New approach to prevention showcased in Food as Medicine session 

The Western Public Health Unit (WPHU) was proud to host a session at Sunshine Hospital exploring how “Food as Medicine” approaches can help reduce chronic disease and improve health and wellbeing outcomes in the community. 

The event featured Dr. Steven Chen, a Chief Medical Officer from California, US who leads the Recipe 4Health program, an award-winning initiative where health professionals prescribe and provide healthy food and nutrition as part of healthcare. More than 130 people attended in person and online, including clinicians, public health professionals, and community partners.  

Recipe4Health supports people with chronic conditions and food insecurity by connecting them with healthy food and nutrition care as part of their treatment and provides health coaching and conversations on sources of healthy food. Over five years, the program has shown it can improve health and wellbeing and reduce hospital visits, as well as bring economic benefits to participating local farmers. 

Poor diet is a well-known major cause of preventable chronic disease. During his talk, Dr. Chen outlined how only 10 percent of adults met the recommended daily servings for vegetables in the US and only 12 percent for fruit. This compares with Melbourne’s west where fewer than 3% of adults meet the recommended fruit and vegetable intake. 

Dr Chen spoke about the broad systems challenge of how health, agriculture and food systems remain largely disconnected. 

“Small changes can make a meaningful difference, noting that increasing fruit and vegetable intake by one serving per day can reduce all-cause mortality by five per cent,” he said. 

Director of the Western Public Health Unit, Dr. Finn Romanes said, “The strong turnout of over 130 health professionals shows a shared commitment across clinicians, public health professionals and community partners to explore innovative approaches like Food as Medicine. Bringing people together in this way is essential for improving health outcomes across Melbourne’s west.” 

Veronica Graham, Adjunct Assoc Prof and Senior Manager for Population Health, said: “Nourishing food is the foundation of better health and wellbeing. We are working to make small changes in the local food system to make it easier for people to get an extra serve of vegetables or fruit.” 

Food as Medicine approaches like Recipe4Health show what is possible when we focus on healthy food as a way to prevent and manage chronic conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancers.  

The evidence-based program INFANT from Deakin helps young families to give their babies and toddlers the best start in life with healthy habits like good nutrition, active play and less screen time. Backed by the Western Public Health Unit, modelling shows that if children aged 0–2 in our catchment consumed just one additional serve of vegetables per day, this could result in significant long-term health gains, including approximately $182 million in healthcare cost savings. 

For WPHU, these insights align closely with ongoing efforts to strengthen healthy food systems, reduce chronic disease risk, improve health fairness, and lower healthcare costs across Melbourne’s West. 

Food as Medicine webinar recording

To learn more about Dr Steven Chen’s Food as Medicine model, watch the webinar below, presented on Monday 20 April at Sunshine Hospital.

Last updated: 21 April 2026