FOOD for Health Act

New Food is Medicine pilot grants

If enacted, the bill would require the Agriculture Secretary, with HHS, to set up a competitive "Food is Medicine" pilot grant program not later than two years after enactment. The program would give grants to community groups working with health care providers to provide medically tailored meals, produce prescriptions, medically tailored grocery packaging or delivery, cooking skills training, dietary interventions, emergency feeding operations, and participant transportation. Grants would prioritize projects that use local or regional foods or include registered dietitians, and the Secretary would seek geographic diversity and equitable treatment of urban, rural, tribal, and territorial communities. The program would require an initial report within two years after the pilot starts and a final report within six years. Congress would be authorized to appropriate $20 million for fiscal years 2027 through 2031. The bill also defines "diet-related disease" (for example, diabetes, kidney disease, obesity, hypertension, cancer, HIV, and some mental illnesses) and what counts as a "Food is Medicine program."