Baltimore, MD — The Maryland Department of Health today announced the launch of its Medically Tailored Meals program, a central element of the Department’s wide-ranging food initiative. The official launch took place at Moveable Feast in Baltimore City, in partnership with Moveable Feast and Food & Friends, underscoring the state’s commitment to improving health and cost of care through better food access and nutrition.

“We are excited to bring this life-changing program to our community,” said Maryland Department of Health Secretary Dr. Meena Seshamani. “Proper nutrition is a critical aspect of managing chronic conditions, and our medically tailored meals will help bridge the gap for those who need it most.”

The Medically Tailored Meals Program is a free, six-month service that provides freshly prepared, nutritionally balanced meals tailored to each participant’s specific dietary needs. This program is intended to support disease management, reduce hospitalizations, and elevate the quality of life for vulnerable Marylanders. The service will be available in six counties: Prince George’s, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Dorchester, Somerset, and Allegany.

“We can all relate to the stress of ending up in the emergency room or hospital, but for those facing the dual challenge of food insecurity and chronic illness — the stress is even greater,” said Moveable Feast CEO Sue Elias. “As partners in the state’s Medically Tailored Meals program, Moveable Feast and Food & Friends will deliver meals to Marylanders that not only maintain their health, but also preserve their dignity, and avoid unnecessary trips to the hospital.”

This large-scale launch is the first major effort stemming from the Population Health Improvement Fund, a requirement of the AHEAD model focused on addressing non-clinical drivers of health, such as food insecurity. In partnership with Moveable Feast and Food & Friends, participants will receive:

• 12 frozen, medically tailored entrees per week, designed to meet individual medical requirements.
• Oral nutrition supplements, when prescribed by a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist.
• Ongoing nutritional counseling and comprehensive support.
• Convenient home delivery for easy access.

“Medically tailored meals are proven to improve health outcomes and reduce health care costs. In a recent Food & Friends study, 71% of diabetic clients experienced a reduction in A1c levels after starting services, with 44% seeing a drop of 1 point or more. Our collaboration with Moveable Feast demonstrated that diabetic participants receiving services saw a 27% reduction in hospital charges,” said Food & Friends CEO Carrie Stoltzfus. “Through our partnership with the Maryland Department of Health, we look forward to measuring this impact on a larger scale and delivering meaningful results for our neighbors and the state.”

The Maryland Department of Health is expanding this initiative by planning a Produce Prescriptions program. This program is set to be rolled out later this year, in partnership with ENOUGH communities.

Additionally, the Department is leveraging federal funds to close critical gaps in the food system. This funding will help ensure that more Maryland-produced foods are incorporated into state food programs.

The Rockefeller Foundation also chose Maryland to apply for its Food is Medicine State Officer Program. This participation will help the state strengthen its capacity and advance policies that expand access to healthy food for individuals with diet-related health conditions.

To learn more about the Medically Tailored Meals program or to enroll, please visit health.maryland.gov/mtmprogram.

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BALTIMORE — Aberdeen Proving Ground Federal Credit Union employees volunteered to pack meals for families in need.

They partnered with Moveable Feast as part of APGFCU’s first-ever Volunteer Week.

“This is a part of our weeklong volunteer initiative, rolling out our brand-new volunteer hour benefit for employees,” said Bre Hill, APGFCU’s director of community impact. “Every day this week, 70 volunteers went out to five different organizations to address things like food insecurity, community development, homelessness. So, this is just a part of that week and a way for us to celebrate giving back to the community.”

Demand for emergency food assistance is at its highest. Moveable Feast delivers medically tailored meals to people with chronic illness.

“Volunteers are pretty much everything that we do. It’s kind of like the lifeblood of our organization,” said Isaiah Maki, an executive chef at Moveable Feast. “Every day that we’re open, we have volunteers come in here. I’ve never been here myself a day that we haven’t had volunteers come in. So, every step of the way — from packaging the meals to preparing the meals to bagging the meals — we even have volunteers to come in and help drive and deliver the meals every day. So, they’re there every step of the way of everything that we’re doing here.”

Last year, Moveable Feast delivered more than 427,000 meals to 2,304 people across Maryland.

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BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Moveable Feast wants you to dine out and give back to the community as part of their ‘Dining Out For Life’ fundraiser on Thursday, October 9th.

On a Wednesday edition of FOX45 Morning News, Megan Gilliland discussed what’s going in to the final preparations for the event and the more than 40 participating restaurants. You can watch the full discussion by clicking on the video included above, and for more segments like this one be sure to tune in to FOX45 Morning News every weekday from 4:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

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The new data came from the study commissioned by Moveable Feast and its Washington, D.C. counterpart, Food & Friends.  A Baltimore-based meal delivery service, Moveable Feast pioneered the Food is Medicine approach in Maryland. It began as a response to the AIDS crisis nearly four decades ago and has evolved into a comprehensive program linking nutrition and quality healthcare.

