Abbott and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) has announced a multi-year "food is medicine" effort – called the NACHC and Abbott Food for Health Initiative – aimed at making healthy, nutritious food a core part of primary healthcare at Community Health Centers (CHCs) across the US.
Studies show good nutrition is essential for health and plays a critical role in disease prevention and treatment, especially for chronic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease.1 The NACHC-Abbott partnership will include a national certification program designed to help CHCs develop the systems and capacity to advance food for health, along with structured learning, training and knowledge-sharing for CHC staff to build capabilities and expertise in addressing immediate nutrition needs, integrating nutrition into healthcare delivery, and preventing and managing nutrition-related chronic diseases.
"Since the first health center opened, Community Health Centers – the nation's largest network of primary care providers – have led the way in addressing food insecurity and integrating nutrition into care delivery," said Kyu Rhee, MD, MPP, President and CEO, NACHC. "Our collaboration with Abbott builds on that legacy by strengthening Community Health Centers' capacity to prevent and manage nutrition-related conditions through evidence-based, practical solutions that are designed to improve health outcomes."
Analysis found strong interest in integrating nutrition and care, but fragmented funding, training, data collection and clinical implementation remain key barriers
NACHC and Abbott have worked together since 2023 to advance food for health with CHCs. Building on this earlier work, in 2025 NACHC and Abbott assessed CHCs across 37 states to determine what's working, where gaps exist and what is needed to expand food for health in health centers. This analysis found strong interest in integrating nutrition and care, but fragmented funding, training, data collection and clinical implementation remain key barriers to expanding these efforts across CHCs.
The NACHC and Abbott Food for Health Initiative was strategically designed to help close these gaps, with a focus on providing CHCs with the support they need to address real-life barriers to nutrition and health in the communities they serve. The framework is made up of three key components:
- Food for Health Learning Lab, a structured learning program designed to build nutrition literacy and expertise across the CHC workforce, and guide health centers in implementing and measuring food is medicine efforts.
- Food for Health Community of Practice, a national peer-learning network that will connect health centers to share promising practices, troubleshoot challenges and learn from top experts.
- Food for Health CORE (Certification of Readiness and Excellence), a voluntary national certification program that will recognize and support CHCs in developing the systems, processes and competencies needed to advance food for health efforts.
Reference
1 The Role of Nutrition in Chronic Disease (Nutrients, 2023) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9921002/
