# Achieving health equity through food as medicine and medically tailored meals: local economic opportunity

> **NIH NIH R41** · EQUITI FOODS, LLC · 2024 · $295,923

## Abstract

Diet-related disparities are attributed to factors experienced by historically disadvantaged communities, such
as inadequate access to healthy food and socio-economic stressors. Poor quality diets have contributed to
high rates of chronic disease, with nearly 50% of adults suffering from diet-related chronic diseases such as
cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Racial and ethnic minorities carry a disproportionate
burden of nutrition-related illness, leading to significant health disparities. Health care systems and public
health professionals are embracing Food is Medicine (FIM), including medically tailored meals (MTM) as an
evidence-based approach to reducing chronic disease risk and health care costs. Recent studies have
demonstrated improvements in dietary quality, food security, and the management of diet-sensitive health
conditions among high-risk patients who have been provided with MTMs. However, little research has been
done on understanding the most effective approaches to reducing health disparities through these programs.
Equiti Foods developed Good Bowls as healthy, affordable, good-tasting frozen meals that are convenient,
locally sourced / produced, and culturally conscious. Our mission is to decrease health disparities by
increasing the availability and consumption of nutritious food in high-need communities while providing
economic opportunities for local farms and small businesses. Expanding on our existing Good Bowls
approach, we propose to implement a “Food is Medicine” (FIM) program that will tap into existing
reimbursement initiatives to bring medically tailored meals to underserved groups at low or no cost in an effort
to reduce health disparities. Proposed Specific Aims are to: Aim 1: Form two advisory committees composed
of 1) Leaders in Food is Medicine (FIM) Programs, Medicaid waiver programs, and private payer entities who
are exploring or promoting FIM interventions including medically tailored meals (MTM) designed to address
health disparities; 2) service providers and clients of FIM and MTM programs with relevant lived experience.
Aim 2: Expand Equiti Foods’ capacity to produce culturally and medically tailored Good Bowls and family
meals through 1) developing new family/child friendly recipes and testing acceptability among current and
potential recipients; 2) creating and testing new production models including caterers and rural communitybased commercial kitchens; and 3) building out Equiti Foods’ web platform to link individuals and organizations
with a means to acquire healthy, affordable food and while also providing recipes/educational resources; and
Aim 3: Use implementation science methods to test feasibility and acceptability of these approaches, and the
business case for implementing a FIM program and MTM approach through these programs. This will inform
future scale up and revenue generation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10922608
- **Project number:** 1R41MD019570-01
- **Recipient organization:** EQUITI FOODS, LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** ALICE S AMMERMAN
- **Activity code:** R41 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $295,923
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-01 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10922608

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10922608, Achieving health equity through food as medicine and medically tailored meals: local economic opportunity (1R41MD019570-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10922608. Licensed CC0.

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