Nutrition in Food Retail: Leveraging RDNs to Improve Public Health

Food is Medicine interventions play an important role in preventing and/or managing chronic conditions that drive health care costs. Many of these diseases are often difficult to address within the current structure of our health care system, and the food retail environment provides a unique opportunity for RDNs to address gaps in health care equity by providing much-needed access points and the ability to support food insecurity and behavior change by connecting with consumers where they are making food decisions.

In November 2019, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation convened a roundtable involving experts within retail, business, technology, community, health care, research and education. The resulting Food is Medicine retail nutrition framework defines the concept of Food is Medicine, identifies focus areas and priorities for RDN services, and highlights opportunities for future programming, partnerships and professional development.

In this session, participants will discover the levers driving health care value, implications for Food is Medicine within food retail settings, and solutions for implementing a model that is scalable, generates favorable health outcomes, and produces a positive return on investment.

CPE Level: Level 2
CPEU: 1.0

Performance Indicators

• 3.3.4 Engages in active discussions with others to establish a method to best meet and serve the needs of the customer and the population.
• 11.3.2 Establishes, implements and evaluates measurable goals to meet projections or targets.
• 1.3.1 Applies strategies that engage the customer in a collaborative approach.

Learning Objectives

• Define Food is Medicine, identify focus areas and prioritize RDN services within the food retail environment.
• Discover levers driving health care value and implications for Food is Medicine within food retail settings.
• Determine how to evaluate success of a Food is Medicine retail nutrition model.

Speakers

• David Fries
• Eileen Myers
• Allison Yoder