The study looked for what impact, if any, Moveable Feast’s MTMs had on hospitalization utilization costs and potentially avoidable utilization (PAU) visits. The results showed that the program helped a significant percentage of patients with diet-sensitive conditions avoid hospitalization and save money.

Participants who received Moveable Feasts MTMs saw a 33% reduction in hospital charges, an average savings of $10,640 per patient over six months. There was a 21% drop in potentially avoidable inpatient hospitalizations and a 24% reduction in hospital visits. Additionally, the top 25%of spenders, who accounted for 77% of charges in the six-month period before getting medically tailored meals, saw a 59% reduction in hospital charges. This amounted to an average savings of $55,379 per patient over six months.

“Our clients have complex health and social needs, and navigating those systems to get help can be confusing and stressful,” said Sue Elias, CEO of Moveable Feast, in a statement. “This data provides us with the opportunity to build on existing relationships with our healthcare partners. Together, we can deliver more than food to Marylanders living with serious chronic illnesses. We can deliver hope.”

The study’s results boost the argument that Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance should cover MTMs for patients with diet-sensitive conditions like renal disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, and more.

“We hear from our clients every day that we’re making a difference in their lives, and these results reinforce that: a reduction in hospitalizations represents more time that people feel like themselves, and more time that they get to spend at home with family,” said Carrie Stoltzfus, CEO of Food & Friends, in a statement. “We make a difference for individuals and for systems; we’re giving people the opportunity to live with dignity and stability during an illness, while easing the strain on our healthcare system.”

Food & Friends and Moveable Feast two of only 13 organizations nationwide that have earned national accreditation from the Food Is Medicine Coalition (FIMC). This is a prestigious recognition of their leadership in the field of delivering medically tailored meals, meaning their MTMs meet the highest standards of quality, safety, and evidenced-based practice.

Both organizations stress the study’s results demonstrate the need for broader integration of MTM services into healthcare systems. Food insecurity and diet-related disease are on the rise. The groups argue that MTMs are compassionate and cost-effective.

Moveable Feast’s program typically provides clients with 10 frozen, medically tailored entrees, a bag of around 10 servings of fresh fruits and/or vegetables, and when there are dependents living in the home, they include additional meals and grocery items for the dependents. Additionally, the delivery includes a friendly visit to let often-isolated people know they matter and that others care about them. They serve Baltimore City and 14 Maryland counties, some as far as 140 miles away from their Milton Avenue kitchen.

Combined, Moveable Feast and Food & Friends delivered more than 2.5 million meals last year across Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia. People facing cancer, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, heart disease, and other serious illnesses had nourishing, healthy meals essential for their recovery and future well-being.

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They talked about how the organization has been impacted by COVID-19, like how their signature “Dining Out For Life” fundraiser is now “Take Out Thursday.” Now thru September 17th, grab a meal to go to help them reach their goal of $100,000. Go to mfest.org/DiningOutForLife for a list of participating restaurants. Join them August 20th for their next #TakeOutThursday Facebook Live streaming event. 

Listen to the full interview on the Today’s 101.9 website.

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Listen to full interview on the 98 Rock website.

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By: Megan Knight Posted at 5:00 PM, Jul 21, 2020 and last updated 7:30 PM, Jul 21, 2020 BALTIMORE — COVID-19 has changed just about every facet of daily life, including the way non-profits raise funds. Moveable Feast’s Dining Out for Life event is no different. The fundraiser usually happens on one day each year, where participating restaurants donate a portion or all of the proceeds from lunch and/or dinner that day. But because the restaurant industry has taken such a hard hit financially due to the pandemic, Moveable Feast decided to change things up this year. The non-profit is asking people to donate on their own and continue to support local restaurants. Throughout the fundraiser, which goes until September 17, they will be holding #TakeoutThursdays live stream events for people to enjoy while they are eating in with takeout meals from restaurants. The next #TakeoutThursdays event is an online cooking class with dietitians from Moveable Feast, who will be grilling, making frozen treats and more. Moveable Feast started in the early 1990’s in Baltimore City to provide services to people living with HIV/AIDS. They have since expanded to 15 counties throughout the state and gives free meals to those who are dealing with chronic illnesses and are food insecure. Since the pandemic started, there have been no volunteers to help with the work but they have continued to prep and package about 8,000 meals a week for their clients. “We’ve gone from 150 volunteers every week to six kitchen staff and 10 administrative staff, so that’s quite the difference,” said Angie Kelley, the volunteer manager at Moveable Feast. And because so many of their clients are unable to leave the house due to the risk of contracting COVID-19, Kelley says their services are crucial. “We have continued to make our medically-tailored meals that are all catered towards their dietary needs, and essentially our healthy meals are part of what keeps them out of the hospital which is so important right now,” Kelley said. To donate to Dining Out for Life and see the #TakeoutThursdays live stream schedule, click here.

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