A bipartisan group of lawmakers launched the “food is medicine” working group within the House Hunger Caucus to explore policies that would alleviate hunger and its costs on the economy and the health of Americans, said Tufts University. Rep George McGovern, Massachusetts Democrat, said the group will “elevate this Food is Medicine conversation” and address hunger as a health issue.
“My hope for this working group is that we are able to explore our nation’s anti-hunger safety net to discover ways to make it even better,” said McGovern, a leading advocate for food stamps. Other members of the group are Kansas Republicans Lynn Jenkins and Roger Marshall and Maine Democrat Chellie Pingree.
McGovern listed several policies the group might take up, reported Politico, including incentives to buy fruits and vegetables, bolstering the nutrition education component of the food stamp program, “medically tailored” meals that fight disease and so-called “vegetable prescription” programs that make healtier diets a part of medical treatment of obese patients.