The American Medical Association (AMA) has affirmed that “food is medicine” and is committed to advancing nutrition education, research and policy efforts to improve chronic disease outcomes. This week at the 2026 AMA Annual Meeting, physician delegates voted to take action furthering this movement.
“Good nutrition is one of the most powerful tools we have to improve health and prevent disease,” said AMA Immediate Past President Bobby Mukkamala, MD. “What we eat and drink directly affects our risk for many chronic conditions, making nutrition a critical component of both prevention and long-term health. Embracing the principle that food is medicine can help individuals live healthier lives and strengthen the health of our communities.”
The AMA House of Delegates—the organization’s policymaking body—adopted new policy to:
- Recognize “food is medicine” interventions—including medically tailored meals, medically tailored groceries and produce-prescription programs—as promising evidence-informed strategies to improve health outcomes, reduce diet-related chronic disease, and address food insecurity, while supporting continued research and evaluation of these interventions.
- Support federal efforts to integrate nutrition services into healthcare delivery as well as funding for “food is medicine” initiatives through the yearly departs of Labor and Health and Human Services appropriations process.
- Encourage collaboration with relevant specialty societies, including the American College of Cardiology, and supports research, education and implementation efforts to advance “food is medicine” interventions in clinical practice, with emphasis on improving cardiovascular outcomes, reducing health disparities and lowering health care costs.
The “food is medicine” approach will be featured in an upcoming AMA “Healthy Diet and Dietary Patterns” webinar (learn more and register now). So are ultraprocessed foods.
On that topic, the delegates modified existing policy on addressing the health impacts of these types of foods to:
- Support and promote public awareness and education, among both the public and clinicians, about the differences between healthy and unhealthy ultraprocessed foods and the benefits of minimally processed and unprocessed foods.
- Support the development of multilingual patient educational materials with regard to the health impact of ultraprocessed foods and help disseminate available materials through relevant AMA platforms.
Previously adopted AMA policy on the issue says that the AMA:
- Supports federal, state and local policies that promote and incentivize the production and distribution of healthier, affordable, minimally-processed and unprocessed foods.
- Encourages the integration of nutrition education into all levels of medical education to empower clinicians to best counsel patients efficiently and effectively on reducing unhealthful consumption of ultraprocessed foods.
- Supports increased funding for research into the health impacts of ultraprocessed foods and strategies to mitigate their risks.
In separate actions, the AMA House of Delegates also adopted policy to strengthen osteoporosis awareness, highlight the risks of kratom products, improve public awareness and lung-cancer screening and more.
Read about the other highlights from the 2026 AMA Annual Meeting.
