Congress funds 'food as medicine' pilot to test nutrition as health care
H.R. 7906 — FOOD for Health Act · Filed by Robin Kelly (D-IL) · 8 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 12, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill creates a $20 million pilot grant program (2027–2031) for community organizations and health clinics to test 'Food is Medicine' programs—providing medically tailored meals, produce prescriptions, cooking classes, and food delivery to people with diet-related diseases like diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. The government will fund up to 2 years of pilot work, then report back to Congress on whether the programs improve patient health and reduce system costs.
Why we flagged it
The bill establishes a time-limited, evidence-gathering pilot for nutritional intervention in underserved populations. It is a public-health measure, not a permanent entitlement or industry carve-out, and explicitly requires reporting on outcomes to inform future policy.
What the text implies
- The definition of 'diet-related disease' is broad and includes mental illness (depression, anxiety), potentially expanding the program's scope beyond traditional nutritional intervention and into behavioral health—a shift that may require different expertise or coordination.
- The bill grants the Secretary discretion to add 'any other disease as determined appropriate,' creating an open-ended expansion mechanism that could shift program focus without additional congressional authorization.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
community-based organizations (emergency feeding operations, food banks); community health clinics and primary care providers; registered dietitians and nutrition professionals