Connecting Food and Health — How FAM3 Partnerships Turn Evidence into Impact
Connecting Food and Health — How FAM3 Partnerships Turn Evidence into Impact
Jasmynn Lahner
Nutrition and Partnerships Senior Manager
Houston Food Bank
Sarah Estell
Chief Outreach Officer
Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana
Samantha Monks
Director of Health and Nutrition
Regional Food Bank
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How three food bank partnerships are putting CNHI’s evaluation findings to work to strengthen programs and expand access to nutritious food.
Funded by the Elevance Health Foundation, Food as Medicine 3.0 (FAM3) brought 21 Feeding America partner food banks and health care organizations together to expand access to nutritious food. Over three years, partners used a screen-refer-nourish model to screen more than 1.45 million patients and connect more than 161,000 households with healthy food. Across the initiative, participants also reported improved food and nutrition security, and fewer hospitalizations and emergency department visits.
Three partnerships capture that impact in particularly compelling ways. Houston Food Bank, Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana with Eskenazi Health, and the Regional Food Bank connected thousands of patients with food and related support while achieving encouraging improvements in food security, eating patterns, clinical measures, and self-reported healthcare use. Their work did not stop with the final program report: they are now using that evidence to pursue new funding, advance research, and share practical lessons with the broader field so more neighbors can access the nutritious food and care they need.
As FAM3’s lead evaluation partner, the Center for Nutrition & Health Impact (CNHI) helped turn this progress into evidence the partners could use. Through tailored evaluations, data analysis, and individualized findings, CNHI helped each partner understand their impact and build on it. Their stories demonstrate Food is Medicine (FIM) in action, and how strong programs, meaningful partnerships, and actionable evidence can help neighbors build healthier lives well beyond the initial project.
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Houston Food Bank
Turning Results into New Opportunities
At Houston Food Bank, a prescription can connect a patient with much more than food.
Through partnerships with Harris Health, public health care safety-net providers and other providers, eligible patients enroll in Food Rx and redeem produce prescriptions at an on-site food pharmacy or affiliated Food for Change Markets. Participants can also access SNAP assistance and other social services through the Houston Food Bank's FIRST Link program.
The program’s reach translated into measurable progress:
Expanding access: Food Rx provided nutritious food to 1,732 patients, while 480 people received SNAP assistance.
Supporting healthier lives: Participants reported a 7% improvement in nutrition security and 12% improvements in both fruit and vegetable intake and general health.
Improving clinical outcomes: Among 24 participants with available clinical data, average HbA1c decreased from 9.99% to 8.29%, indicating better-controlled diabetes, on average.
For Houston Food Bank, the evaluation findings are already helping shape what comes next. CNHI translated participant survey and electronic health record data into an impact report and provided additional SNAP participation data that Houston is now using to pursue new grant opportunities. By turning program results into a stronger case for continued investment, the partnership demonstrates how evidence can extend the impact of FAM3 to reach more neighbors for years to come.
Jasmynn Lahner, MS, RD, LD, RYT-500, Nutrition and Partnerships Senior Manager at Houston Food Bank, explained how the evaluation is helping the organization carry that impact forward:
“The CNHI evaluation has strengthened our ability to tell the story of Food Rx through measurable outcomes. As we prepare for future funding opportunities, the findings demonstrate the value of Food as Medicine programs and reinforce our focus on increasing participant utilization, as greater engagement was associated with improvements in nutrition security, health, and quality of life. We look forward to sharing these insights with our partners and using the evidence to further strengthen program impact across our community.”
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Gleaners and Eskenazi Health
Building the Next Chapter of Evidence
For Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana and Eskenazi Health, the next chapter begins with a closer look at the connection between food, nutrition education, and health.
The partners provide food vouchers, nutrition education, and longer-term resources for patients experiencing food insecurity. Participants can redeem vouchers at Gleaners markets and mobile locations or order food online through Gleaners2Go.
Together, Gleaners and Eskenazi Health reached thousands of patients while seeing encouraging changes in food security and health:
Thousands accessed support: From April 2023 through December 2025, 5,215 patients received food and 11,336 received SNAP assistance.
Greater stability and fewer hospital stays: Food insecurity decreased by 41% from baseline, while participants reported 39% fewer overnight hospitalizations.
