Learn more about the push for a "moonshot" to fund nutrition research at the federal level.
Born from the Friedman School Strategic Plan in 2016, the Policy Champions Initiative seeks to translate evidence-based strategies for healthier food systems into action, bringing cutting-edge, actionable policy evidence, strategies, and interventions to policymakers and other relevant stakeholders to help address the nutrition crisis.
Momentum is building in favor of healthier federal food programs. The media, the food industry, and a vanguard of policymakers are all beginning to recognize the link between poor diets, chronic illness and health care costs. Many Americans, young and old, urban and rural, traditional and progressive, also recognize that the current food system is broken. The window for meaningful change is opening, and the time for action is now.
The tide is turning in favor of nutrition, and Tufts is at the forefront of nutrition research and advocacy. As the oldest and largest graduate school of nutrition in North America, the Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts University has the science, experience, entrepreneurial spirit, execution and networks to lead this change.
Our country faces a national nutrition crisis. Our food system is a major cause of poor health, ever-rising healthcare costs, strangled government budgets, diminished economic competitiveness of American business, reduced military readiness, and hunger and disparities. Americans of all backgrounds see these problems, and are hungry for and value leadership to create lasting solutions.
Fortunately, advances in nutrition and policy science now provide a road-map for addressing our nutrition crisis. The solutions are win-win, promoting better well-being, lower health care costs, greater sustainability, reduced disparities, improved economic competitiveness, and greater national security. Multiple sectors have important roles to play, including farmers, retailers/supermarkets, restaurants, food manufacturers, worksites, schools, universities, life insurance, media, advocacy groups, and the healthcare sector.
The Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy is collaborating with Congressional leaders, advocacy partners such as the Milken Institute and Partnership for a Healthier America, and other key stakeholders on a bipartisan Food is Medicine initiative. Our goals are to raise awareness of the tremendous impact of food on national well-being, share the remarkable advances in both science and technology that inform priorities, and provide trusted science on actionable and impactful solutions.
Our Food is Medicine “best buy” solutions span 6 domains:
Research & Innovation | Healthcare Reform | Economic Incentives | Schools | Worksite Wellness | FDA Standards & Labeling |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fundamental discovery |
Electronic records |
Retail consumer incentives |
School meal standards |
Technology wellness platforms |
Defining "healthy" |
Microbiome |
Medical education |
Industry incentives (R&D, marketing) |
Competitive food standards | Healthy food incentives | Qualified health claims |
Bioactives | F&V Rx | Govt. food programs (SNAP, WIC) | F&V provision | Cafeteria nudges | Additives (trans fat, salt, sugar) |
Big data, technology | Medically tailored meals | SSB, sugar, salt taxes | School gardens | Meal & vending standards | Marketing to children |
Policy translation | Patient incentives | Menu and front-of-pack labels | |||
Public-private partnerships | Billing & quality metrics | ||||
National Institute of Nutrition | |||||
In addition, the evidence supports a need for new structures for multi-agency coordination across relevant departments and groups, including USDA, CMS, FDA, EPA, NIH, CDC, DOD, DOE, VA, Commence, and more.
Coming soon
Coming soon