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Farm Foundation Forum: The Healing Plate: Food, Health and Agricultural Innovation

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Presentation Slides

The Farm Foundation Forum explored the growing food-as-health movement and its potential to reshape the food, healthcare, and policy landscapes. Driven by rising healthcare costs and increasing rates of diet-related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity, consumers, healthcare providers, innovators, and policymakers recognized food not just as a lifestyle choice but as a crucial component of medical treatment and prevention. The conversation evolved beyond defining what was considered ‘healthy’ to a broader understanding of food as medicine—capable of preventing, managing, and even reversing chronic diseases. The Forum examined the implications of this shift for healthcare providers, consumers, policymakers, and farmers.

Panelists

Moderator: Craig Gundersen is the Snee Family Endowed Chair and a Professor in the Department of Economics at Baylor University.  He is also the creator of Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap project, a Round Table Fellow of the Farm Foundation, and a Faculty Affiliate of the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) at the University of Notre Dame.  His research concentrates on the causes and consequences of food insecurity and on the evaluation of food assistance programs, with an emphasis on SNAP.  Gundersen is a Fellow of the Agricultural and Applied Economic Association (AAEA).

Dr. David L. Katz, is a specialist in Internal Medicine, Preventive Medicine/Public Health, and Lifestyle Medicine – globally recognized for expertise in chronic disease prevention, health promotion, and nutrition. Katz is the founding director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center.

Erin Martin, Founder & CEO at FreshRX, a gerontologist certified in Regenerative Soil Advocacy. Erin is deeply committed to promoting the “food as medicine” philosophy and emphasizing the critical connection between nutrition and soil health.

Paula Martin,  is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. Her work includes culinary medicine and hands-on cooking interventions to prevent and treat health conditions and diseases related to lifestyle.  She is project lead for the Esperance Community Teaching Kitchen at Commongrounds Cooperative in Traverse City, Michigan. In addition, Paula provides nutrition services with her counseling practice Health Served Well, LLC.

Devon Klatell serves as Vice President of the Food Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation, where she spearheads strategies to advance a nourishing, regenerative, and equitable food system in the United States. Her work involves partnerships with schools, healthcare providers, policymakers, and others to increase access to healthy, sustainably produced foods in underserved communities. Klatell also leads initiatives analyzing the true cost of food, focusing on the hidden impacts on health, equity, and the environment.