Now, CNHI and Eskenazi Health are carrying the evidence into its next chapter. Together, they are developing a manuscript examining how different levels of engagement with dietitian visits relate to changes in clinical outcomes. By bringing these findings into the peer-reviewed literature, the partnership can strengthen the evidence base for FIM and provide practical insights for programs far beyond Indiana.
The findings also suggest that continued engagement made a difference. Electronic health record data showed improvements in HbA1c, LDL cholesterol, and body mass index (BMI). Participants who completed three or more dietitian visits experienced improvement in each measure.
For Victoria Zigmont, PhD, MPH, Research Scientist at CNHI, the next step is ensuring other organizations can learn from what the partnership achieved:
"We hope that by bringing these findings into the peer reviewed literature, other groups will be able to replicate the meaningful work that Gleaners and Eskenazi Health are doing to improve the health of the neighbors that they serve."
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Regional Food Bank
Taking Local Lessons to a National Stage
In northeastern New York, one FIM initiative took several forms.
The Regional Food Bank partnered with health care organizations to support patients experiencing food insecurity and chronic disease. Across sites, neighbors received medically appropriate foods through models ranging from weekly food pharmacy visits to food support at hospital discharge, paired with nutrition education.
The Regional Food Bank’s health care partnerships reached thousands of patients and showed encouraging results:
Reaching patients across multiple sites: From April 2023 through December 2025, the programs provided food to 1,840 patients and referred 2,685 people to SNAP.
Helping neighbors eat well: Survey participants reported a 37% improvement in fruit and vegetable intake, while food insecurity declined by approximately 10%.
Supporting better health: Participants reported 45% fewer overnight hospitalizations, and 20% shifted from reporting “poor or fair” health to “good, very good, or excellent” health.
The Regional Food Bank is carrying lessons from local implementation to a national audience. This fall, Samantha Monks is scheduled to join CNHI and Feeding America for a panel at the Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo, bringing the food bank’s experience into conversation with findings from across FAM3. By connecting national evidence with real-world practice, the session will demonstrate how nutrition education and registered dietitian nutritionists can strengthen FIM programs and help communities turn promising approaches into lasting impact.
Samantha Monks, MS, RDN, CDN, Director of Health and Nutrition at Regional Food Bank, described what this approach can mean for the neighbors her organization serves:
“Food as Medicine strengthens the connection between health care and food access by recognizing nutritious food as an important part of supporting health. By pairing access to healthy foods with nutrition education and strong health care partnerships, we can address food insecurity while giving neighbors the tools and support to make meaningful, lasting improvements in their health.”
Where Evidence Becomes Impact
In Houston, evidence is opening doors to new funding. In Indiana, it is building the foundation for continued research. In New York, it is bringing local lessons to a national stage. Each story points to the same truth: evidence matters most when partners can use it to shape what comes next.
Throughout FAM3, CNHI worked alongside Feeding America, food banks, and health care organizations to design responsive evaluations, analyze complex data, and turn results into actionable insights. The work did not end with a final report; it created the groundwork for stronger programs, continued learning, and new opportunities for neighbors facing hunger.
This is Food is Medicine in action. Evidence becomes impact when partners use what they have learned to strengthen programs and expand access to nutritious food, even after a project has ended.
Additional Resources and Upcoming Presentations
The FAM3 initiative, funded by Elevance Health Foundation, builds on over a decade of innovation, supporting food banks in creating and strengthening health care partnerships and expanding access to healthy food. Read more here:
The learning from FAM3 will continue at the 2026 APHA Annual Meeting and Expo, where CNHI researchers will share findings on program outcomes, implementation, and participant experiences:
Food is Medicine Program Impacts on Participant Nutrition and Health-Related Outcomes: A Multi-Site Pre-Post Study (Dr. Eliza Short)
Documenting Implementation Challenges and Opportunities in Food Bank-Healthcare Food is Medicine Programs: Insights from a Multi-Site Public Health Initiative (Laura Flournoy)
Differential Effects in Participant Outcomes Based on Chronic Disease Presence at Enrollment for Food is Medicine Interventions Delivered by Food Banks in the US (Dr. Victoria Zigmont)
Understanding Participant Experiences in Food as Medicine Programs: A Convergent Mixed Method Study (Maryan Isack)