The NOURISH Movement Jumpstart Guide

Welcome to the NOURISH Jumpstart Guide — a tool for employers and their partners to launch Food is Medicine programs. Whether you are searching for your why or seeking to learn from examples out in the world today, this is the place to start your journey.

The Case for Action

At The NOURISH Movement, we believe food is medicine. What we mean by that is that nutritious food, especially when combined with a health-promoting lifestyle, can promote health, prevent chronic conditions and improve healthcare outcomes. The evidence supporting these beliefs is well-founded and growing daily.

If we want to impact change at scale through Food is Medicine, we need to impact populations. Therefore, we believe the case for employers to act is very clear.

50%

of all working-age adults
have 1+ chronic conditions

450M

sick days due to
poor health

$153B

in lost productivity
due to poor health

7M/YR

low-wage earners
pushed into poverty

Our Employer Case For Action (PDF)

So where should leaders begin, and what factors should they consider when determining where and how to get involved in the Food is Medicine Movement?

This guide will take you through the journey by walking you through what to consider for each of the 6 key factors.

1

Motivation

OVERVIEW

Employers need to clearly identify why they are embarking on this journey and what they hope to achieve.
Employee Wellbeing
Healthcare & Chronic Illness
Community
Improving the overall health and wellbeing of employees and their families
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE
Chobani Café and Employee Discount
Chobani, the yogurt company, offers its employees access to the Chobani Café, which serves healthy food options at a subsidized cost, making nutritious meals more affordable for their workforce. Additionally, Chobani provides its employees with a discount on Chobani products to encourage healthy eating habits.
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE
Clif Bar Employee Wellness Program
Clif Bar, a producer of organic foods and drinks, has a comprehensive employee wellness program that includes an on-site subsidized café called Kali's Kitchen. The café serves organic, nutritious meals made from locally sourced ingredients. Clif Bar also provides employees with a monthly wellness reimbursement that can be used towards gym memberships, massages, or other wellness-related activities, as well as a discount on Clif Bar products.
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE
SAS Institute
SAS Institute, a software and analytics company, offers various wellness and work-life programs for its employees. It provides consultations, checkups and advice from professional staff at the Health Care, Work Life, or Recreation & Fitness Centers. It also has a Work Life Team that helps employees with stress and life balance, parenting and mental health. SAS also provides an on-site subsidized café that serves healthy food options.
Reducing healthcare costs and improving health outcomes for employees with diet-related chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, chronic kidney disease and others
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE
Johnson & Johnson HealthForce 2020
Johnson & Johnson's HealthForce 2020, a comprehensive employee wellness program that focuses on the prevention and management of chronic diseases. The program includes health risk assessments, biometric screenings, personalized health coaching, and access to various resources, such as fitness facilities and nutrition counseling.
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE
Humana Go365
About 5 million of Humana's members participate in its Go365 wellness program. 10,000 Humana employees who were enrolled in Go365 were tracked over five years. The results: the participants increased their intake of healthy foods (e.g., fruits and vegetables), exercised more often and spent an average of $116 less per month compared to less engaged members. Humana also found that highly engaged members had 35% fewer emergency room visits and 30% fewer hospital admissions.
Addressing food insecurity and improving access to healthy food options in underserved communities
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE
Campbells Full Futures
Campbell Soup Company's Full Futures program aims to create sustainable, long-term solutions for food access, affordability, and nutrition. The program focuses on improving access to affordable, nutritious food in underserved communities, promoting nutrition education, and supporting local food systems. Campbell's works with partners like the Food Bank of South Jersey and the Food Trust to create innovative solutions like mobile food markets, healthy corner store initiatives, and nutrition education programs.
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE
Starbucks FoodShare Program
Starbucks, the global coffee company, has a FoodShare program in which they donate unsold food items from their stores to local food banks and shelters. In some cases, this program also benefits Starbucks employees who may be experiencing food insecurity, ensuring they have access to nutritious food options.
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE
The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation
The Kroger Co. launched the Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation with a mission to end hunger in the communities they serve and eliminate waste across the company by 2025. They collaborate with various partners to support food banks, provide grants to innovative organizations working to reduce food waste and increase food access, and promote sustainable food production practices.

