Greetings,

Summer, glorious summer. I hope that you have a chance to relax, recharge, and enjoy.

H2HC has been busy. Over the past several months, we have moved to new offices (across from South Station in Boston) and participated in annual conferences with the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) and Grantmakers in Health. In July we convened a webinar with several of our Prizes for Innovation winners (Community Food Advocates, Recipe4Health, and The Giving Grove) to share highlights of their experiences in moving their important work forward.

We are also collaborating this year with Newman's Own Foundation, Humanitix, and The Henry P. Kendall Foundation to co-fund 14 Food Justice for Kids Prizes. The $100k prizes are focused on innovative work in school food and nutrition education or Indigenous food justice for young people. Our 2026 Fall Summit will highlight the winners from around the country, and Summit participants will have an opportunity to meet the winners both in a poster session and reception and during mini problem-solving sessions over lunch.

Our Summit registration will open in the coming weeks. Together, we'll recognize change-making creativity from across the country and explore what progress looks like in practice.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Wishing you a wonderful late summer.

Warmly,

Nicolene Hengen

Executive Director

Blueprints for Change: From Innovation to Resilience

Monday and Tuesday, November 16-17, 2026 | Boston, MA

Please join us at our 2026 Fall Summit, Blueprints for Change: From Innovation to Resilience.

The Summit will feature an opportunity to meet the 14 winners of the Food Justice for Kids Prize, a $1.4M collaboration between H2HC, Newman’s Own Foundation, Humanitix, and The Henry P. Kendall Foundation. Prize winners are from across the country and are doing exciting, innovative work in school food and nutrition education and Indigenous food justice.

Registration will open in a few weeks, and we invite you to sign up for updates.

Community Eligibility: The Key to Hunger-Free Schools

The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)'s latest report, Community Eligibility: The Key to Hunger-Free Schools, analyzes Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) adoption—nationally and for each state and the District of Columbia—in the 2025-2026 school year. It documents that the number of schools participating in CEP increased in the 2025-2026 school year, but the pace of growth slowed substantially compared with recent years.

How H.R. 1's SNAP Policy Changes Are Affecting the Food System

A new policy brief, One Year Later: How H.R. 1's SNAP Policy Changes Are Reverberating Across the Food System, from the Global Food Institute at the George Washington University and the Center for Science in the Public Interest examines the first year of implementation of H.R. 1’s SNAP changes. It documents an immediate 10% decline in SNAP participation (more than 4M people) between July 2025 and March 2026 and examines the long-term implications of the law's historic 20% ($187B) reduction in federal SNAP funding from 2025-2034. It also explores the effects of the law’s eligibility restrictions, funding cuts, and cost shifts to states and highlights the broad implications for food security and nutrition policy.

Food is Medicine Toolkit

Developed by the Food is Medicine Institute and Kaiser Permanente, the Food is Medicine Toolkit is a guide for clinicians, health system leaders, and communities to design, implement, and sustain Food is Medicine (FIM) programs. The Toolkit provides actionable strategies, evidence-based program design options, and implementation resources to help care teams deliver FIM programs and tools tailored to patient populations, organizational capacity, and the reimbursement landscape.

Democratizing Our Data Dashboard



Democratizing Our Data is a project from Children’s HealthWatch designed to make portions of its extensive dataset on young children and families experiencing economic hardship more accessible. The project will help advocates, researchers, policymakers, and community organizations understand how policies on food security, housing, income, and other social drivers affect child health and well-being and will strengthen evidence-based advocacy for children and families.

2026 State Health Disparities Report

The Commonwealth Fund’s 2026 State Health Disparities Report provides a comprehensive analysis of racial and ethnic disparities in health care access, quality, and outcomes across all 50 states and D.C. Using more than 25 measures, the report identifies where states have made measurable progress, such as expanding insurance coverage and reducing avoidable hospitalizations, and where significant gaps remain, including disparities in maternal mortality, preventable deaths, chronic disease, and access to affordable care. As an example, the report finds that adults in Mississippi are more than three times as likely to forgo needed care because of cost as those in Massachusetts, illustrating how state policies can shape health outcomes.

‘My Shelves Are Very Empty’: How a Year of SNAP Cuts Is Pressuring the Food System | Civil Eats (July 16, 2026)

Cash Transfers and Child Health in the US: What is Known and What Questions Remain | Health Affairs (July 16, 2026)

How DC Central Kitchen Keeps Expanding While Other Nonprofits Shrink | Chronicle of Philanthropy (July 8, 2026)

The Quiet Unraveling of America's Food Safety Net | Politico (June 22, 2026)

ABOUT H2HC



The Hunger to Health Collaboratory (H2HC) convenes cross-sector thought leaders to explore systemic solutions to food and nutrition challenges with a focus on health equity and the social drivers of health. Since 2018, H2HC has supported work that addresses food and nutrition challenges through community-driven solutions, policy innovation, and cross-sector partnerships.

MEMBERS

Contact us at info@h2hcollaboratory.org.