Part 2: Turning Policy Into Practice

At the 2025 Tufts University Food is Medicine Summit, leaders from government, healthcare, and advocacy came together around one shared conviction: food should be a core component of healthcare. 

Emily Callahan, Director of Policy Strategy at Tufts’ Food is Medicine Institute, outlined how the organization is driving that vision forward, from briefing Congress to translating academic research into actionable national policy. 

And the timing couldn’t be better. Nutrition is finally gaining policy traction through initiatives like the Make America Healthy Again agenda, which places food and chronic disease prevention at the center of national health strategy. 

Erin McDonald, formerly with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), captured the moment perfectly: 

“Food is Medicine is now central to the conversation, not an afterthought.” 

Yet, as momentum builds, gaps remain, in funding, program consistency, and equitable access across communities. 

Where Policy Meets People

Dr. Kyu Rhee, President and CEO of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), reminded the audience that Food is Medicine is not new. Community health clinics have been prescribing food as care since the 1960s, and they continue to lead the way. 

Today, more than 52 million Americans receive care through health centers that are already implementing Food is Medicine approaches, including: 

• Food insecurity screenings 

• Local farm and food system partnerships 

• Cooking classes and community gardens 

The takeaway was clear: Food is Medicine is here to stay. But success requires sustained, coordinated action. 

That means: 

• Investing in outcomes-based research 

• Aligning healthcare and agriculture policy 

• Supporting registered dietitians and primary care teams 

• Ensuring equitable access for every population

From Policy to Scalable Implementation: The Nurish’d Role

For Food is Medicine to move from concept to standard of care, scalability and system integration are essential. That’s where Nurish’d is focused. 

By working with insurance partners, healthcare systems, and community-based organizations, Nurish’d enables the seamless delivery of nutrition-based programs, from medically tailored meals to produce prescription initiatives, within existing clinical and reimbursement frameworks. 

Our platform supports: 

• Scalable infrastructure for Food is Medicine programs across multiple states and populations 

• Integrated data sharing with payers and providers to track outcomes 

• Collaborative tools that link clinical recommendations to real-world food delivery 

This alignment between policy and practice ensures that the Food is Medicine movement is not just aspirational but operational, reaching the people and communities that need it most. 

Looking Ahead

The 2025 Tufts Summit underscored a national shift: nutrition policy is no longer peripheral to healthcare reform, it is foundational to it. 

Nurish’d stands ready to turn that policy momentum into scalable, measurable change. Through partnerships with insurers, providers, and policymakers, we’re helping transform the promise of Food is Medicine into a sustainable, equitable model for population health. 

Because when food moves to the center of care, everyone thrives.