2

Business Case

OVERVIEW

Employers need to determine the outcomes they are trying to achieve and how they will measure success.
Employee Wellbeing
Healthcare & Chronic Illness
Community
Are you trying to address general wellness and morale that may lead to higher employee satisfaction and productivity?
ILLUSTRATIVE MEASURES
  • Employee engagement
  • Employee productivity
  • Employee morale and/or satisfaction
  • Social determinants of health (SDoH) measures
  • Family member health and wellbeing
Are you trying to reduce the costs and financial impact of chronic illness and obesity?
ILLUSTRATIVE MEASURES
  • Prevalence of chronic illness
  • Direct healthcare costs (claims cost / medical loss ratios)
  • Indicators such as sick days, preventative screenings, medication adherence, improved biomarkers (e.g., A1C)
  • Program ROI from investment in food as medicine efforts
Are you looking to reduce food insecurity and improve healthy food access in communities in which you operate — beyond the workplace — for employees, families and community members? Are you looking to find ways of delivering on the social (S) aspects of your ESG commitments, leveraging nutrition and food innovations?
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE
Healthy Food Environments, Accessibility and Affordability
  • Food Environment Index (FEI): A composite score that measures the accessibility and affordability of healthy food options in a given area
  • Retail Food Environment Index (RFEI): The ratio of unhealthy food outlets to healthy food outlets in a given area
  • ‍Modified Retail Environment Index (mRFEI): The proportion of healthy food retailers to less healthy food retailers in a given area
  • Healthy Food Availability Index (HFAI): The availability of healthy foods in retail food stores within a community
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE
Health and Wellbeing in Communities
Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index: Part of the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index, which measures Americans' eating habits by surveying their daily fruit and vegetable consumption. The index provides insight into the nutritional habits of communities, helping to assess the overall health and well-being of the population

3

Target Population

OVERVIEW

Envision consumers — including employees, families and communities — as the first mile of innovation rather than the last mile of distribution.

FACTORS TO CONSIDER

Work Style
  • On-premise: Are you looking to impact employees through on-site nutrition education, healthy food access, re-imaging the workplace as a hub for healthy food access?
  • Off-site (virtual): Are you looking to impact off-premise choices through better access to nutritious foods in the community, directly or through partnerships with retailers, distributors, e-commerce providers and through healthy food incentives?
  • Flexible (hybrid): Are you looking to innovate for both on/off premise and hybrid work, leveraging prepared meals, meal kits, food ordering programs, or the like?
Demographics
  • Workforce age: For instance, are you dealing with an aging workforce?
  • Location: Are you looking to intervene in an urban or rural context?
  • Biological factors – e.g., prevalence of nutrition needs related to maternal health
  • Other factors such as education, technical literacy, family structure, etc.
Socioeconomics
  • Income level: What is the income distribution, how many are at-risk?
  • Ethnic and cultural diversity: How might that play into the design of approaches?
  • Other factors such as presence of immigrant/refugee populations in community
Community and Social Context
  • Local foodscape / food environment (e.g., access)
  • Family and social support systems
  • Strength of faith-based and community-based organizations (CBOs)
Health Factors
  • Prevalence of diet-related chronic conditions (e.g., obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, etc.)
  • Which condition(s) are most vital to intervene around, if the focus is on intervention vs. prevention or general wellness?
  • Wellbeing factors: social, emotional, etc.

