The Food Farmacy Act of 2025 would authorize a new grant program under the Public Health Service Act to support the establishment and operation of healthy food pharmacies. The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture, may award grants to eligible entities to cover construction, equipment, staffing, and food distribution, including mobile formats, and to provide nutritional guidance to patrons.
The program prioritizes communities that are low income, rural, or facing food insecurity and requires grantees to plan for sustaining activities after grant funds end. Eligibility is limited to non-profit qualified health care providers, state or local government entities, and Tribal organizations, with a strong emphasis on integrating nutrition services with existing health care delivery and the Department’s Food is Medicine initiative.
At a Glance
What It Does
Creates a grant program (Sec. 320C) to fund the establishment and operation of healthy food pharmacies. Grants may cover construction, equipment (including mobile pharmacies), staffing, and food distribution, and must support nutrition guidance by qualified professionals.
Who It Affects
Eligible entities (non-profit health care providers, state/local governments, and Tribal organizations) and their patients, including Medicaid and SNAP beneficiaries, in communities prioritized for low income, rurality, or food insecurity.
Why It Matters
This sets a federal mechanism to embed nutrition access and guidance within health care delivery, expanding the reach of nutrition-based interventions and aligning with the Food is Medicine initiative to improve health outcomes and reduce food insecurity.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill creates a federal grant program to support healthy food pharmacies, defined as organizations that provide nutritious foods and professional nutrition guidance. Grants can be used for building or renovating facilities, purchasing equipment (including for mobile pharmacies), hiring staff, and acquiring food for distribution.
Grantees may partner with others to advance health outcomes and address food insecurity, and grants must prioritize serving low-income, rural, or food-insecure communities. Specific eligibility is limited to non-profit qualified health care providers, state or local governments, and Tribal organizations, and the programs must offer nutrition guidance from qualified professionals and free food and guidance to Medicaid or SNAP beneficiaries.
Grantees must apply with a plan to continue activities after grant funds end, including retaining staff. The Secretary may waive certain requirements to implement the program and must require annual reporting on service reach and outcomes, with Congress receiving a biennial program summary.
The program is authorized at $10 million per year for 2026–2030.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill creates Section 320C in the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants for healthy food pharmacies.
Grants may be used for construction/renovation, equipment (including mobile pharmacies), staffing, and food distribution.
Eligible entities are non-profit qualified health care providers, state/local governments, and Tribal organizations.
Grant amounts are capped at $500,000 per eligible entity per fiscal year, with waivers allowed and a continuation plan required.
Annual reporting to the Secretary on patron reach, health needs, outcomes, foods provided, and connection to other anti-hunger programs; $10 million annual appropriation (2026–2030).
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Grant program scope and objectives
This section establishes a new grant program within the Public Health Service Act to support the establishment and operation of healthy food pharmacies. It signals the federal intent to use grants to expand access to nutritious foods and provide nutrition guidance, with priority given to underserved communities.
Authority to make grants and allowed uses
The Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture, may award grants to eligible entities. Grants may fund construction, renovation, equipment (including mobile options), staffing, and the acquisition of food and materials necessary for distribution. The aim is to create sustainable, service-rich pharmacies that can connect patients with health-support services.
Eligibility and eligible entities
Eligible entities include non-profit qualified health care providers, state or local government entities, and Tribal organizations. Eligibility requires the entity to offer a range of services, including access to nutritious foods and nutrition guidance from a qualified health care professional, and to prioritize communities facing food insecurity, rural areas, or low-income circumstances.
Applications and continuation planning
Applicants must submit an application with the information the Secretary requires and include a plan for continuing activities after grant funds are no longer available, including strategies to retain staff hired with grant funds. This ensures a path to sustainability beyond initial funding.
Partnerships
Grantees may operate in partnership with other organizations pursuing reductions in food insecurity and improvements in health outcomes. This allows leveraging existing programs and networks to extend reach and efficiency.
Grant limits and waivers
The Secretary may not award more than $500,000 in grants to a single eligible entity in a fiscal year. The Secretary may waive certain requirements of title 11 of the Social Security Act as necessary to carry out the program, enabling smoother implementation when appropriate.
Reporting and definitions
Recipients must report annually on patron numbers, health needs, repeated use, health outcomes, types of food distributed, and connections to other anti-poverty programs. The Secretary must compile a Congress-wide biennial report summarizing these findings. Key definitions cover what constitutes a healthy food pharmacy and who qualifies as a health care professional for nutrition guidance.
Appropriations
The bill authorizes $10,000,000 in annual appropriations for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to fund the grants and related activities.
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Explore Healthcare in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Non-profit qualified health care providers gain access to federal grants to establish or expand healthy food pharmacies, covering construction, equipment, staffing, and food distribution.
- State and local government health departments receive funds to create and operate community-based healthy food pharmacies and coordinate with other public health programs.
- Tribal organizations can establish or enhance food pharmacies serving tribal communities, prioritizing food security and health outcomes.
- Medicaid beneficiaries receive free or reduced-cost nutritious foods and nutrition guidance through participating pharmacies.
- SNAP beneficiaries benefit from improved access to nutritious foods and guidance as part of the program’s service model.
Who Bears the Cost
- Grant recipients (eligible entities) bear ongoing operating costs after grant funds end and must implement a plan to sustain staffing and services.
- Federal taxpayers fund the program through annual appropriations, recognizing the cost of grant awards and agency administration.
- The Department of Health and Human Services (as program administrator) incurs costs for grant oversight, compliance, and annual reporting requirements.
- The Department of Agriculture (in coordinating nutrition guidance and dietary guidelines alignment) bears coordination and administrative costs to ensure program consistency with nutrition standards.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is whether to front-load resources to rapidly scale access to healthy food pharmacies or to impose strict long-term sustainability safeguards that could limit initial growth. The bill attempts to balance this by providing a continuation plan and waivers, but the tension remains between achieving immediate health benefits and ensuring durable, accountable program operations.
The bill creates a sizable new grant program that faces several policy tensions. On one hand, rapid expansion of healthy food pharmacies could meaningfully improve access to nutritious foods and nutrition guidance for underserved communities.
On the other hand, the program relies on finite annual appropriations and requires grantees to plan for sustainability after grant support ends, raising questions about long-term viability and potential gaps between funding cycles. The requirement to report on patron health outcomes and program reach will generate valuable data but also imposes administrative burdens on grantees and the federal agency.
The waiver authority for certain SSA requirements could facilitate implementation in diverse settings but may raise concerns about federal oversight and consistency across grantees.
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