Document text
Principal Investigator: ALICE S AMMERMAN
Organization: EQUITI FOODS, LLC
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $295,923
Funding agency: National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
Diet-related disparities are attributed to factors experienced by historically disadvantaged communities, such
as inadequate access to healthy food and socio-economic stressors. Poor quality diets have contributed to
high rates of chronic disease, with nearly 50% of adults suffering from diet-related chronic diseases such as
cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Racial and ethnic minorities carry a disproportionate
burden of nutrition-related illness, leading to significant health disparities. Health care systems and public
health professionals are embracing Food is Medicine (FIM), including medically tailored meals (MTM) as an
evidence-based approach to reducing chronic disease risk and health care costs. Recent studies have
demonstrated improvements in dietary quality, food security, and the management of diet-sensitive health
conditions among high-risk patients who have been provided with MTMs. However, little research has been
done on understanding the most effective approaches to reducing health disparities through these programs.
Equiti Foods developed Good Bowls as healthy, affordable, good-tasting frozen meals that are convenient,
locally sourced / produced, and culturally conscious. Our mission is to decrease health disparities by
increasing the availability and consumption of nutritious food in high-need communities while providing
economic opportunities for local farms and small businesses. Expanding on our existing Good Bowls
approach, we propose to implement a “Food is Medicine” (FIM) program that will tap into existing
reimbursement initiatives to bring medically tailored meals to underserved groups at low or no cost in an effort
to reduce health disparities. Proposed Specific Aims are to: Aim 1: Form two advisory committees composed
of 1) Leaders in Food is Medicine (FIM) Programs, Medicaid waiver programs, and private payer entities who
are exploring or promoting FIM interventions including medically tailored meals (MTM) designed to address
health disparities; 2) service providers and clients of FIM and MTM programs with relevant lived experience.
Aim 2: Expand Equiti Foods’ capacity to produce culturally and medically tailored Good Bowls and family
meals through 1) developing new family/child friendly recipes and testing acceptability among current and
potential recipients; 2) creating and testing new production models including caterers and rural communitybased commercial kitchens; and 3) building out Equiti Foods’ web platform to link individuals and organizations
with a means to acquire healthy, affordable food and while also providing recipes/educational resources; and
Aim 3: Use implementation science methods to test feasibility and acceptability of these approaches, and the
business case for implementing a FIM program and MTM approach through these programs. This will inform
future scale up and revenue generation.
Terms: <0-11 years old><21+ years old><Address><Adult><Adult Human><Adult-Onset Diabetes Mellitus><Advisory Committees><BIPOC><Black Populations><Black group><Black individual><Black people><Black, Indigenous, People of Color><Blacks><Businesses><Cardiac Diseases><Cardiac Disorders><Cardiovascular Diseases><Cause of Death><Child><Child Youth><Children (0-21)><Chronic Disease><Chronic Illness><Client><Communities><Conscious><Consciousness><Consumption><Cost Savings><Decrease health disparities><Diabetes Mellitus><Diet><Disease><Disorder><Disparities><Disparity><Economic Development><Economical Development><Economics><Eligibility><Eligibility Determination><Family><Farm><Food><Food Webs><Freezing><Friends><Funding><Future><Generations><Gustation><Health><Health Care Costs><Health Care Professional><Health Care Systems><Health Costs><Health Food><Health Insurance for Aged and Disabled, Title 18><Health Insurance for Disabled Title 18><Health Professional><Health disparity mitigation><Health disparity reduction><Healthcare Costs><Healthcare Systems><Healthcare professional><Heart Diseases><Hepatic Disorder><Hispanic Populations><Hispanic group><Hispanic individual><Hispanic people><Hispanics><Hypertension><Individual><Insurance><Intervention><Intervention Strategies><Job loss><Ketosis-Resistant Diabetes Mellitus><Life><Life Style><Lifestyle><Link><Lived experience><Lived experiences><Liver diseases><Low Income Population><Low income group><Lower health disparities><Maturity-Onset Diabetes Mellitus><Medicaid><Medical><Medicare><Medicine><Mediterranean Diet><Methods><Mission><Mitigate health disparities><Modeling><NIDDM><Non-Hispanic><Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes><Non-Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus><Nonhispanic><Noninsulin Dependent Diabetes><Noninsulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus><North Carolina><Not Hispanic or Latino><Nutritional><Obesity><Patients><Pattern><Personal Satisfaction><Phase><Privatization><Production><Productivity><Program Description><Protocol><Protocol Screening><Protocols documentation><Public Health><Recipe><Reduce health disparities><Research><Rural><Rural Community><Seasons><Slow-Onset Diabetes Mellitus><Stable Diabetes Mellitus><T2 DM><T2D><T2DM><Task Forces><Taste><Taste Perception><Taste preferences><Testing><Title 18><Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus><Type 2 diabetes><Type II Diabetes Mellitus><Type II diabetes><Underserved Population><Vascular Hypertensive Disease><Vascular Hypertensive Disorder><acceptability and feasibility><adiposity><adult onset diabetes><adulthood><advisory team><cardiovascular disorder><chronic disorder><community level disadvantage><corpulence><cost><design><designing><diabetes><dietary><diets><disadvantaged community><disease risk><disorder risk><disparity in health><economic><education resources><educational resources><ethnic minority><ethnic minority group><ethnic minority individual><ethnic minority people><ethnic minority population><ethnic minority status><evidence base><experience><farmer><feasibility testing><food insecurity><food security><gustatory perception><gustatory processing><gustatory response><health disparity><health equity><health insurance for disabled><healthy food><heart disorder><hepatic disease><hepatopathy><high blood pressure><high risk><hyperpiesia><hyperpiesis><hypertensive disease><hypertensive disorder><implementation science><improved><insurance plan><internet based platform><internet platform><interventional strategy><ketosis resistant diabetes><kids><liver disorder><local economy><low SES><low income individual><low income people><low socio-economic position><low socio-economic status><low socioeconomic position><low socioeconomic status><maturity onset diabetes><medically under served><medically underserved><neighborhood barrier><neighborhood disadvantage><neighborhood-level barrier><neighborhood-level disadvantage><nutrition><nutritious><pandemic><pandemic disease><programs><racial minority><racial minority status><rural dwelling><rural households><rural residence><rural under served><rural underserved><scale up><service providers><socio-economic><socio-economically><socioeconomically><socioeconomics><source localization><stressor><taste processing><taste response><type 2 DM><type II DM><type two diabetes><under served group><under served individual><under served people><under served population><underserved group><underserved individual><underserved people><waiver><web based platform><web based system><web enabled platform><web platform><well-being><wellbeing><youngster>