Center for Nutrition & Health Impact

12/22/2025

Happy Holidays from all of us at the Center for Nutrition & Health Impact!

We wish you a great holiday season and extend a deep gratitude to the funders, partners, and grantees that make our work and impact possible.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

12/19/2025

How is food security being measured in your state?

This is the question an interdisciplinary team of public health and nutrition researchers affiliated with the Healthy Eating Research (HER) Strategic Research Collaborative is working to answer: how food security is being measured at the state and local levels across the country, and what data collection or survey efforts currently exist in each state?

If you know of any statewide food security measurement initiatives—recent or present—please take a moment to complete this short survey: https://forms.gle/WCbLBJKdNuXunLys8

We encourage you to share this message with colleagues and collaborators! Your input will help build a clearer picture of how food security is measured nationwide and where important gaps remain.

Please direct any comments and questions to Dr. Kaitlyn Harper (kharpe14@jhu.edu).

12/18/2025

As 2025 nears an end, we are celebrating our great partners and programs that help bring greater access to nutrition and healthy living to the public. The Nutrition Incentive Hub Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program is doing just that by offering grantees technical assistance, evaluation support, and resources so that GusNIP programs make the most impact in communities on the ground level.

This month, The GusNIP Nutrition Incentive Program Training, Technical Assistance, Evaluation, and Information Center (NTAE) released the collaborative GusNIP Year 5 Impact Findings Report. The results are incredible!

🥕 $54.4M in fruit and vegetable incentives redeemed
💰 $112M in local economic impact
📈 5,292 food retail and clinic sites nationwide—7X growth since Year 1

GusNIP’s nutrition incentive (NI) and produce prescription (PPR) projects are making a real difference—helping families increase their fruit and vegetable intake, improving food security, and supporting local economies.

For PPR participants, pilot findings point to major healthcare savings due to significant improvement in managing blood pressure and blood sugar levels.

Check out the Year 5 Impact Findings! https://www.nutritionincentivehub.org/gusnip-ntae-impact-findings?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=ap_fot9slvref

This work is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture .

12/11/2025

Last month, CNHI attended the American Evaluation Association (AEA)'s Evaluation25 Conference in Kansas City, MO!

Check out a picture from CNHI Senior Research and Compliance Manager Beth Kerling with Phil from VIRB, our new independent review board (IRB) partner! VIRB will help us ensure our research is always conducted ethically and in compliance with regulation, including protocol review and participant protection.

We were happy to attend and see many friendly faces at the conference. If you attended, what was your favorite talk? Feel free to share with us!

12/09/2025

Many families will face food insecurity during the holidays, an unfortunate reality that disproportionately affects those with diet-related health conditions.

In a recent study, researchers examined how home-delivered, medically tailored groceries can support food pantry clients managing type 2 diabetes (T2D.)

The intervention provided 12 weeks of T2D-appropriate grocery boxes paired with diabetes self-management education. The results were promising: participants saw a significant decrease in HbA1c levels (−0.56%), highlighting the potential of Food is Medicine approaches to help individuals experiencing food insecurity better manage their chronic conditions.

Access the full study, published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior JNEB:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S149940462500421X?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=ap_wdyzjujqpy

Authors include: Eliza Short, Ji Li, James P. Selig, Kelsey Bounds, Brett Rowland, Bonnie Faitak, Jazmin Lane, Rosana Solis-Garcia, Holly C. Felix, Krista Langston, Pearl A. McElfish, Juan Mejia-Otero, Lauren Haggard-Duff, Christopher R. Long.

12/02/2025

Did you know? December is National Pear Month!

Pears are in peak season this month and offer an affordable, high-fiber, antioxidant-rich option if you are looking to add more produce into your meals this season. Enjoy them fresh, baked, or blended.

Happy National Pear Month! 🍐

11/27/2025

As the year comes to a close, we're reflecting on the impact made in 2025, including our role leading the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) Nutrition Incentive Program Training, Technical Assistance, Evaluation, and Information (NTAE) Center (Nutrition Incentive Hub), evaluating Feeding America's FAM3 project, and other contributions to the field's Food is Medicine movement.

Our upcoming 2025 Year-end Reflection will cover impacts made across these projects and more, plus a look back at the staff milestones and moments that shaped our year.

