The St. Louis Area Foodbank announced a $150,000 grant from the Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation, a philanthropic arm of Elevance Health Foundation, to continue the ‘Food as Medicine’ program. This initiative will support St. Louis Area Foodbank as it collaborates with local healthcare partners to screen patients for food insecurity during health care visits. The healthcare partner will then connect patients who screen positive for food insecurity to food assistance resources onsite at health care facilities and at community-based food pantries and meal programs.
“We know that healthy and nutritious food paired with nutrition information is critical to helping people thrive. The ‘Food as Medicine’ program prioritizes this combined focus and is transformative in creating a pathway to positive outcomes for our neighbors in the communities we serve. We are grateful for the Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation and our local healthcare partners in bringing this to reality,” said Meredith Knopp, President and CEO of the St. Louis Area Foodbank.
The ‘Food as Medicine’ program, a Feeding America® initiative funded by the Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation, will help connect people facing hunger in the St. Louis region to food distribution programs that provide access to healthy food options. The program aims to screen patients over the next three years with the goal of improving food security and health outcomes. This phase of the program will help St. Louis Area Foodbank and these local healthcare partners implement enhanced data collection, sharing and analysis to better understand the needs of people facing hunger and deliver effective solutions.
