September 7, 2026
Food is medicine, except when it isn't funded
The gap between what Washington says about food-as-medicine and what it's actually funding just got harder to ignore. This week we looked at the SNAP-Ed defunding, a Rhode Island law that moves in the opposite direction, the avoidable-cost argument clinicians are taking to state officials, and the quiet contradiction at the heart of the MAHA agenda.
SNAP-Ed Is Being Defunded: What the H.R. 1 Nutrition Education Cut Means for Food Is Medicine Programs
H.R. 1 eliminates SNAP-Ed — the federally funded nutrition education program that operated in the same low-income communities Food Is Medicine programs serve — removing infrastructure, not just a budget line.
Rhode Island Signs Food as Medicine Pilot Program Into Law — What the New Task Force and 1115 Waiver Authority Mean
Rhode Island's HB 8171, signed June 18, 2026, bundles three elements rarely seen together in a single FIM law: a dedicated EOHHS task force, an active pilot program mandate, and explicit Section 1115 Medicaid waiver authority.
When 358 Clinicians Write to the Governor About SNAP: The Avoidable-Cost Framework FIM State Officers Need Now
358 Massachusetts clinicians put a $237 billion annual figure on the avoidable healthcare costs of food insecurity — framing SNAP as a prescription that prevents far more expensive care downstream.
The MAHA Health Agenda Promises What SNAP Delivers — So Why Are 5 Million People Losing It?
H.R. 1 has cut SNAP access for more than 5 million people — shrinking the eligible population for every FIM produce prescription and medically tailored meal program in the country.
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