, The Milken Institute

• Dr. Rachel L. Levine, Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

• Dana Thomas, Managing Director, Food, The Rockefeller Foundation

The judges listened to pitches from the three finalist health center teams and engaged them in a robust Q&A about their projects. After thoughtful consideration, the judges awarded the first $15,000 prize to Asian Health Services, whose "Happy Kitchen" program provides cooking classes in patients' native languages to counteract myths about nutrition that persist in the community-for example, that healthy food has to be bland, with no sugar, no salt, and no fat. Asian Health Services is also partnering with a YouTube influencer, "Made with Lau," on a series of healthy cooking videos. The team plans to use the additional money to make videos, provide cooking classes in other languages, and cover the cost of renting a kitchen until their own teaching kitchen opens in 2026.

The audience selected one health center to win the second $15,000 prize. This award went to Tri-Area Community Health, who prototyped an AI-powered nutrition education app that provides tailored recipes and food suggestions based on patient demographics and drawn from ingredients that are accessible within the community. With the prize money, the team aims to fund development of the app.

At the close of the session, Kathryn McKenzie, Divisional Vice President of Global Citizenship and Sustainability at Abbott, delivered a powerful challenge to the teams:

"Last year in the Innovation Incubator that we held, every single health center went on to implement their idea, I challenge you to do the same. I'm looking forward to seeing the impact that you're going to have in the months and years ahead."

"As the nation's largest primary care network serving 32.5 million people nationwide, Community Health Centers are committed to addressing food insecurity beyond the exam room walls," said Kyu Rhee, MD, MPP, President and CEO of NACHC. "As we wrap up this cohort of the NACHC Innovation Incubator, we extend our gratitude and thanks to Abbott, to the Milken Institute, to the NACHC team, and most importantly, to the health center innovation teams who brought their energy and determination to this process. They're an inspiration to all of us and I look forward to watching their innovations flourish."

Food is an integral part of overall health, culture and well-being. We encourage all our health centers nationwide to learn from this innovation and apply these approaches where possible in their own communities. Stay tuned for upcoming opportunities to learn about how to apply these innovations in your clinic!

Related: 2023 NACHC and Abbott Innovation Incubator Report

2024 Innovation Incubator Participants

The participating health centers were:

• Affinia Healthcare, St. Louis

• Asian Health Services, Oakland, Calif.

• Cabin Creek Health Systems, Charleston, W.Va.

• Delaware Valley Community Health, Philadelphia

• White House Clinics, Richmond, Ky.

• Mainline Health Systems, Inc., Monticello, Ark.

• Tri-Area Community Health, Laurel Fork, Va.

• Urban Health Plan, New York, N.Y.

Filed under topic(s): Innovation

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