Moveable Feast, a longtime grantee, increases access to healthy food for residents in Baltimore City and throughout the state, particularly those with serious health conditions.
The nonprofit is a local pioneer in the food-is-medicine movement, which seeks to address the prevalence of chronic disease by drawing on the close connection between nutritious food, health, and well-being. Bolstered by a federal initiative with the same goals, the movement aims to prevent and treat diet-related conditions, reduce health care costs, and promote health and racial equity in communities throughout the country.
To that end, Moveable Feast provides weekly home-delivered meals tailored by dietitians and chefs to meet up to 60% of the nutritional needs of its clients. Now the nonprofit is poised to build on the success of its programming and connect even more low-income people throughout Maryland with nutritious food.
About 18 million U.S. households (13.5%) experience food insecurity at some point, meaning they are unable to get enough food for all family members or settle for cheaper, less healthy options. In Maryland, 33% of residents report struggling to cover the cost of food or worrying about running out before they can afford to buy more. Food insecurity, which has risen over the past two years and primarily affects low-income families and communities of color, is often associated with a higher probability of chronic illness, including high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and kidney disease.
“The Weinberg Foundation is committed to ensuring all communities have access to nutritious food, regardless of income level or ZIP code,” said Elvis Guzman, who leads the Foundation’s grantmaking focused on health. “Moveable Feast plays a vital role in the city’s and state’s efforts to improve the health of all residents.”
The ingredients for success
Founded in 1989, Moveable Feast began as a volunteer organization dedicated to delivering home-cooked meals to individuals living with HIV and AIDS in Baltimore City. Over time, it saw a growing need for food delivery for people with other serious illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The organization now delivers meals — typically 10 frozen entrees and 10 servings of fresh fruits and/or vegetables each week, as well as liquid nutritional supplements as needed — to 14 counties throughout Maryland, in addition to Baltimore City. Clients are referred by a primary care provider, nurse, licensed social worker, case manager, community health worker, or dietitian.
To ensure meals are targeted to each person’s specific needs, the nonprofit begins with a nutrition screening. Registered dietitian nutritionists review an individual’s health background and conduct a physical assessment (i.e., measuring weight, waist circumference, and body composition), and clients then set personal goals based on their health priorities.
Yet Moveable Feast does more than just drop off food. It also provides medical nutrition therapy, which helps clients manage their illnesses, medications, and medical treatments. Through home visits and phone counseling, the nutritionists observe clients’ living conditions and take note of their support systems and the food they have available — enabling them to better determine how Moveable Feast can help.
A winning recipe
In 2023, Moveable Feast served nearly 2,050 clients, including close to 1,100 in Baltimore City, delivering about 422,000 medically tailored meals, 72,600 bags of produce, and 42,300 nutritional supplements. It also provided roughly 1,080 medical nutritional therapy sessions. In Baltimore City, nearly all clients served (93%) were low income. In a 2023 survey, all program participants said they would recommend Moveable Feast services to family and friends, with 96% indicating these services had improved their health. Recent evaluations found overall reductions in health care costs (40%), hospital visits (15%), and food insecurity (15%) among participants.
Looking to the future, an evaluation of Moveable Feast’s program aims to document its effectiveness and impact on client nutrition and health, with an eye to expanding such programs throughout the state. The data from the evaluation will be crucial in Maryland’s effort to secure a Medicaid waiver that could expand food-is-medicine programs and improve health outcomes in Baltimore and statewide.
Moveable Feast also plans to team up with more health care partners (i.e., hospitals and insurance companies) over the next couple of years to better reach and increase food access for patients with diet-related conditions. The organization already has collaborated with other nonprofits and the University of Maryland Medical Systems to serve hospital patients.
“Moveable Feast’s innovative approach lays the groundwork for sustainable, scalable solutions that demonstrate the critical role nutrition plays in health care,” Guzman said. “The Foundation is proud to invest in initiatives like this one that prioritize prevention and promote equity, paving the way for a healthier future for Baltimore and beyond.”
Photo credit: Moveable Feast
