August 4, 2026

Food is Medicine: What to Eat, Why It Matters, and How to Build Our Food Future

One evening at The Dreamland takes a network of organizations: hosts who built it, partners who power it, and an island community at the center of it. Meet them here.

Your Hosts

Hosted by About Fresh and Process First

About Fresh

About Fresh is a national nonprofit on a mission to make sure everyone has the food they need to be happy, healthy, and connected to loved ones. Its flagship program, Fresh Connect, enables healthcare providers, health plans, and community-based organizations to cover the cost of healthy food for patients, members, and clients. About Fresh is scaling Fresh Connect to be the go-to platform nationwide for implementing high-quality food-as-medicine programs that center individual choice, dignity, and joy. As a platform for innovative food care programs, About Fresh also serves as the charitable fiscal sponsor for Pip & Anchor's Send It Box program on Nantucket.

aboutfresh.org

Process First

Process First builds digital infrastructure and partnerships that strengthen food systems and healthier communities. Based in Boston, their works ranges from Hawaii to Nantucket, helping organizations like About Fresh and Pip & Anchor scale Food is Medicine, food security, and local food initiatives.

Founder Matt Haffenreffer leads Process First's Nantucket work, helping island partners scale food programs that make lasting impact.

processfirst.xyz

Our Partners

The organizations supporting this work

Pip & Anchor

A small-but-mighty market and cafe connecting islanders to local farmers and makers. Through its Send It Box program, Pip & Anchor delivers weekly boxes of locally sourced food to food-insecure households at no cost. The program currently reaches 80 families and nearly 300 neighbors. A portion of every ticket for this event helps fund this work.

pipandanchor.com

John Hancock

The Boston-based insurer supports research, programs, and initiatives that align with its mission of helping people live longer, healthier, better lives. John Hancock's support has helped bring this conversation to communities across the country. John Hancock presents and hosts the evening's reception.

johnhancock.com

Tufts Food is Medicine Institute

The Tufts Food is Medicine Institute is turning Food is Medicine into real health care through produce prescriptions and medically tailored meals. Based at Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and led by Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, the Institute drives the research, training, and policy work behind that shift.

tuftsfoodismedicine.org

The Commonwealth Fund

The Commonwealth Fund has spent decades showing that better research leads to better health care, especially for the people the system serves worst. Led by Dr. Joseph Betancourt, the Fund backs the independent research shaping how health care is delivered across the country.

commonwealthfund.org

Go Deeper

Keep the conversation going

Watch

Leaders in Longevity: Fixing Food

Leaders in Longevity is a John Hancock docuseries featuring some of the brilliant minds who are redefining what it means to age. The 4th episode features tonight's speaker, Dr. Dariush Mozafarrian, who argues that understanding the history of our food system can help us redesign it to improve health, sustainability, and the economy. The docuseries is part of John Hancock's commitment to helping clients live longer, healthier, better lives.

Watch the Docuseries

Read

Food Is Medicine, by Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian

The book behind the evening presents a vision for a food system that heals, nourishes, and reaches everyone. It arrives in October 2026 and pre-orders are available now. Choose Nantucket Book Partners as your beneficiary bookstore at Bookshop.org to support our beloved local bookstores.

Pre-order the Book

The Venue

Nantucket Dreamland

A nonprofit theater and cultural center in the heart of downtown Nantucket, The Dreamland hosts films, performances, and its signature Dreamland Conversations, bringing leading voices to the island year-round.

Food is Medicine: What to Eat, Why It Matters, and How to Build Our Food Future is presented as part of the Dreamland Conversations series.

Back to the Event

Address

17 South Water Street, Nantucket, MA 02554

Box Office

508.332.4822, Option 1

Event Date

Tuesday, August 4, 2026