University of Wisconsin–Madison
Kitchen staff prepare a freshly-made and healthy salad fast food for patrons.

Food Is Medicine

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. – Hippocrates

Nourishing food is foundational to health — supporting healthy pregnancies and playing a central role in the prevention and management of chronic conditions such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. Nutrition security means that every person has consistent physical, social, and economic access to safe, healthy, and culturally meaningful food that meets their needs and preferences for an active, healthy life. In the spirit of the Wisconsin Idea, partners across the state are working together to advance a shared vision: that everyone in Wisconsin EATS Healthy. This site offers practical Food is Medicine resources to support individuals, clinicians, and communities in turning that vision into action.

Graphic of Wisconsin outline with text 'Wisconsin Eats Healthy' and the acronym EATS expanded to highlight nutrition security, partnerships, food system transformation, and sustainability.

Food Is Medicine Resources

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It’s important to know how to plan delicious and nutritious meals using vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts, and seed. You can discover foods you truly enjoy and build confidence in the kitchen. Making a plan before shopping can help you get organized, save money, and choose healthy options.

Fresh, frozen, canned, and dried fruits and vegetables are a delicious way to make every bite count! Try to get 4-5 servings every day. Consider tracking your intake with an app.

Snacks can give you energy throughout the day and help you meet your daily nutrient needs. Look for snacks with 0 grams of added sugars.

Build a Better Snack with Healthy Foods

Low Cost Snacks

  • Nuts + dried fruit
  • Crackers + cheese stick
  • Apple or banana + nut butter
  • Raw vegetables + hummus or yogurt dip
  • Fruit + yogurt
  • Roasted edamame or chickpeas
  • Trail mix
  • Pretzels + hummus
  • Hard boiled eggs
  • Cheese cubes + fruit (like apple or grapes)
  • Cottage cheese + fruit or tomatoes
  • Tuna packet + crackers
  • Guacamole + veggies or chips
  • Cucumber or celery + cream cheese
  • Dehydrated fruit
  • Whole grain tortillas + banana + nut butter

Low Carb Snacks

Packaged Snacks

  • Fruit chips
  • Roasted edamame beans
  • Fruit bars
  • Squeeze pouches including fruit and vegetable purees
  • Yogurt
  • Plant-based puddings
  • Fruit and nut bars
  • Protein bars
  • Fruit, nut, and cheese trays
  • Protein shakes

Smoothies

  • Lower sugar yogurt smoothies
  • Fruit and nut smoothies
  • Smoothies with added protein

Some desserts can be relatively healthy and be a source of protein, fiber, and healthy fats to help you meet your daily nutrient needs. They can even help you meet your daily fruit and vegetable goals. When choosing desserts, pay close attention to the added sugar line on nutrition labels. The American Heart Association recommends men consume no more than 36 grams of added sugar per day, and women consume no more than 25 grams of added sugar per day. Look for “no sugar added” or “sugar free” options.

Water is vital to your health. It keeps your organs healthy, prevents bad breath, keeps you cool when you exercise, helps your muscles and joints work well, and helps your body flush out toxins. Plain water should be the primary beverage for meeting hydration needs starting at age five (PDF). Many other beverages contain non-sugar sweeteners, caffeine, and added sugars that contribute to the risk of overweight, obesity, and diet-related chronic diseases when consumed in excess. Tips for increasing water intake:

  • Find a water bottle you love.
  • Drink a minimum of half an ounce of water per pound of body weight per day (80 oz for a 160-pound person).
  • Your urine should be light yellow and almost odorless – dark yellow urine with a strong odor means you aren’t getting enough water.
  • Avoid high-calorie, sugar-sweetened beverages and replace with water.
  • If you like flavor, consider a low-calorie addition like citrus zest, berries, or herbs.
  • If you like carbonation (as contained in soda), consider calorie-free flavored seltzers.
  • Eat fruits that contain a lot of water like berries, melon, oranges, apricots, clementines, plums, and peaches.
  • Eat vegetables that contain a lot of water like lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, cabbage, broccoli, and bell peppers.

Many grocery stores, food cooperatives, and convenience stores provide direct discounts on food through both paper and digital coupons. Delivery and curbside pickup is often available, and fuel rewards can be earned through a variety of purchases.

Grocery Stores

Co-ops

Convenience Stores

A meal kit is a subscription service that provides recipes with pre-portioned food ingredients to prepare fresh and portion-controlled home-cooked meals. Some meal kit services also provide microwave-ready heat and eat meals. Meals are typically available in several pickup locations and some services also provide home delivery options.

Health insurance is increasingly covering food is medicine benefits for individuals with Medicare Advantage and Medicaid coverage. These benefits often include medically tailored meals, medically tailored groceries, and produce prescriptions. Medically tailored meals are healthy, fully prepared home-delivered meals customized for individuals who are pregnant or have chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart failure, kidney disease, HIV, and cancer. Some providers of these meals include Food For Health, Foodsmart, and Mom’s Meals.

