Maximizing the Impact of Nutrition Interventions With Local Food Procurement

Envisioning ways to build Food is Medicine marketplaces that integrate America’s local producers to build thriving local economies and food systems.

MASSACHUSETTS | July 21, 2025 — The Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation (CHLPI) of Harvard Law School is proud to release a new report that explores how state governments can use procurement to harness the power of local food systems to strengthen Food is Medicine interventions and extend their impact beyond improved health outcomes and reduced healthcare costs to revitalize local economies and food systems.

Drawing on real-world examples and state policy strategies, the report provides a framework for using Medicaid and other government funding streams to connect the dots between nutrition, healthcare, and agriculture. This report was made possible with the support of The Rockefeller Foundation and Builders Initiative.

The cost of diet-related illness in the United States results in an excess of $1.1 trillion in medical expenses and lost worker-productivity each year. As diet-related illness, chronic disease, and rates of food insecurity rise, Food is Medicine interventions — like produce prescriptions, medically tailored groceries, and medically tailored meals — are gaining momentum as impactful, cost-effective strategies.

This report highlights that when these strategies are designed in a way that prioritizes local food purchasing, they have a positive ripple effect on the local economy. Researchers estimate that locally produced food purchases have a multiplier effect of between $1.32 and $1.90, meaning that there is an additional $.32 to $.90 worth of local economic activity for each dollar spent on local food.

To learn more, join CHLPI’s upcoming webinar unveiling this timely and transformative resource for policymakers, healthcare leaders, community-based Food is Medicine providers, and foods systems advocates.  To read the full report, click here.

About the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation

For more than 10 years, CHLPI has advocated for legal, regulatory, and policy reforms in health and food systems, with a focus on the needs of systemically marginalized individuals. CHLPI’s broad range of initiatives aim to expand access to high-quality health care and nutritious, affordable food; to reduce health- and food-related disparities; to develop community advocacy capacity; and, to promote more equitable, sustainable, and effective health care and food systems. Please click here for more information.

About The Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation is a pioneering philanthropy built on collaborative partnerships at the frontiers of science, technology, and innovation that enable individuals, families, and communities to flourish. We make big bets to promote the well-being of humanity. Today, we are focused on advancing human opportunity and reversing the climate crisis by transforming systems in food, health, energy, and finance. For more information, sign up for our newsletter at www.rockefellerfoundation.org/subscribe and follow us on X @RockefellerFdn and LinkedIn @the-rockefeller-foundation.

This press release first appeared in https://chlpi.org/ on July 21st, 2025, and is reposted with permission.