Food As Medicine
Delivering healthy, sustainably-grown Food Prescriptions to Alameda County
Food As Medicine in Alameda County
Healthy food is like preventive medicine: take it daily, and it will prevent nutrition-related disease. Healthy food can also be used to treat and reverse some chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension.
When ALL IN Eats delivers healthy, sustainably-produced food to people within the community, we’re not only supporting sustainable farming jobs and local food businesses, we’re supporting the health of members of our community. We are committed to ensuring that all of the food distributed within this system meets requirements for nutrition and sustainable farming standards. That’s where our Recipe4Health (formerly known as Food as Medicine) program comes in.
The Recipe4Health program is urgently needed given higher rates of food insecurity, chronic disease, and health equity. Food insecurity, or the lack of access to nutritious food to support a healthy life, has been linked to various adverse health outcomes like obesity, diabetes, and depression. Individuals with chronic diseases often see their conditions exacerbated by crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a particular challenge for Americans dealing with diabetes, chronic kidney disease, heart failure, and severe obesity are between 3-6 times more likely to be hospitalized due to COVID-19. In addition, food insecurity is far more prevalent in communities of color, including being almost twice as prevalent in African American and Native American communities.
We are partnering with community-based health clinics. Clinic staff will screen patients across all specialties for food insecurity, social isolation, and diet-related conditions or risk. Providers are trained on food as medicine best practices and provide prescriptions (vouchers) for fresh produce to eligible patients. They also recruit eligible patients to enroll in a 4-month “Behavioral Pharmacy” group medical visit program in conjunction with the Food Farmacy.
Connect with a Recipe4Health Clinic Near You
Recipe4Health is currently working with Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center, Native American Health Center, and LifeLong Medical Care. For general information about the Recipe4Health program, please contact Karen Ben-Moshe. For general information about the Recipe4Health program, please visit the ALL IN website.

Improving People’s Health
Recipe4Health addresses both chronic diseases and social determinants of health such as food insecurity and social isolation by bridging healthcare, agriculture, and food systems in Alameda County. By screening for food insecurity, establishing clinic-based interventions, and connecting with urban farms, Recipe4Health can treat, prevent, and reverse chronic conditions like diabetes and obesity, as well as prevent COVID-19 hospitalizations.

Expanding Recipe4Health Clinics
ALL IN has recently expanded its Recipe4Health initiative, launching at Native American Health Center (NAHC) and at LifeLong Medical Center – Ashby Clinic. The program at NAHC, a community health center that provides health services to the Bay Area’s Native American community and other underserved communities, builds upon the prior successful implementation of Recipe4Health at Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center (San Leandro).

Become a Recipe4Health Partner!
We welcome opportunities to collaborate with other health and food systems working at these crossroads of food, agriculture, health, and equity. Please get in touch with Karen Ben-Moshe if you’d like to learn more.
“Today, more than 130 million Americans are affected by chronic diseases that are often preventable and reversible. And COVID has magnified the other health crises we were facing prior to the pandemic—food insecurity, social isolation, and racism,” said Dr. Steven Chen, Chief Medical Officer of ALL IN. “COVID is requiring all of us to do things differently.”
The Recipe4Health initiative is an innovative way Alameda County is working to address these challenging issues.
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