Community Servings to Host "Food as Medicine" Symposium at Harvard Law School in Honor of National Food Day

Community Servings, a not-for-profit food and nutrition organization that provides medically tailored home-delivered meals to individuals battling life-threatening illnesses, is proud to partner with Harvard Law School’s Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation to host the second annual Food as Medicine Symposium on the importance of food in healthcare initiatives.

The Symposium, which will take place at the Harvard campus on Thursday, October 30th, will take an in-depth look at the critical role that nutritious, medically tailored meals and food play in outcome-driven, cost-effective healthcare. Panelists, representing various sectors of the healthcare industry, will speak about the innovative new partnership between food providers and health insurers in Massachusetts, cutting-edge research that will demonstrate the efficacy of food as a medical intervention, and policy reform opportunities to further integrate healthy food into routine medical care. All around the country, a coalition of organizations similar to Community Servings is pushing for increased recognition of the power of food to heal and sustain health, and to determine how these programs can be incorporated into the healthcare system to enhance patient outcomes and reduce overall costs.

For additional information about this event or to register to attend please visit: http://servings.org/events/events.cfm

When: Thursday, October 30, 2014
6:00 pm – 8:00 PM

Where: Harvard Law School, Wasserstein Caspersen Center

1585 Massachusetts Ave (corner of Mass Ave and Everett Street)

Room 2012

Cambridge, MA 02138

United States

Moderated by Corby Kummer of The Atlantic;

Panelists:
David Waters, CEO, Community Servings
Robert Greenwald, Director, Harvard Law School’s Center on Health Law and Policy Innovation

Kim Prendergast, RD, MPP, National Diabetes Initiative at Feeding America

Deborah Wexler, MD, Co-Director, Mass. General Hospital Diabetes Center

About Community Servings

Community Servings is a not-for-profit food and nutrition program that provides services throughout Massachusetts to people with critical or chronic illnesses. Their services include: providing nutritious and appealing meals to patients, caregivers, and their dependent families; nutrition education and counseling programs; a local foods program; and several other programs dedicated to healthy food choices and knowledge. Community Servings is devoted to helping clients maintain their health and dignity.

About the Speakers:

David Waters is the CEO of Community Servings and has been involved with Community Servings as a board member, volunteer and staff person since it’s founding over twenty years ago and became the Executive Director/CEO in 1999. With a staff of about 40, the agency delivers lunch, dinner and a snack to 1,300 critically ill individuals and families per year across over 215 square miles. In 2008, the agency added a new food service job training program, a social enterprise effort feeding local schools, and several local foods initiatives including a Farmers Market, herb garden, CSA and CSF. Community Servings has been awarded a coveted four-star rating for its efficient and effective business model for providing nutrition services to the critically ill by Charity Navigator, America’s premier independent charity evaluator. With 35 years experience in food service management, David served as the General Manager of UpStairs at the Pudding restaurant in Cambridge for eight years, where he first created Community Servings annual Pie in the Sky Thanksgiving pie sale, which is now replicated in cities around the country.

Robert Greenwald has over twenty years experience in the fields of health, public health and HIV law and policy. At Harvard Law School, Robert is a Clinical Professor of Law, Managing Director of the Legal Services Center, and Director of the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation. Robert and his staff and students are engaged in state and national research, policy development and advocacy on health law and policy initiatives. In addition to his responsibilities at Harvard Law School, Robert is currently serving as the Director of the Treatment Access Expansion Project, as co-chair of the HIV Health Care Access Working Group, and as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. Robert also serves as a member of the board of the Bessie Tart Wilson Initiative for Children and the Technical Assistance Collaborative for Housing. Robert has served as the Director of Public Policy and Legal Affairs for the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, as an advisor to the President’s National Commission on AIDS and the Health Resources Services Administration/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Community Advisory Board, and as a board member of the AIDS Action Council of Washington D.C. and the National Lesbian and Gay Bar Association.

Kim Prendergast, RD, MPP is a Consultant for the National Diabetes Initiative at Feeding America. Feeding America is a program that provides low-income individuals and families with sustenance to live. It is the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, supplying food to more than 37 million Americans a year. In the United States it is comprised of more than 200 member food banks that support 61,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms. She also serves as the Executive Director of the MetroWest Free Medical Program and is the Website Chair for Hunger and Environmental Nutrition.

Deborah Wexler, MD serves as the Co-Clinical Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Diabetes Center. She has been an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School for the past 14 years. Dr. Wexler is also the Associate Program Director for Clinical Research in the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. Her research has focused on optimizing the care of people with type-2 diabetes. She has been an integral part of innovation in diabetes care models that translate lifestyle and behavioral approaches to helping diabetes self-management. She has written and published a variety of articles and editorials. Dr. Wexler has been a research mentor to junior faculty, fellows, residents, and medical students. She also practices and treats diabetes and general endocrinology patients.