{"id":150725,"date":"2026-08-23T20:10:57","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T00:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/?p=150725"},"modified":"2026-08-23T20:10:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T00:10:57","slug":"kellyn-endorses-national-push-to-expand-food-is-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/?p=150725","title":{"rendered":"Kellyn Endorses National Push to Expand Food is Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kellyn endorses the Accountable Produce is Medicine Act, legislation designed to expand access to nutrition-based programs that help prevent and manage chronic disease.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

TATAMY, Pa. (August 20, 2026) \u2014<\/strong> Kellyn<\/u><\/a>, a physician-led community-rooted nonprofit, is one of the national endorsers of the Accountable Produce is Medicine Act (APIM) in both the House (H.R.8355<\/u><\/a>) and the Senate (S.5267<\/u><\/a>), legislation designed to expand access to Food is Medicine programs that help Americans prevent and manage chronic disease through healthy nutrition.<\/p>\n

Kellyn\u2019s support is grounded in nearly 20 years of experience connecting healthy food and community support to put these principles into practice across Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs physicians, we know that nutrition plays an important role in preventing and managing chronic disease, but telling someone to eat healthier is not the same as giving them the tools and resources to do it,\u201d said Meagan Grega, MD, co-founder and chief medical officer of Kellyn. \u201cFood is Medicine helps bridge that gap by connecting people with healthy food, education and the support they need to make lasting changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through its Intensive Lifestyle Medicine program, families and community members participate in a 12-month program that combines nutrition education, hands-on cooking classes, group support, and practical tools for incorporating whole-food, plant-forward meals into everyday life. The program reflects Kellyn\u2019s belief that lasting health changes require more than information: people need access, skills, support and an environment that makes healthy choices possible.<\/p>\n

That work is part of a broader Healthy Neighborhood Immersion Strategy that Kellyn has developed over nearly two decades to bridge the gap between clinical care and the communities where people live. Through lifestyle medicine, food access, culinary education, school-based programming and intensive lifestyle change interventions, Kellyn works alongside healthcare and community partners to address the conditions that shape health outside the exam room.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor nearly 20 years, Kellyn has been building the connection between health care and community because we know that lasting health changes cannot happen in the healthcare setting alone,\u201d said Eric Ruth, CEO and co-founder of Kellyn Foundation. \u201cEndorsing and Supporting the Accountable Produce is Medicine Act is an opportunity to help bring that same approach to more communities across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Accountable Produce is Medicine Act reflects many of the principles Kellyn has put into practice locally, creating a model to expand access to qualifying Food is Medicine programs and more closely connect nutrition interventions with healthcare.<\/p>\n

The APIM was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in April by Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., who represents Pennsylvania\u2019s 11th Congressional District, and Rep. Sharice Davids,<\/p>\n

D-Kan. In August, Sens. Jim Banks, R-Ind., and Alex Padilla, D-Calif., introduced companion legislation in the U.S. Senate.<\/p>\n

For Kellyn, the bipartisan momentum behind the legislation represents a larger shift in how health and chronic disease are addressed. Rather than treating nutrition solely as advice delivered during a medical appointment, Food is Medicine models create opportunities to integrate healthy food, education and ongoing support into the broader continuum of care. From its partnerships with Lehigh Valley neighborhoods and schools to its support of national Food is Medicine policy, Kellyn continues to work toward a future where healthy choices are not simply encouraged, but rather accessible, practical and supported.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

About Kellyn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Founded in 2007, Kellyn is a physician-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to making the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice. Kellyn’s “Healthy Neighborhood Immersion Strategy” provides<\/p>\n

school-based healthy lifestyle and “Garden as a Classroom” education; affordable and convenient access to nutrient-dense produce and delicious plant-powered prepared meals via the Eat Real Food Mobile Market; engages participants in hands-on, plant-forward cooking classes in community settings; and offers intensive medically-based therapeutic lifestyle change interventions to employers and community groups.<\/p>\n

Visit kellyn.org<\/u><\/a> to learn more.<\/p>\n

Information provided to TVL by:
\nGrace Levy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kellyn endorses the Accountable Produce is Medicine Act, legislation designed to expand access to nutrition-based programs that help prevent and manage chronic disease.\u00a0 TATAMY, Pa. (August 20, 2026) \u2014 Kellyn, a physician-led community-rooted nonprofit, is one of the national endorsers of the Accountable Produce is Medicine Act (APIM) in both the House (H.R.8355) and the … Continue reading Kellyn Endorses National Push to Expand Food is Medicine<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150726,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\r\n\r\n{excerpt}\r\n\r\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-150725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/kellyn.jpg?fit=672%2C372&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=150725"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150727,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150725\/revisions\/150727"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/150726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=150725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=150725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=150725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}