CINCINNATI — Kroger outlined new efforts in its quest to fight hunger and create healthier communities during the Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health convened by President Joe Biden.

Rodney McMullen

Kroger chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen participated in the Conference aimed at ending hunger and increasing healthy eating and physical activity among Americans.

“We are proud to join the White House and dozens of public, private and non-profit organizations who share our longstanding commitments to end hunger, eliminate food waste, and improve health and nutrition for all Americans,” said Rodney McMullen, Kroger’s chairman and CEO. “As Kroger marks our fifth anniversary of Zero Hunger | Zero Waste and remains on track to donate 3 billion meals by 2025 and our Kroger Health business is uniquely positioned to provide care at the nexus of food and medicine, we welcome and applaud this collective focus on new initiatives and innovative ways to support our shared missions.”

Kroger outlined the following commitments to end hunger and create healthier communities:

• Advance Food as Medicine platform nationwide: The Rockefeller Foundation, the American Heart Association, and Kroger will seek to mobilize $250 million to build a national Food as Medicine research initiative to improve the health and well-being of millions of Americans, reduce healthcare costs for insured populations and improve health equity.
• Launch a new Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Innovation Fund in partnership with Kroger Health: Building on the past success with the Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Innovation Fund, the new fund will announce an open call for startup and scalable solutions that improve health outcomes. It will invite new ideas, engage a wide range of entrepreneurs through grantee workshops and skill-building sessions, and pilot viable solutions.
• Expand access to expert, credible and convenient care through telehealth services: With the recent removal of originating site restrictions for government-funded telehealth nutrition care, Kroger will explore how opportunities for telehealth nutrition counseling will impact outcomes.
• Empower all consumers to make and have access to healthy choices by expanding OptUP nutritional scoring: Kroger will collaborate with other grocery retailers to implement OptUP system to test and determine whether it can transform into a national nutrition scoring system.

Concurrent with the Conference convened by the White House, Kroger Health brought together a coalition of leaders passionate about improving population health through food and nutrition for an industry roundtable discussion and watch party of the White House Conference official events