By Dr. Priyom Bose, Ph.D.Reviewed by Lauren HardakerJan 29 2026. A six-month produce prescription program in Los Angeles clinics shows how food-as-medicine strategies can meaningfully improve access to healthy foods for patients with diabetes, but reveals why affordability remains a stubborn barrier. Study: Nutrition Security Among Medicaid Patients With Diabetes or Prediabetes After Completing a Produce Prescription Program. Image credit: DC Studio/Shutterstock.com A recent study in Annals of Family Medicine evaluated the effectiveness of a produce prescription program in improving short-term nutrition security among Medicaid patients with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes using a pre–post observational design and self-reported survey measures. Dietary interventions to prevent chronic diseases The food-as-medicine strategy involves using dietary interventions to prevent, treat, and manage diet-related diseases. The United States spends roughly $1.1 trillion annually on treating chronic conditions like hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Produce prescription programs (PPRs) provide patients experiencing food insecurity with vouchers to purchase fruits and vegetables. These programs focus on increasing produce consumption, supporting food security, and improving health outcomes, including glycemic control, with modeling studies suggesting the potential to prevent hundreds of thousands of cardiovascular events. It is imperative for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), as well as for other federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to understand how PPRs can shape a patient’s experience with access and availability to healthy foods. Existing research assessing the effectiveness of PPRs has focused on food security or food sufficiency. However, focusing solely on food sufficiency and dietary quality misses critical barriers to fruit and vegetable consumption, including affordability, grocery store access, transportation, cooking knowledge, and awareness of food assistance programs. Nutrition security, distinct from food security, encompasses consistent access, availability, and affordability of healthy foods. Population studies show nutrition insecurity affects 18 % to 44 % of people and is linked to diabetes and poor mental health. While measurement methods are still evolving, researchers increasingly recognize nutrition security as essential for optimizing health outcomes and for capturing barriers not reflected in traditional food security metrics. Evaluating nutrition security within a food-as-medicine intervention The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health partnered with three Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) to implement a produce prescription program during 2020–2024. This before-and-after observational study assessed changes in nutrition and food security among participating Medicaid patients without a comparison group. The study also Read More