Small and mid-sized farmers could reap $5.6 billion in additional revenue a year if Food is Medicine programs were large enough to reach all the Americans who need them, a new report from the Rockefeller Foundation says.
“Scaling to meet the needs of all 43 million Americans who have a diet-related chronic disease and struggle to afford a healthy diet would increase the annual demand for healthy food by up to $50.2 billion,” says the report, "From Farm to FIM."
“By aligning health, agriculture, and economic development priorities in FIM program design, states can multiply the economic impact of FIM, delivering healthier communities, stronger local economies, and more resilient food systems.”
FIM “interventions” currently only reach about 1% to 3% of Medicaid and Medicare patients, the report says. However, more than half the states “have pursued some form of policy change to expand or explore FIM, signaling growing bipartisan momentum.”
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Widespread expansion of FIM would benefit farmers, the report says. “Together, local food sourcing and local FIM delivery services represent over $21 billion in direct spending, which expands to over $45 billion in total economic activity through multiplier effects.” About 316,000 jobs would be created, the report estimates.
“This research makes clear that Food is Medicine isn’t just a health intervention — it’s an economic opportunity for farmers, rural communities, and local food systems across the country,” said Jenny Lester Moffitt, vice president of farmland protection and strategic priorities at American Farmland Trust and former undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs at USDA, in a news release.
The report also contains strategies for implementing programs at the state level. FIM programs include medically tailored meals, medically tailored groceries, and produce prescriptions.
The report includes a detailed breakdown of potential farmer revenue in individual states, based largely on the “FIM-relevant population and capacity to source food locally.”
The top 12 are:
- California: $511.9 million; 32,050 jobs
- Texas: $315 million; 29,800 jobs
- New York: $292 million; 18,290 jobs
- Ohio: $257.4 million; 16,120 jobs
- Michigan: $212.9 million; 13,330 jobs
- Florida: $208 million; 19,670 jobs
- Pennsylvania: $173 million; 10,830 jobs
- Virginia: $125.8 million; 7,880 jobs
- Georgia: $115.8 million; 10,960 jobs
- North Carolina: $114.1 million; 10,790 jobs
- Washington: $110.8 million; 6,940 jobs
- Indiana: $100.9 million; 7,530 jobs
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