The Effectiveness of Recipe4Health: A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation

Abstract

Introduction: Food as Medicine is increasingly recognized as an important strategy for addressing the related challenges of food insecurity and nutrition-related chronic conditions. Food as Medicine refers to integration of food-based nutrition interventions into healthcare to prevent and treat disease. However, there is limited evidence to understand the effectiveness of Food as Medicine.

Methods: Recipe4Health (R4H), a comprehensive Food as Medicine program, was implemented in 4 Federally Qualified Health Centers in California for patients with food insecurity and/or nutrition-related chronic conditions. Patients were referred by a healthcare provider to a "Food Farmacy" (16 weekly produce home deliveries) alone or in combination with a "Behavioral Pharmacy" (16 weekly group visits). A quasi-experimental study with pre/post surveys (4 months) and propensity score matched controls for Electronic Health Record outcomes over 12 months was conducted. Participants were 2,643 R4H patients and 2,643 controls identified from 1/2020 to 12/2022; data were analyzed from 2023 to 2024.

Results: There was a significant increase in produce consumption from baseline to 4 months (0.41 servings/day [0.11, 0.72], p=0.007) in the Food Farmacy in combination with Behavioral Pharmacy. Compared to controls, there were improvements in non-HDL cholesterol for the Food Farmacy alone (-17.1 mg/dL [-26.9, -7.2], p<0.001) and in combination with Behavioral Pharmacy (-17 mg/dL [-28.3, -5.8], p=0.003) at 12 months. Compared to controls, HbA1c significantly decreased in the Food Farmacy alone at 12 months (-0.37%, 95% CI [-0.65, -0.08]; p=0.01), but not the Food Farmacy with Behavioral Pharmacy.

Conclusions: R4H resulted in improvements in diet and multiple clinical health outcomes, such as non-HDL cholesterol and HbA1c.