II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5632 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish and administer a pilot 

program to provide grants to support Food is Medicine programs, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 19 (legislative day, DECEMBER 16), 2024 

Mr. HEINRICH (for himself and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish and administer a pilot program to provide grants to support 

Food is Medicine programs, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fueling Optimal Out5 comes through Diet for Health Act of 2024’’ or the 

6 ‘‘FOOD for Health Act of 2024’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FOOD IS MEDICINE PILOT GRANT PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish 


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1 and administer a pilot program to award grants, on a com2 petitive basis, to eligible entities described in subsection 

3 (b) to support Food is Medicine programs. 

4 (b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible for a grant under 

5 this section, an entity shall submit to the Secretary an 

6 application at such time, in such manner, and containing 

7 such information as the Secretary determines is appro8 priate. 

9 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant awarded under this 

10 section may only be used to support the activities of a 

11 Food is Medicine program, including— 

12 (1) operating an on-site emergency feeding op13 eration; 

14 (2) medically tailored packaging or delivery of 

15 groceries; 

16 (3) medically tailored meals and produce pre17 scriptions; 

18 (4) providing individual or group-based evi19 dence-based cooking skills (including through the 

20 use of digital technologies); 

21 (5) promoting dietary intervention strategies or 

22 other health-related strategies; and 

23 (6) transportation of program participants to 

24 and from the communities served by the program. 


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1 (d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec2 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities 

3 described in subsection (b)— 

4 (1) that will incorporate local and regional 

5 foods, as determined by the Secretary, into activities 

6 funded by the grant; or 

7 (2) that will include registered dieticians or nu8 trition professionals in the activities funded by the 

9 grant. 

10 (e) REGIONAL BALANCE; ADVANCING HEALTH EQ11 UITY.—In awarding grants under this section, the Sec12 retary shall, to the maximum extent practicable— 

13 (1) ensure geographic diversity; 

14 (2) ensure the equitable treatment of— 

15 (A) urban, rural, and tribal communities; 

16 and 

17 (B) communities in territories of the 

18 United States; and 

19 (3) advance health equity. 

20 (f) REPORTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

22 (A) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 2 

23 years after the date of the establishment of the 

24 pilot program referred to in subsection (a), the 


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1 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 

2 that— 

3 (i) analyzes the efficiency of such pilot 

4 program; and 

5 (ii) assesses the impact of such pilot 

6 program on patient outcomes and system 

7 costs. 

8 (B) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 6 

9 years after the date of the establishment of the 

10 pilot program referred to in subsection (a), the 

11 Secretary shall submit to Congress an updated 

12 version of the report referred to in subpara13 graph (A). 

14 (2) ELEMENTS.—The reports described in 

15 paragraph (1) shall each contain descriptions of— 

16 (A) the details and implementation of the 

17 pilot program referred to in subsection (a); 

18 (B) the participant selection criteria used 

19 by Food is Medicine programs supported by 

20 grants awarded under this section; 

21 (C) the diseases and other medical issues 

22 being addressed by grants awarded under this 

23 section; 


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1 (D) the strategies of such Food is Medi2 cine programs in providing healthy, affordable 

3 food to program participants; 

4 (E) the use and impact of medical nutri5 tion therapy in coordination with the provision 

6 of food on the outcomes of participants treated 

7 by such Food is Medicine programs; and 

8 (F) the impact of grants awarded under 

9 this section on the health (including behavioral 

10 health) of participants in such Food is Medicine 

11 programs. 

12 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) DIET-RELATED DISEASE.—The term ‘‘diet14 related disease’’ means— 

15 (A) diabetes and prediabetes; 

16 (B) a renal disease; 

17 (C) obesity (as defined by the Centers for 

18 Disease Control and Prevention or as otherwise 

19 defined by the Secretary); 

20 (D) hypertension; 

21 (E) dyslipidemia; 

22 (F) malnutrition; 

23 (G) an eating disorder; 

24 (H) cancer; 


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1 (I) a gastrointestinal disease, including ce2 liac disease; 

3 (J) HIV/AIDS; 

4 (K) cardiovascular disease; 

5 (L) mental illness, including depression 

6 and anxiety; and 

7 (M) any other disease as determined ap8 propriate by the Secretary. 

9 (2) FOOD IS MEDICINE PROGRAM.—The term 

10 ‘‘Food is Medicine program’’ means a program de11 veloped or operated by a community-based organiza12 tion (such as an emergency feeding operation), in 

13 partnership with a health care provider (such as a 

14 community health clinic), to deploy the provision of 

15 food or medical nutrition therapy services to benefit 

16 participants experiencing, at risk of, or recovering 

17 from a diet-related disease. 

18 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with 

20 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

21 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

22 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

23 $20,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2025 through 

24 2029. 

Æ 


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