Scaling Food As Medicine, Redesigning the Way We Eat

In a special segment, recorded at the Hot Topics Studio stage at IFT FIRST 2025, we’re listening in as The Rockefeller Foundation’s Dana Thomas talks with IFT’s Anna Rosales about scaling up food as medicine programs into sustainable models that can reach millions of people. Michiel Bakker, president of the Culinary Institute of America and former head of Google’s Global Workplace Programs, including Food at Google, calls on food and beverage companies to innovate with greater intention. In his keynote at IFT FIRST, he urged industry leaders to move beyond taste, convenience, and cost—and embrace food as experience design to better support human and planetary health.

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GUESTS

Dana Thomas, JD, is managing director, Food is Medicine with the Rockefeller Foundation and is a healthcare law and policy professional with diverse experience in the public and private sectors. She joined Rockefeller Foundation from a Medicaid-focused startup where she led Growth Partnerships. She spent almost a decade with Elevance Health, a multi-state national health insurer, where she worked in various roles supporting the Medicaid line of business. She has also held roles in nonprofit organizations and in the U.S. Congress where she worked on policies to expand healthcare access for underserved populations and communities. She holds a law degree and a certificate in health policy from The George Washington University.

Anna Rosales, RD, is senior director of government affairs and nutrition at the Institute of Food Technology. She is an expert on nutrition and culinary arts and has experience working with clientele from private individuals to multinational corporations. She offers a unique dual specialty in regulatory affairs/food law and nutrition communications. Previously Anna was the director of nutrition and science communications for Barilla, one of the world’s leading Italian food companies. Prior to her work at Barilla, she was the corporate dietitian for Yakult, the Japanese probiotic company, where she educated health professionals and consumers on the benefits of probiotics.

Michiel Bakker is president of the Culinary Institute of America and former head of Google’s Global Workplace Programs, including Food at Google. Bakker delivered the opening keynote, “Food as Experience Design: Applications in F&B Product Development,” at IFT FIRST in July.