Abbott Park, Illinois and Bethesda, Maryland, August 17, 2026
Abbott and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) have launched a multi-year Food for Health Initiative designed to make nutritious food and nutrition support a more integrated part of primary healthcare across Community Health Centers (CHCs) in the United States. The nationwide “Food is Medicine” initiative will provide training, resources, peer learning, and a voluntary certification program to help health centers incorporate nutrition into healthcare delivery and strengthen approaches to preventing and managing chronic diseases. The program is expected to reach more than 1,500 Community Health Centers serving 52.3 million people, including approximately one in seven Americans and one in three people living in rural America. The initiative builds on collaboration between Abbott and NACHC that began in 2023.
Food Is Medicine Becomes Focus of Primary Care
The NACHC and Abbott Food for Health Initiative is designed around the growing recognition that access to nutritious food and nutrition knowledge can influence health outcomes and play an important role in the prevention and management of chronic diseases. The initiative will help Community Health Centers develop practical systems for addressing nutrition needs while incorporating food and nutrition into routine healthcare. Abbott and NACHC said their earlier work with health centers across 37 states identified strong interest in integrating nutrition with care, while also revealing barriers involving funding, training, data collection, and clinical implementation. The new multi-year program is intended to help address those challenges by providing health centers with structured resources and opportunities to develop sustainable food-as-medicine programs. By connecting nutrition support with primary care, the initiative aims to help communities address immediate food needs while strengthening long-term approaches to chronic disease prevention and management.
Three-Part Program Supports Health Center Readiness
The initiative includes three major components designed to build knowledge, collaboration, and implementation capabilities among Community Health Centers. The Food for Health Learning Lab will provide structured education and training to strengthen nutrition literacy among healthcare staff and help centers develop and measure food-is-medicine programs. The Food for Health Community of Practice will establish a national peer-learning network where health centers can exchange practical experiences, share promising approaches, address implementation challenges, and learn from experts. The third component, Food for Health CORE (Certification of Readiness and Excellence), is a voluntary national certification program intended to recognize and support health centers as they develop the systems, processes, and competencies required to advance food-for-health initiatives. Together, these components are designed to move nutrition-focused healthcare beyond isolated programs and toward a more coordinated approach that can be implemented across the community health center network.
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Nationwide Reach Targets Chronic Disease Prevention
The initiative is positioned as a major expansion of nutrition-focused healthcare through the Community Health Center system, which provides affordable and comprehensive primary care to millions of people across the United States. Abbott and NACHC said the program will support more than 1,500 CHCs, providing resources that can be adapted to the needs of the communities they serve. The effort is particularly relevant to populations facing barriers to nutritious food and healthcare access, including communities in rural areas. The initiative also forms part of NACHC’s Center for Nutrition and Health, which serves as an innovation hub intended to bring together community health centers, public and private partners, and other stakeholders around food-based clinical care. For cGxP.wire readers, the program represents an important development at the intersection of nutrition, preventive healthcare, chronic disease management, and population health. While the initiative is not a pharmaceutical or medical-device development program, it demonstrates how healthcare organizations are increasingly incorporating evidence-based nutrition strategies into primary care. By combining education, certification, peer learning, and practical nutrition support, Abbott and NACHC aim to strengthen the ability of community health centers to make healthy food and nutrition a core component of healthcare delivery.
Source: Abbott press relese
