Food is Medicine: Collaboration with We Are The Regeneration
As part of our work to grow the Food is Medicine movement in the Netherlands, we've partnered with We Are The Regeneration to publish a series of articles on what Food is Medicine truly means - and why it matters for the future of both healthcare and farming.
Written by HarvestCare co-founders Zuzanna Zielińska and Anne van de Peppel, our piece explores how the food on our plates shapes how we feel, how we heal, and how long we stay well - and what it would take to bring that understanding into healthcare systems across Europe.
Main takeaways from our article:
Food is Medicine is more than just "eating healthy." It means the nutritious food a patient needs is actively prescribed and provided as part of their care - through medically tailored meals, medically tailored groceries, and produce prescriptions - much as medication is prescribed and dispensed.
It is also about equity. Diet-related chronic diseases fall hardest on people living with food insecurity and low incomes. Food is Medicine is designed to make access to nourishing food a meaningful component of healthcare, not a privilege.
The science is maturing. Well over 250 studies now point to consistent improvements in diet quality, reductions in food insecurity, and benefits to wellbeing - with a growing evidence base on clinical outcomes.
It connects healthcare to regenerative agriculture. By creating stable, healthcare-funded demand for local, nutritious produce, Food is Medicine can offer regenerative and organic farmers a market that rewards nutritional density, ecological integrity, and local sourcing - linking the health of our soils to the health of our people.
Europe has the levers. With more than €700 billion spent across the EU each year on managing chronic disease, and major agricultural budgets like the Common Agricultural Policy, aligning how we fund farming and healthcare could transform both.
Part of a bigger effort
This article is one piece of a broader effort at HarvestCare to bring Food is Medicine to the Netherlands and Europe. We are building momentum - connecting researchers, clinicians, farmers, and policymakers around a shared vision for food, health, and the systems that link them.
As part of that work, we are proud to be launching the first European Food is Medicine & Agri-Health Summit, taking place on 19–20 November 2026 in Amsterdam. The summit brings together leading voices in medicine and regenerative farming to shape what the future of farming and health could look like - and to turn that vision into practice. Register your interest for the summit.