Don't miss out on this year's reflection—click the link below to subscribe! https://www.centerfornutrition.org/newsletter?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=ap_2lhvh5bbg6

In the meantime, check out our Food is Medicine webpage with full project overviews: https://www.centerfornutrition.org/fim?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=ap_gi8hqktr4i

And our latest partnership project with Feeding America: https://www.feedingamerica.org/sites/default/files/2025-05/Food-as-medicine-Year2-Report.pdf?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=ap_d1t8cvoijj

11/25/2025

Today, we are reflecting on the gratitude that fuels our work. 🍁 Thank you to our funders and colleagues for the opportunity to partner on important initiatives and share what we learn to improve public health nutrition nationwide.

Happy Thanksgiving!

11/24/2025

This month, CNHI CEO Dr. Amy Yaroch was featured in the American Heart Association's Eat It or Leave It series in an entry all about winter squash!

Amy shares why she’s a longtime fan of winter squash varieties from their heart-healthy potassium and immunity-supporting beta-carotene, to the fiber that supports gut health. She also offers several delicious ways to enjoy winter squash at home, including simple roasted delicata, noting its edible rind. "You don’t even need to peel it," she said. "It’s delicious.”

Check out the full feature at the link below—we hope you enjoy cozy winter squash this season!

Got the urge to nosh on winter squash? Don’t quash it.

11/20/2025

We were so thrilled to attend APHA 2025 earlier this month! (American Public Health Association)

Attendees from the Center included Drs. Amy Yaroch, Laura Balis and Victoria Zigmont, along with Tony Gargano and Grace Stott. Our team had a great time connecting with colleagues, partners, and new faces from across the public health community; all sharing ideas to advance public health.

See highlights below:
Photo #1 (left to right): Dr. Balis, Dr. Zigmont, and Mr. Gargano at the CNHI booth.
Photo #2: Grace by her poster presentation, "Reflections on a community-engaged evaluation design approach for a statewide food security initiative."
Photo #3: Dr. Zigmont during her oral presentation.
Photo #4: (left to right): Tufts University Assistant Professor Dr. Kelseanna Hollis-Hansen next to Dr. Zigmont.
Photo #5: Attendees engaged in a table discussion also featuring Dr. Zigmont.
Photo #6 (left to right): The CNHI team enjoying a group dinner featuring Tony, Amy, Grace, Laura and Vicki.

Events like APHA remind us to keep learning and sharing so that we can better impact communities across the U.S. and beyond through public health research and evaluation. If you attended, what was your favorite session or presentation? Let us know in the comments!

11/19/2025

In late October, CNHI Research Scientist Dr. Eliza Short attended the the Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo (FNCE) in Nashville, TN, where she presented a poster titled “Diet Quality of School Breakfast and Lunch Menus Across Rural Arkansas.”

Her presentation highlighted the nutritional quality of school breakfast and lunch menu cycle data from three rural Arkansas school districts participating in a larger randomized controlled trial. The study, which aims to support access to healthy school meals in rural Arkansas communities, is being implemented by the UAMS - University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Institute for Community Health Innovation.

Following the event, Eliza shared: “I networked with professionals engaged in school nutrition, [inclucing] child nutrition directors and other researchers in this area, and attended many sessions focused on both school nutrition and food is medicine programs.”

While in Nashville, Dr. Short met up with CNHI Health Services Research Scientist Dr. Victoria Zigmont, as well as Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Nutrition Researcher Nicole Cawrse.

Photo #1 pictures Dr. Eliza Short next to her poster presentation. Photo #2 pictures (left to right) Dr. Short, Dr. Zigmont, and Ms. Cawrse.

11/18/2025

Bringing evidence-based programs to life in real-world settings takes adaptability, collaboration, and an awareness of unique community contexts.

This recent study introduced the Implementation Strategies Applied in Communities Matching Process (ISAC Match); a practical framework designed to help practitioners select and tailor implementation strategies that fit their community’s specific needs.

The study provides additional detail on ISAC Match and potential approaches to complete the four-step matching process, including a case study from work in a state Cooperative Extension System.

Authors include: Dr. Laura Balis, Dr. Taren Massey-Swindle, Shelly Palmer, Emily Shaw, Shelby Jones-Dozier & Dr. Michelle Grocke-Dewey

Read the full study at the link! https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-025-01456-1?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=ap_jkcvp3grc6