NIH - FOOD AS MEDICINE

We are excited to announce that Equiti Foods has been awarded a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Matching grant from the One North Carolina Small Business Program. This award complements a previously awarded grant from a National Health Institute(NIH) program focused on technologies for improving minority health and eliminating health disparities. The award will further our mission of increasing the availability of healthy foods in the communities who need it most.

The STTR Matching grant will help Equiti Foods scale up our efforts to meet the anticipated increase in demand for Food is Medicine (FIM) programs. Healthcare systems and public health professionals are embracing FIM efforts, including medically tailored meals as evidence-based approach to reducing chronic disease risk and health care costs. The approach recognizes the vital role that nutrition and dietary choices play in maintaining and improving overall health.

Equiti Foods will develop new family/child-friendly recipes as well as explore ways to increase our capacity to provide medically tailored meals in NC. New production models will be tested, advisory committees composed of key players in the FIM space will be formed, and we will expand our capacity to produce and deliver meals. This will not only inform future scale up and revenue generation for our small business but be helpful for other Food is Medicine focused programs.

Equiti Foods is very grateful to receive this award, and with these funds, we will be able to

increase the depth of our work in the coming year.