One in seven Central Floridians lives with food insecurity. One in ten Central Floridians has been diagnosed with three or more different chronic health conditions. Those two facts aren’t a coincidence.
Central Florida is chronically ill in part because people aren’t getting the nutrition they need to be healthy. When you don’t have stable access to food, you’re at a much higher risk of developing diseases like hypertension (impacting 1 in 3 Floridians), diabetes (impacting 1 in 10 Floridians), and heart disease (impacting 1.4 million Floridians, and the leading cause of death in the state).
Getting healthy meals on the tables of food-insecure neighbors is one of the best and most cost-effective tools we can leverage to improve public health. And at Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, we’ve already started putting it into practice. In fact, 73% of the 82 million meals distributed last year were fresh, nutritious foods.
In addition to food distribution, Second Harvest is working alongside partners in the healthcare industry, to proactively screen patients for food insecurity and connect at-risk households to healthy food, sometimes even before they leave the doctor’s office. In just a few years, those systemic changes have benefited more than 240,000 individuals.
A balanced diet can lower blood pressure, improve heart health, and help prevent or manage chronic conditions like diabetes. For high-need patients and homebound seniors, Second Harvest offers options like Medically Tailored Meals (MTM), which are designed by a registered dietician nutritionist to meet specific nutrition needs and prevent repeat hospital visits. When patients discharged at Central Florida hospitals were enrolled in the MTM program, their likelihood of readmission fell from 43% to just 8.2%.
Even for lower-risk patients, a small intervention can pay significant dividends. Some of the families supported by Second Harvest have limited transportation or a language barrier that can make it hard to access healthcare; but providing food and a bus pass makes it much more likely that they’ll return for follow-up appointments – a major concern in some rural areas, where no-show rates can be as high as 70%.
Beyond the doctor’s office, Second Harvest is also bringing nutrition education to the wider community. Patients who have limited access to healthy food may not know what to look for on a nutrition label, or how to prepare recipes to minimize sodium or cholesterol – but they can learn those skills through free nutrition education classes.
Tackling health and hunger at the same time yields cascading benefits, including many that don’t show up on a lab report. It means fewer emergency room visits for easily avoidable health conditions, leaving more beds free for patients with other critical care needs. It lowers the risk of health complications. It saves money – $2,600 per hospital stay, on average. And it reduces the strain on family caregivers who otherwise couldn’t afford to care for someone with serious medical needs.
Food is foundational to health, and having access to a balanced, nourishing diet can be life-changing. “My blood pressure and heart rate are better,” said a Central Florida senior who was referred to Second Harvest’s Medically Tailored Meals program. “I was able to get off my diabetes medication, I lost some pounds – medically, this saved me probably thousands of dollars.”
The bottom line is simple: Fighting hunger is feeding health. And thanks to a community of partners, volunteers, donors and neighbors, we’re well on our way to a healthier Central Florida.
With gratitude,
Dawn Koffarnus, MBA
Chief Health Systems and Financial Officer
This guest column originally appeared in The Orlando Sentinel on March 8, 2026.
