Leaders inside the beltway are rightly eager for solutions to address America’s chronic disease crisis—and the healthcare costs that follow as a result. Chronic disease now accounts for roughly 90 percent of all healthcare spending. Diet-related illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, and obesity are shortening lives and straining every payer in the system, from Medicare and Medicaid to employer plans and family budgets.
Fortunately, across the country, at the state, local, and private sector levels, a quiet revolution is already underway that treats food as medicine and attacks chronic disease at its roots. Washington should learn from what is working and scale it even further.
This is also, notably, a rare area of genuine bipartisan common ground. Addressing the root cause of illness through a nourishing diet centered on fresh, whole foods is not just a concept supported by the current Health and Human Services leadership; it is a movement shared by people in the Democratic party and across the political spectrum. There are compelling conservatives and progressive arguments for ensuring that Americans have access to nutritious food and that our public health programs reflect that priority
Here in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Parkview Health has been running a program that offers a model worth replicating. VeggieRx is a produce prescription program grounded in food-as-medicine principles. Physicians refer patients—those on Medicaid, the uninsured, and anyone identified as food insecure with a diet-related chronic condition—to receive a loaded debit card for fresh fruits and vegetables, along with dietitian-led nutrition classes. Since 2022, over 832 participants have enrolled. About 70 percent actively participate in the educational component. Redemption locations have grown from three farm stands to more than 70 sites across Fort Wayne. The economic impact has returned $220,000 to the local economy.
More importantly, the health outcomes are moving in the right direction: improved blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar; more wellness visits; fewer emergency room trips; and documented weight loss. As one of our family medicine physicians put it, “Healthcare is more than a prescription pad.”
VeggieRx may be only a small success story when considering the entire country, but it can absolutely be replicated across the country. The recently enacted $50 billion Rural Health Fund represents a significant opportunity to advance exactly these kinds of initiatives. Rural communities bear a disproportionate burden of diet-related chronic disease, and they often have the fewest resources to address it. Channeling Rural Health Fund dollars toward produce prescription programs, local food network infrastructure, and community nutrition education could produce measurable improvements in both health outcomes and healthcare costs—while supporting local farmers and economies in the process.
Programs like VeggieRx have already demonstrated what is possible. Cities like Fort Wayneare showing that action does not require ideological consensus. The private sector is adapting. The communities are ready. Washington does not need to invent a new solution. It just needs to look at what is already working and provide the funding to make sure all Americans can access the benefits.
Dr. Sarah Giaquinta is Senior Vice President of Parkview Health.
