“Food is medicine” is an appealing phrase because it names something many people living with type 2 diabetes already know: food choices are not a side note. They affect energy, glucose patterns, blood pressure, lipids, sleep, and the routines that make treatment sustainable.
But the phrase can also become vague. Telling someone to “eat better” without asking what food is available, affordable, culturally familiar, safe to prepare, or realistic within their work and family life is not a nutrition plan. It is an instruction without support.
That is why the recent Food for Health initiative announced by Abbott and the National Association of Community Health Centers is worth watching. The multiyear program aims to help community health centers integrate nutrition more deeply into primary care through workforce learning, peer exchange, and a voluntary readiness and excellence certification framework. The announcement describes an intended reach of more than 1,500 community health centers serving 52.3 million people.
The announcement is not evidence that the new initiative has already improved clinical outcomes. It is, however, a useful opportunity to discuss what serious nutrition-centered care can look like—and why community health centers are important places to build it.
Food Is Medicine is not one intervention
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Food Is Medicine resource describes these programs as health-care and community-connected efforts that provide food support to help manage, treat, or prevent chronic conditions. That umbrella includes several different models.
A produce prescription may provide a designated amount of money for fruits and vegetables through a grocery store, food pantry, or partner organization. Medically supportive meals offer prepared meals designed for broad disease-management needs, such as heart-healthy or diabetes-friendly eating. Medically tailored groceries and medically tailored meals are more individualized, often involving registered dietitians and more complex health needs.
The distinction matters. A person facing food insecurity may need help obtaining fresh produce. Someone recovering from an illness or living with multiple chronic conditions may need meals that are matched to specific nutritional requirements. A family may benefit more from cooking support, kitchen tools, transportation help, or a local food-pantry partnership than from a handout with a generic list of “good” and “bad” foods.
The goal is not simply to place food near a health-care setting. It is to connect the right type of support to the person’s situation.
Why community health centers are central to the conversation
Community health centers are designed around whole-person primary care. They often care for people who face the same barriers that make nutrition advice hard to follow: limited transportation, unstable work schedules, high food prices, housing insecurity, language barriers, and gaps in insurance coverage.
When nutrition becomes part of routine care, a clinician can identify food access concerns, a community-health worker can help with local resources, and a dietitian or educator can translate a medical goal into a practical plan. That team can also notice when an intervention is not working.
For example, “eat more vegetables” may be technically sound but functionally useless for someone whose only nearby options are convenience stores, who lacks reliable refrigeration, or who is choosing between groceries and medication. A better conversation begins with questions: What foods do you enjoy? Where do you shop? Who cooks? What is your schedule? What would make one small change easier this week?
This is why the HHS framework emphasizes interventions that align with community resources and partners rather than relying on a single, uniform model.
What does the evidence say?
The evidence base for Food Is Medicine is developing, and it should be described carefully. An American Heart Association systematic review of randomized trials evaluates Food Is Medicine programs for noncommunicable disease in the United States. The key takeaway for a public-facing audience is not that every intervention produces the same result. It is that program design, participant needs, food access, duration, clinical integration, and the outcome being measured all matter.
That nuance protects people from exaggerated promises. A produce-prescription program may improve access to fruits and vegetables without producing an immediate change in A1C. A medically tailored meal program may be most relevant for people with complex illness. A nutrition education program may work best when it is paired with practical food support and ongoing follow-up.
It also protects the deeper idea. If Food Is Medicine is reduced to a marketing slogan, it becomes easy to dismiss. If it is treated as a structured part of care that can be evaluated, improved, and connected to community resources, it becomes more useful.
Nutrition support and medical treatment are partners
A false choice often appears in diabetes conversations: either “fix food first” or “take medication forever.” That is not how thoughtful care works.
Food support, movement, sleep, stress care, and medication can all be part of the same plan. Someone may benefit from a produce prescription while taking glucose-lowering medication. Someone working toward diabetes remission may still need blood-pressure treatment, cholesterol management, or kidney-protective medication. Someone may need medication urgently while also needing a more stable food environment for change to last.
The most respectful care plan does not shame people for needing treatment. It removes obstacles so healthier choices are possible more often.
A useful test: If a nutrition recommendation does not account for access, affordability, culture, cooking capacity, and follow-up, it may be good advice on paper—but incomplete care in real life.
The Diabetes Reversal Group perspective
At Diabetes Reversal Group, we see nutrition as a foundation of type 2 diabetes care, not a moral test and not a replacement for every other tool. Holistic treatment means addressing the food environment alongside movement, sleep, stress, relationships, monitoring, and medication when medication is clinically indicated. We support Food Is Medicine approaches because they help turn broad advice into practical support.
By: Dr. Jeffrey Hockings, CEO & Founder & Kristine Burke, MD, Chief Medical Officer
Do not stop or change a prescribed medication because you have started a nutrition program. Work with your care team to monitor your response and make decisions safely.