Food as Medicine Gathering at Hopkins Bloomberg Center to Empower Black Entrepreneurs

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WASHINGTON – What was missing from the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health? One organization shared what was missing on the agenda, including access to capital, capacity building, and cultural competency in the foods as medicine movement.

That’s why on October 20-21, 2024, WANDA (Women Advancing Nutrition, Dietetics, and Agriculture), Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, and Johns Hopkins University (JHU) & Medicine Ward Infinity will co-host the inaugural Food as Medicine in the Black Community Gathering at the prestigious Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center (formerly the Newseum) located at 555 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC. 

This invite-only event, emceed by Michelle Miller, co-host of CBS Saturday, will convene Black food entrepreneurs, health professionals, philanthropy leaders, investors, policymakers, media makers, and cultural leaders for two transformative days of discussions, networking, and celebrating foods of the African diaspora from the Americas to Africa that heal our communities.

Food as medicine

Last Fall, Forbes Magazine reported that if patients on Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance with diet-related conditions like diabetes ate food nutritionally designed to stimulate their recovery, an estimated 1.6 million hospitalizations could be avoided annually. There could even be an estimated net savings of $13.6 billion in healthcare costs in the first year alone. 

“This gathering is about more than just food—it’s about healing our communities, rethinking economic development, saving healthcare dollars, and creating a new narrative for Black food culture,” said Tambra Raye Stevenson, MPH, MA, Founder and CEO of WANDA: Women Advancing Nutrition Dietetics and Agriculture.

“Building upon our successful food as medicine roundtables, we are designing an ecosystem and an agenda to create generational health and wealth in our communities through the power of African diasporan foods,” Stevenson said.

“Ward Infinity is committed to empowering social entrepreneurs who co-design health solutions with underinvested communities. The Food as Medicine in the Black Community Gathering spotlights how health experts, advocates, and entrepreneurs are advancing nutritious food access and health equity. These advocates and founders are reshaping health in their communities,” says Al J. Browne, Director of Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Ward Infinity.

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Food advocates

Healthcare professionals at Johns Hopkins say food is a powerful tool for healing in the Black community—and many other cultures worldwide. They add that we must reclaim and combine our cultural food wisdom with evidence-based health and nutrition research.

“Our work with the THRIVE Food is Medicine project at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing embodies this, demonstrating how culturally tailored community-designed food is medicine interventions can significantly improve cardiovascular health outcomes in our communities,” says Oluwabunmi “Bunmi” Ogungbe, PhD, MPH, RN, Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“With support from the Johns Hopkins Nexus Awards and in partnership with WANDA and Johns Hopkins Ward Infinity, we challenge attendees to become advocates for food as medicine in their own spheres, transforming the health of our communities one meal at a time.”

Attendees will hear remarks from:

Senator Cory Booker, James Beard Award-winning author Dr. Psyche Williams-Forson, American Studies Department Chair at the University of Maryland-College Park, Maria Harris Tildon, VP, Government, Community and Economic Partnerships, JHU & Medicine, Dr. Kofi Essel, Food as Medicine Director of Elevance Health, Dr. Caree Cotwright, Sr. Health and Nutrition Equity Advisor of USDA, Dr. Alison Brown of NIH, Dr. Minkah Makalani, Associate Professor and JHU Director of the Center for Africana Studies.

Other attendees include Dr. Thomas DeWeese, Dean and CEO of JHU & Medicine, Ambassador Ertharin Cousin of Food Systems for the Future Institute, Lisa D. Sanders, Health Care by Food™ National Executive Director of American Heart Association, Ken Jones, VP of the MacArthur Foundation, and Dana Thomas, Food as Medicine Director of the Rockefeller Foundation, along with other influential leaders.

The Nexus Convening Grant from Johns Hopkins University and the Jane Bancroft Robinson Foundation supports this event.

Register today

From the Mecca Marketplace, Sankofa Stage to the Taste of Diaspora Luncheon catered by What The Chef, this inaugural engaging event will feature keynote talks and panel discussions on culturally tailored nutrition, investment strategies for health-forward Black culinary, farming, nutrition and food entrepreneurs, and the integration of culinary medicine and nutrition into clinical and community practices.

Attendees will be able to connect with thought leaders and explore how African and diasporan foods can serve as medicine for the body, business, and the community.

To learn more and request to attend, visit: http://bit.ly/fambc24  (Register directly: http://bit.ly/fambcg24)