Health professionals as partners in values-based food procurement

Abstract

Health professionals have the opportunity and responsibility to apply their expertise to address the current trajectory of chronic disease in the United States. Half of American adults have one or more preventable chronic diseases, many of which are diet related, so it is critical that health professionals engage in public health prevention strategies. These can take the form of public and private sector partnerships. Food procurement—the processes through which institutions such as hospitals and schools purchase and serve food—offers powerful opportunities for health professionals to partner with public institutions to prioritize accessibility to nutritious, sustainable, and fairly produced food and to generate sustained benefit to population health.