Policy Change: Creating a Healthy, Just and Sustainable Future for All

Why Focus on Policy?

In support of our mission and operating principles, Ceres supports local, state and federal policies that increase access to healthy, affordable, and culturally relevant foods for all people, and that support a healthy, just, and sustainable food system.

While providing services in the communities we serve is the foundation of our work, we believe we can and must do more. The challenges facing many of our clients are the result of systemic problems. And while we can’t help everyone directly, our policy work can support changes that will lead to better health and better lives for millions.  We do the majority of this work in coalition with other organizations who share our vision and values. We are grateful to all the partners who share this work with us. To see who we work with visit Partners.

Goals

1. Integrate medically tailored and medically supportive food into health care as a covered medical benefit by:  

   • Conducting pilots and research studies to demonstrate the impact of medically tailored meals on health outcomes and costs.

   • Advocating for changes in health care policy that allow public and private health plans to offer and pay for medically tailored foods as a health care intervention.

2. Advocate for local, state and federal policies that increase access to healthy food for all people. This includes easier access to and increased SNAP benefits and universal school meals and policies that support local and organic sourcing for school meals.

3. Advocate for local, state and federal policies that support a just and sustainable food system. This includes support for farms to transition to organic production; climate friendly agricultural policies; urban farming; farmworker protections.

Why these Goals?

Other Key Concepts

Social Determinants of Health

Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the social and economic conditions that constrain people’s ability to live a healthy life. Researchers estimate that only 20% of our health is related to traditional medical care. Thirty percent is related to the lifestyle choices we make each day – things like diet, exercise and stress. And 40% is related to the social determinants that limit those choices for so many of our neighbors.

Addressing social determinants – including access to enough affordable healthy food – is essential for improving health equity. According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention: “Conditions in the places where people live, learn, work, and play affect a wide range of health risks and outcomes. These conditions are known as social determinants of health (SDOH). We know that poverty limits access to healthy foods and safe neighborhoods, and that more education is a predictor of better health”. 

Environmental Nutrition

Environmental Nutrition was first coined by Health Care without Harm (HCWH) in a 2014 paper. The approach recognizes that our food system is interconnected with our environment and has impacts far beyond the personal health of any one individual. Environmental Nutrition takes into account the health of all people involved in or touched by a meal – farmers and food system workers, but also anyone impacted by the air, soil or water that’s effected by agricultural practices. As evidence grows about the impact that conventional agriculture has on health, our environment and the climate crisis, it’s more important than ever that all of us, but especially companies and organizations sourcing and providing food, adopt an environmental nutrition approach. “Healthy food cannot be defined by nutritional quality alone. It is the end result of a food system that conserves and renews natural resources, advances social justice and animal welfare, builds community wealth, and fulfills the food and nutrition needs of all eaters now and into the future.”