Instacart is partnering with academic institutions studying the impacts of food as medicine interventions on health outcomes and how much those cost various communities, the company announced Monday.
Those projects include partnerships with Meharry Medical College, Ohio State University, Duke Clinical Research Institute, Louisiana Public Health Institute, University of Kentucky, University of Kentucky Food as Health Alliance, and University of Pennsylvania.
The projects include:
- Meharry Medical College’s work producing a supplemental issue to its Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved that will focus on research concerning food access, nutrition security, and health outcomes for those in low-income communities
- Ohio State University’s research examining food-as-medicine interventions such as access to culturally relevant and home-delivered foods, behavioral counseling, and Medicaid patients with cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome
- Duke Clinical Research and the Louisiana Public Health Institute’s research on how in-store vs. delivery of groceries impacts shopping patterns
- University of Kentucky and the University of Kentucky Food as Health Alliance’s research on screening, referral, and enrollment techniques for food as medicine programs
- The University of Pennsylvania’s evaluation of approaches to encourage patients with diabetes and obesity to purchase fruits and vegetables.
“At Instacart, we believe in the power of food as medicine, and we are committed to using our…technology and reach to support groundbreaking research on food as medicine programs,” said Sarah Fleisch, senior director of policy research and development at Instacart, in a statement. “We’re proud to partner with researchers at these leading academic institutions to uncover the evidence needed to scale food as medicine programs and ensure they reach more patients, families, and communities.”