4

Place

OVERVIEW

Employers need to determine where they want to provide solutions to their employees and beyond.
Onsite Workplaces
Offsite / Hybrid Workplaces
In the Community
Headquarters / Office Environment
Programs can be designed to address healthy food access in traditional office settings including corporate cafeterias, kitchens, vending machines, and food trucks. Companies can begin incorporating access to healthy food through subsidized purchases and healthy food lockers.
Non-Office Environments
For many companies, a large proportion of employees may be based in facilities such as airports, hospitals, distribution centers, and retail stores. Programs targeted to this segment of workers must consider the limitations and context of these types of work environments. Partnerships with meal delivery and meal kit companies can improve access to healthy food in industrial and commercial areas.
Employee's Home
Solutions and education programs targeting nutrition and food at employees' homes and for their families should consider culture and race as well as locally-available food choices.
Schools
There are a variety of organizations and government programs addressing school nutrition, especially for K-12. Initiatives could also target higher education institutions as part of community outreach or recruiting efforts. Campbell's Full Futures program is an example of a community-based initiative focused on providing children and families with access to nourishing meals, nutrition education, and physical activity.
Health Care Institutions
Healthcare institutions implement Food is Medicine programs, like medically tailored meals, lifestyle and culinary medicine programs, prescription produce programs, and nutrition education to promote health and manage chronic diseases. Healthcare providers can also screen and help onboard participants from targeted populations (e.g., diabetics) and direct them to community programs.
Community Centers / Clinics
Community centers and clinics can be venues to extend employee programs, especially for older employee populations. Community centers and clinics, like healthcare institutions, can help screen and enroll Food is Medicine program participants.
Faith-Based Organizations
Faith-based organizations can provide resources, mobilize volunteers, participate in education and outreach, and support advocacy efforts.
Food Service
The food service and restaurant industry can offer healthier ingredients, reformulate of menu options, accommodate special dietary needs, and raise awareness about the importance of nutrition. In a community setting, they can collaborate with healthcare institutions to create nutritious dishes, educate consumers on healthy eating habits, and support community-based initiatives that promote overall health and well-being.
Retail / Grocery
Supermarkets and retail stores can offer access to healthy and nutritious food options. Retailers also collaborate with regional and local healthcare and community organizations to support initiatives such as nutrition incentives, food 'farmacies', and access to federal support programs such as SNAP and WIC.

5

Programs

OVERVIEW

Employers need to determine which specific initiatives will make the most impact to the populations they are targeting.

TYPES OF PROGRAMS

Engaging and Empowering Consumers
Improving Access, Sourcing and Distribution
Simplifying Choice and Improving Affordability
Food as Benefit Programs
  • Healthy food prescriptions: the Good Food Prescription Programs combines Good Measures, Instacart Care Carts, and WellCare for commercial health plans and employer groups
  • Healthcare intervention and clinical management solutions using nutrition counseling, coaching and food as medicine like Season Health; and those like Rfoodx that offer medically tailored meal programs
  • Marketplaces (Bitewell) and benefit management platforms (Foodsmart, Tangelo)
  • Platforms enabling employers to reimburse employees for range of health, wellness and food benefits: Joon
Influence and Impact Community-Level Change

