Hunger to Health in COVID and Beyond: Food Policy as Health Policy

H2HC’s second annual summit focused on policy, leadership development, advocacy, and cross-sector connections. More than 135 participants included food security advocates, policymakers, leaders, and healthcare professionals. Speakers included Chairman Jim McGovern (D-MA); MA State Rep. Hannah Kane (R-Shrewsbury), founder and co-chair of the first in the nation Food System Legislative Caucus; Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy Dean Dariush Mozaffarian; Witnesses to Hunger leader Diane Sullivan; Founder/CEO Chef and the Sioux Chef Sean Sherman; and President and CEO of Boston Medical Center Kate Walsh.

Panelists and participants explored short- and long-term strategies across six categories: food access, affordability, and equity; building collective political will; systemic solutions to systemic problems; transforming health systems; leadership from impacted communities; and cross-sector collaborations.

In the video attached, Lois Ellen Frank, PhD, of Red Mesa Cuisine and Sean Sherman of The Sioux Chef share a conversation on health equity and food security moderated by WCVB’s Karen Holmes Ward. Frank and Sherman leaders highlight models and approaches they have used to create food systems that support healthy outcomes in the face of persistent health disparities.