According to Food is Medicine (FIM) leaders, FIM’s scope includes federal nutrition benefits, notably with healthcare teams assisting patients in using SNAP and WIC. This panel will discuss how Medicaid can better incorporate SNAP and WIC to improve food security, building on the success of medically tailored meals and groceries.

This session was livestreamed from the Medicaid Food Security National Summit in Washington, DC on May 7, 2025.

Panelists:

Dr. Caree Cotwright, Associate Professor, University of Georgia
Dr. Kofi Essel, Food is Medicine Director, Elevance Health
Liz Landa, Resident Services Manager, Mercy Housing

Moderated by Kelleen Zubick, Managing Director, Health Systems, Share Our Strength

More Conversations on Food Justice

  • Bands of orange and blue frame the title, Conversations on Food Justice: The role of SNAP and WIC in the Food is Medicine spectrum. Four portraits of the panelists are centered. They are: Dr. Caree Cotwright, Associate Professor, University of Georgia; Dr. Kofi Essel, Food is Medicine Director, Elevance Health; Liz Landa, Resident Services Manager, Mercy Housing; and Moderator Kelleen Zubick, Managing Director, Health Systems, Share Our Strength. In the lower left corner are logos for Food & Society at the Aspen Institute and Share Our Strength, producers of this event.
  • Four square portraits of the three panelists and one moderator who spoke about philanthropy and food justice as part of a regular series, Conversations on Food Justice. From left to right, Caesare Assad (brunette, smiling at the viewer, and wearing a dark blue shirt), Christina Chauvenet (short light brown hair, smiling at the viewer), Mel Jackson (a smiling black women with shoulder length hair, arms crossed wearing a white suit coat) and Chuck Scofield (a smiling man wearing a dark sport coat). The image is outlined in orange and blue. The logos for Share Our Strength (in bold black) and Food & Society at the Aspen Institute (bold blue underlined in red, light blue, yellow, and turquoise blue) are placed in the lower left corner.