Food Is Medicine: Treating Chronic Disease Through Diet | Corby Kummer, Director of Food & Society at The Aspen Institute

“Food is Medicine” gets talked about a lot these days, but the core idea is straightforward: food can play a direct role in treating and managing chronic disease, not just guiding healthier choices. In practice, that means healthcare systems providing patients with meals and groceries tailored to their medical needs.

In this episode of The Health Curve, I sit down with Corby Kummer — Executive Director of Food & Society at the Aspen Institute and longtime food writer at The Atlantic. Corby breaks down where this movement started, why it’s gaining momentum, and what it looks like when hospitals and health systems begin delivering food as part of care.

We talk about what’s working, what’s still messy, and the real-world barriers to scaling these programs — from fragmented data and uneven standards to funding gaps and policy hurdles. We also dig into questions of equity, politics, consumer protection, and how newer trends like GLP-1 medications might shift the future of food, weight, and chronic disease in the U.S.

If you’re curious about where food and healthcare are heading, this conversation offers a grounded, accessible look at how “Food is Medicine” is evolving — and what it could mean for the future of chronic disease care.

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