Medically Tailored Meals

Quartz Health Solutions’ Nourishing Meals

  • Medicare Advantage & D-SNP (Dual Eligible Special Needs Plan) Members – there is no cost to the member for this benefit.
    • Post-discharge benefit for members in recovery
      • Within 48 hours of discharge from a hospital or skilled nursing facility (SNF), Mom’s Meals contacts the member to offer the benefit, enroll, and make their meal selections.
      • Two medically tailored, heat-and-eat meals daily for 10 days (20 meals total) are delivered within the first week after enrollment. The order is split into two boxes, each containing ten meals.
      • This benefit can be offered up to 90 days post discharge and used up to four times per year.
      • Quartz honors the post-facility discharge meal support for the VA Hospital. These individuals will need to contact the number on the back of the Quartz ID card and be referred to Mom’s Meals on an individual basis.
    • Congestive or chronic heart failure (CHF) benefit
      • Members with CHF can be referred to the program by Quartz Care Management or another Quartz Population Health program.
      • Two medically tailored, heat-and-eat meals daily for six weeks (84 meals total) are delivered within the first week after enrollment.
      • After six weeks of meals, members can opt in to receive one produce, pantry, or allergy-friendly pantry box per month for a maximum of six months. There is no cost to the member for this benefit.
  • Quartz BadgerCare Plus & Medicaid SSI Members – there is no cost to the member for this benefit.
    • High-risk pregnancy or high-risk postpartum (up to 12 months following birth)
      • Members who meet one or more of the following criteria are assessed by a registered dietitian and offered two meals a day for up to 12 weeks which can be split into two six-week segments:
        • Be less than 18 years of age
        • Be African American
        • Be homeless
        • Have a chronic medical or behavioral health condition that will negatively impact the pregnancy
        • Had a prior poor birth outcome, defined as one or more of the following:
          • Baby born at a low birth weight (less than 2,500 grams or 5.5 pounds)         
          • Baby born preterm (gestational age less than 37 weeks)
          • Neonatal/early neonatal death (baby died within the first 28 days)
          • Stillbirth (fetal demise after 20 weeks gestation)
    • Diabetes (type 1 or 2) and/or cardiovascular disease (hypertension or CHF) who have been discharged from a hospital or SNF in the last 90 days
      • Within 48 hours of discharge from a hospital or skilled nursing facility (SNF), a registered dietitian from Mom’s Meals contacts the member to offer the benefit, enroll, and make their meal selections.
      • Two medically tailored, heat-and-eat meals daily for up to 12 weeks (up to 168 meals) are delivered within the first week after enrollment.
  • All Quartz Members
    • All Quartz members have the opportunity to purchase meals as part of the Nourishing Meal Affinity Programs. Meals are offered at a discounted rate with free shipping to a physical address anywhere in the United States. Meal options are vast with many dietary preferences to choose from.
    • Unlike the nourishing meal programs above, this program is fully initiated by the member. Enroll with Mom’s Meals and use code QUARTZ.
    • Quartz will be unaware of a member’s participation as they will not receive claims.

Quartz Health Solutions partners with Mom’s Meals to offer these meal options to its members. For referrals, terminations, changes, or questions, contact Mom’s Meals Customer Care, Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST, at (866)-204-6111 or orders@momsmeals.com. Members with additional questions should contact Quartz Customer Success with the phone number on the back of their Quartz ID card.

Eat out with a plan. Consider choices like smoothies, fruit bowls, salads, sandwiches, fish, cold-pressed juices, and healthier choices from convenience stores. Explore these ideas for dining out (PDF).

Improving your health starts with goals. Setting goals helps you focus on what is most important to you, and making a plan to reach those goals helps you take things step by step. Make lifestyle changes that stick (PDF) and consider some of the following resources to help you reach those eating-related goals:

Group medical visits offer an innovative and interactive approach to meeting health care needs. Patients with common health goals are brought together for 60 to 90 minutes and are led by health care providers in a supportive environment. Patients can share experiences while also learning how to incorporate key elements necessary to live a healthier life. Through hands-on learning, patients explore self-management skills to support lifestyle and behavior changes that directly relate to specific health problems.

Wisconsin has many different programs that can help you pay for food or childcare costs, obtain health care coverage, find a job, and more. Find out if you qualify by answering a few questions about your household, income, assets, and expenses on Wisconsin’s ACCESS website.

As Food is Medicine programs continue to expand across the country, health care teams are seeking practical guidance on how to design, implement, evaluate, and sustain effective interventions that improve nutrition security and health outcomes. Translating evidence into practice requires attention to program design, operational workflows, clinical integration, financing, and evaluation. Implementation resources, practical tools, and real-world examples can help clinicians, health systems, community organizations, and policymakers advance Food is Medicine efforts in Wisconsin and beyond.

Featured Resource: Tufts’ Food is Medicine Toolkit

Developed by the Tufts Food is Medicine Institute, this toolkit provides evidence-based guidance and practical implementation strategies for organizations developing or expanding Food is Medicine programs. The toolkit addresses the full lifecycle of program development and operation, including:

  • Program evaluation
  • Foundational concepts and evidence
  • Program design
  • Operational infrastructure
  • Clinical workflow integration
  • Business and value considerations