HSR Supports Partnership to Fight Veteran Food Insecurity

Research News

September 10, 2025

VA and the Rockefeller Foundation philanthropy are working together to tackle food insecurity and promote healthful eating habits among Veterans. Food insecurity refers to when people lack sufficient nutritious food or feel unsure of their ability to obtain an adequate amount of nutritious food. Food insecurity affects a growing number of Americans, ^[1] and Veterans are no exception.

At the Rockefeller Foundation's recent Big Bets Live 2025 event, Connor Drake, PhD, MPA, of HSR's Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT) in Durham, NC, spoke to the audience about the prevalence and complexity of food insecurity and its links to psychological and physical health problems such as depression, suicide ideation, diabetes, hypertension, and congestive heart failure. Dr. Drake said that food insecurity among Veterans creates a "toxic combination," as Veterans are at greater risk than non-Veterans for diet-sensitive chronic conditions. They are also more likely than non-Veterans to experience food insecurity.^[2]

Dr. Drake is leading an HSR randomized clinical trial made possible by funding from the North Carolina General Assembly and involving 1,500 Veteran households in Durham to examine the effects of an Eat Wellproduce prescription program, which is a type of Food is Medicine strategy that reduces cost barriers to healthful eating by providing funds for Veterans to spend on fruit and vegetables. Food Is Medicine programs integrate nutrition into healthcare and are a vital part of the Rockefeller Foundation's strategy to combat diet-related diseases; the produce prescription program is managed by the nonprofit Reinvestment Partners, a Rockefeller Foundation grantee.

As part of the clinical trial in Durham, Dr. Drake and his team are examining participating Veterans' health outcomes and healthcare utilization as well as changes in their well-being and quality of life. Similar Rockefeller Foundation-supported Food Is Medicine pilots are happening at VHA facilities in Maryland and New York, building upon programs in Texas and Utah, where HSR investigators are part of a team that is assessing the effectiveness and implementation of the produce prescription program at Houston and Salt Lake City VA medical centers.

Dr. Drake is a health services researcher and implementation scientist. His research focuses on the intersection of primary care, population health management, social determinants of health, chronic illness care, and virtual care, and includes studying care models that feature food and nutrition security interventions.

"It's a privilege to test how 'Food is Medicine' approaches can be offered to improve healthcare quality for Veterans. In partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation and the VHA Food Security Office, the studies occurring in Durham and at VA health systems across the country cement the VA's commitment to innovative strategies that recognize the fundamental role of food and nutrition in health."-Connor Drake, PhD, MPA

^[1] https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food

^[2] https://www.va.gov/HEALTHEQUITY/Ensuring_Food_Security_In_Veterans.asp