Food is Medicine with Ronit Ridberg
In this episode of the Regenerative Healthcare Podcast, we spoke with Ronit Ridberg from the Tufts Food is Medicine Institute in the United States. Ronit has spent many years researching how food-based healthcare interventions can help prevent and manage chronic disease, while also making healthcare systems more effective and more humane.
Food as Medicine: Connecting nutrition and healthcare
Food as Medicine is an approach that integrates healthy food into healthcare delivery. Ronit explained that this can take different forms, including medically tailored meals, medically tailored groceries, and produce prescription programmes. These models help patients access better food while also receiving support such as nutrition education and practical guidance.
The idea is simple but powerful: better food can improve health outcomes, especially for people living with chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.
A growing movement in the United States
Ronit shared how much the field has grown in recent years. What started as a small area of research has developed into a serious movement, with increasing evidence showing improvements in food security, fruit and vegetable intake, and in some cases also clinical outcomes such as blood sugar levels.
At the same time, more healthcare providers, insurers, and policymakers in the US are beginning to see that food can play an important role in care. Funding still comes from different sources, including philanthropy, government support, and healthcare financing, but the long-term aim is clear: to make food-based interventions a recognised part of healthcare systems.
What Europe can learn
For Europe, Ronit’s message was clear: there is no need to start from zero. We can learn from the experience in the US while designing programmes that fit European healthcare systems, food cultures, and local communities.
She also stressed the importance of working with shared outcomes and measurements, so that future programmes across Europe can build a stronger common evidence base.
Mission
Our mission is to spread the best practices of pioneers from around the world who successfully connected local regenerative and organic farmers to the public, communities, and health institutions.