6

Enablers

OVERVIEW

Employers need to clearly identify why they are embarking on this journey and what they hope to achieve.
Food Providers
Health Partners
Technology
Funders
Producers, local farmers, food distributors, restaurants, food service companies and retailers
Local Producers
Local food producers are important as they provide access to high-quality, locally sourced ingredients that are essential for improving health outcomes and promoting sustainable agriculture. Funding and programs exist to incentivize purchases at local farmers markets.
Product Development, Ingredients Suppliers and CPGs
These firms contribute by providing high-quality and nutrient-dense ingredients that meet specific dietary requirements for Food is Medicine programs and solutions. They can also work with CPG companies to develop customized products, such as specialized supplements or functional foods.
Restaurants and Food Service
Employers can develop partnerships with local food service operators and restaurants to develop tailored menus and offerings for nearby employees. These programs can also incorporate incentives and vouchers to drive healthy choices.
Food Distributors
Food service distributors serving non-commercial settings (e.g., cafeterias, hospitals, etc.) can also play an important role in recipe and menu design in conjunction with product development companies and ingredients suppliers.
Retailers
By collaborating with healthcare providers, community organizations, and local farmers, grocery retailers can play a crucial role in promoting healthy eating habits and access to healthy food. Retailers also have a variety of resources to support Food is Medicine programs including in-store dietitians, in-store pharmacies and clinics, brick and mortar locations and robust e-commerce sites.
DTC Companies
Direct-to-Consumer companies (DTC) includes prepared meal delivery, meal kit companies, medically-tailored meals providers and digital platforms (e.g., Instacart). DTC companies have robust technology capabilities in emerging fields such as AI and Big Data that employers can leverage to power their Food is Medicine programs.
Healthcare systems, nutritionists, dietitians and community organizations
Healthcare Systems
Drive the continuity of care from practitioner to the employee. Healthcare systems are testing a variety of approaches (e.g., fresh food pharmacies, food prescriptions, etc.) and like employers, are incentivized to lower the cost of care.
Doctors
Doctors are influential with their patients and if practitioners were armed with the right nutrition training and knowledge, they could play a huge role in getting patients to adopt healthier food and nutrition habits.
Nutritionists and Dietitians
Nutritionists and dietitians offer nutrition advice and support a range of initiatives, from preventative medicine to disease management and treatment. They can interact with employees either virtually or physically including retail stores where they can help employees with meal planning and healthy food shopping.
Public Health and Community Organizations
Regional and local organizations targeting food insecurity and access can be valuable partners to employers and also help fund initiatives through a mix of public and private grants and incentives (e.g., GusNIP grants).
Risk and Benefits Providers
These providers support through research and data analysis evaluating the impact of nutrition interventions on health outcomes and costs for employee wellness programs incorporating food-based initiatives and interventions.
Tools and platforms to source food, track progress, offer nutritional guidance and facilitate communication between employers and employees
Online Wellness Platforms
Digital spaces designed to promote and improve the overall well-being of users by offering a wide range of resources and tools aimed at enhancing physical, mental and emotional health.
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
Virgin Pulse
The Virgin Pulse platform offers a wide range of features, including health assessments, fitness challenges, personalized coaching, nutrition support and mental health resources.
Limeade
The Limeade platform offers various tools and resources, including physical and mental health support, nutrition guidance and social interaction features to help employees feel more connected and engaged at work.
Digital FIM Solution Providers
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
Diet ID
A digital tool designed to help users assess and improve their dietary habits. Offers personalized recommendations, meal plans, and nutrition guidance to support healthier eating and overall well-being, while facilitating collaboration with healthcare professionals.
Season Health
A platform focused on personalized nutrition and health coaching, leveraging artificial intelligence and evidence-based practices. Offers tailored meal plans, recipes, and support to help users achieve their health goals through food and lifestyle interventions.
Nutrition-Focused Virtual Coaching and Support
Provide personalized weight loss and health improvement plans by combining technology, behavioral psychology and expert coaching. These platforms provide individual meal and exercise plans, food tracking tools, coaching, education and, in several cases, behavioral change.
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE
Noom
Noom is a weight loss and behavioral change digital platform for individuals, employers and health plans. It original focus was weight management, but its behavior change platform is now extending to people with chronic and non-chronic conditions, such as stress and anxiety, hypertension and diabetes.
Insurance providers, foundations and government grants
Insurance Providers
Insurance companies are increasingly focused on addressing social determinants of health (SDOH), including food-based interventions like Medically-Tailored Meals to lower healthcare costs including novel approaches like healthy food benefit cards.
Private Foundations
Large private foundations and the charitable arms of major companies are funding access to healthy food in partnership with companies focused on medically-tailored nutrition.
Government Grant Programs
The Federal Government funds grants support a variety initiatives of initiatives through SNAP, GUSNIP (smaller grants to support NGOs and other organizations) and other USDA programs targeting school kids (e.g., National School Lunch Program).
CMS (Medicare and Medicaid)
Momentum is increasing for expanded benefits across Medicare and Medicaid. Supplemental benefits offered in Medicare Advantage plans include healthy food debit cards and increasing coverage for medically-tailored nutrition. In states such as New York, California and Massachusetts, Medicaid benefits also include food-based interventions such as medically-tailored meals and access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
Employer-Sponsored Health Plans
There is significant opportunity for employers with self-funded plans to design food-based benefits and wellness programs in partnership with their health plans.

Where We See Opportunity

Incentivizing and Funding
Food Interventions
Using the power of private market incentives and payments — and in the future, novel insurance benefits — to shift diets on a broader scale toward healthy foods
Employer as Hub,
Shifting Workforce
Re-imagining the role of corporation physical space as a hub for community and engagement around healthy food access and food is medicine
Connecting Care,
Powering Choice
Leveraging technology as well funding to meet consumers where they are and empower everyday healthy choices. Connect healthcare with food care, across channels and DTC
Catalyzing Community
Health Transformation
Leveraging the influence of large employers with influential role in local communities to drive community-based nutrition and food is medicine efforts
Fostering
Local Coalitions
Uniting disconnected stakeholders, and breaking through business models and paradigms to find common ground around challenges solving
Ready to take
action?
Send the NOURISH team a note at connect@nourishmovement.org to find out how we can help you on the next step of your journey
Email Us
About Us
The NOURISH Movement is a passionate group of global leaders coming together to empower human health through food, sustainably.  

The launch phase of this global movement is being led by Clareo.
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