Food as Medicine (FAM)

Reclaiming health and joy—one meal at a time.

Getting diagnosed with a chronic illness can be a frightening journey into the unknown. Patients are often told to change their diet and lifestyle without a clear roadmap, turning food—once a source of joy—into a source of anxiety. In 2024, our Food As Medicine (FAM) program continued to change this narrative, expanding its reach and impact across diverse communities.

Making changes doable and delicious, FAM provides patients with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to manage their conditions using nutritious food. In 2024, we've grown significantly, now serving over 400 Medi-Cal members every week. Each member receives home-delivered nutritious ingredients paired with online cooking classes, helping them manage diet-related diseases like type 2 diabetes. Our key program components are:

  • Bi-weekly delivery of ingredients for class recipes 
  • Weekly online interactive cooking and nutrition classes
  • Recipes tailored to specific health challenges
  • Social support from peers with similar diagnoses
  • Relaxed interactions with medical professionals
  • Up to 12 months of ongoing enrollment

Not Just Food, but Hope

Each FAM class consists of folks that have been attending for a matter of weeks to a matter of months. For new students, fear of the unknown becomes hope: if they can do it, so can I. It’s a peek into the future, one of positive possibilities. A new patient joins and may hear something like: 

Food as Medicine for Providers
Food as Medicine for Patients

"I was able to avoid candy and heavily starchy food ten times, by substituting with a healthier option! Also my whole family loves my minestrone. And my mother in law has been making it daily trying out different veggies combo" - FAM Participant

Putting Nutrition Advice Into Practice

Our classes break down complex topics into implementable strategies. Our team discusses how different carbohydrates affect blood sugar levels and teach label reading, while peer health educators demonstrate delicious recipes using whole grains, vegetables, herbs, and spices.

Our free grocery deliveries eliminate the financial risk of trying new ingredients, allowing participants to experiment with unfamiliar foods and flavors without risking their already tight food budgets.roasting, and sautéeing are proof that flavorful food can still be part of a patient’s life - regardless of their diagnosis. As one participant put it, “With health, we have everything.” That simple reflection speaks volumes about the transformation FAM sparks.

Patients reframe the fear of drastic dietary changes, of sweeping eliminations of whole categories of food. Through FAM, fear of subtraction becomes the joy of addition - of more veggies, more herbs, and more delicious choices.

The Impact

And it’s working. FAM participants are reporting great metabolic improvements, which are being measured clinically as an ongoing part of the program: 

  • On average, participants experienced a 1.62 drop in A1c
  • 87% report improvements in blood sugar

Medical professionals, program participants, and 18 Reasons staff discuss the impact of Food As Medicine in our programming:

Partner With Us

If you’re a healthcare organization serving Medi-Cal or food insecure patients who could benefit from our Food As Medicine (FAM) program, learn more and fill out an interest form here.

Partner Interest Form