Partnership for a Healthier America
A U.S. nonprofit that convenes businesses, government, and civil-society organizations to improve food access, nutrition, and health equity.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) is a U.S. nonprofit organization established in 2010 in conjunction with, but independently from, former First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative. Its purpose is to use partnerships, public commitments, research, and convening power to improve the American food environment and reduce diet-related health disparities. Michelle Obama serves as PHA's honorary chair. Rather than operating primarily as a consumer-products company, PHA functions as a coalition builder and implementation partner. It works across the food supply chain with producers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, early-childhood organizations, food banks, foundations, sports bodies, public agencies, and other nonprofits. The organization's approach is to identify practices that can improve the nutritional quality, affordability, visibility, and availability of food and beverages, then encourage partners to apply those practices at scale. PHA's work has included efforts to increase access to fruits and vegetables, improve emergency and charitable food systems, make healthier products more available in convenience stores and other retail settings, and encourage physical activity among children. Its Healthy Hunger Relief program supports food banks seeking to expand nutritious offerings while reducing the distribution of less nutritious snack and junk foods. Its retail work has focused on product assortment, store placement, promotion, and pricing, particularly in food-scarce communities. The organization has also developed public-facing campaigns. FNV, or Fruits 'N Veggies, uses celebrity-led advertising and social marketing to make fruits and vegetables more appealing. The campaign has been adapted for state and local public-awareness programs, including SNAP-Ed activities. Veggies Early & Often works with early-childhood educators, baby-food manufacturers, and other stakeholders to encourage vegetable familiarity from infancy and early childhood. During the COVID-19 pandemic, PHA operated the COVID-19 Fresh Food Fund, which addressed immediate food-access needs while supporting healthier eating and the collection of information about affordable fresh-food access. The program reported distributing more than two million servings of fresh fruits and vegetables in communities in Colorado and New York after its launch in May 2020. In March 2021, PHA, Michelle Obama, and Higher Ground Productions launched Pass the Love with Waffles + Mochi, connected to the Netflix children's food series Waffles + Mochi. With inaugural support from Walmart and Blue Apron, the campaign sought to raise awareness of food inequity and provide more than one million meals through branded meal boxes for families experiencing food insecurity. The initiative combined entertainment, home cooking, private-sector participation, and charitable food distribution. PHA also hosts an annual summit that brings together leaders from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors to discuss health equity and food-system change. The first Building a Healthier Future Summit took place in Washington, D.C., in November 2011. After a decade of in-person meetings, the 2020 summit moved online because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, PHA's positioning is that durable improvements in health require changes to the systems that determine what food is produced, sold, promoted, and made accessible—not only individual behavior-change messaging.
History
Partnership for a Healthier America was formed in 2010 alongside the launch of Michelle Obama's Let's Move! effort. Although the two initiatives were connected in origin and shared a broad concern with childhood obesity and healthier living, PHA was established as a separate nonprofit organization. Its role was to bring private companies, public institutions, nonprofits, and community organizations into practical commitments capable of changing the food and physical-activity environment. In its early work, PHA used its convening role to broker commitments involving national sports organizations and other partners. In 2012, it worked with several national governing bodies associated with the United States Olympic Committee, the U.S. Olympians Association, and the U.S. Paralympics to encourage greater physical activity among children. It also worked with 11 national sports organizations to provide introductory athletic programming that reached more than 1.7 million children during that year. These activities reflected PHA's initial connection to the broader Let's Move! agenda, while establishing the organization's own partnership-based operating model. PHA created the Building a Healthier Future Summit as a recurring forum for private-sector, government, and nonprofit leaders. The inaugural summit was held in Washington, D.C., on November 29–30, 2011. The event subsequently became an annual gathering focused on health equity, food access, nutrition, and collaborative action. Michelle Obama has regularly participated as honorary chair, while other speakers have included public officials, health professionals, entertainers, athletes, and advocates. In 2020, after ten years of in-person convenings, the summit became virtual because of the pandemic. The organization expanded into consumer-facing behavior-change campaigns. Drink Up encouraged Americans to drink more water and was described by PHA as contributing to increased water consumption. FNV, launched in 2015, used celebrity participation and advertising techniques commonly associated with commercial brands to make fruits and vegetables more attractive. The campaign later spread to states and cities and was incorporated into SNAP-Ed public-awareness work in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. PHA also developed institutional and supply-chain initiatives. The Healthier Campus Initiative worked with colleges and universities to encourage healthier eating and greater physical activity. Its food-bank work, known as Healthy Hunger Relief, sought to increase the amount of nutritious food available through charitable food systems while reducing lower-nutrition inventory. PHA reported that its 28 food-bank partners reached more than seven million food-insecure people in 19 states, increased healthy-food distribution by 115 million pounds, and removed 19 million pounds of junk or snack food from inventories. These figures are organizationally reported program totals rather than audited financial results. Retail became another major focus. PHA worked with distributors, convenience stores, and other retailers to make healthier products more accessible through assortment changes, store placement, promotion, and competitive pricing. The organization reported that its convenience-store partners represented more than 2,500 locations in 39 states, with approximately three-quarters located in food-scarce neighborhoods. Its broader objective was to make healthier choices practical in the places where consumers routinely shop, rather than limiting nutrition improvements to specialty or full-service grocery settings. The Veggies Early & Often initiative extended this approach to young children. Through relationships with early-childhood educators, baby-food manufacturers, and other stakeholders, it aimed to encourage repeated exposure to vegetables and support parents seeking to establish healthier eating patterns early in life. In May 2020, PHA deployed the COVID-19 Fresh Food Fund in response to pandemic-related disruptions and heightened food insecurity. The program combined emergency distribution of fresh produce with an interest in building healthier habits and using data to understand barriers to affordable fresh food. PHA reported that communities in Colorado and New York received more than two million servings of fruits and vegetables through the initiative. On March 10, 2021, PHA partnered with Michelle Obama and Higher Ground Productions on Pass the Love with Waffles + Mochi, a campaign inspired by the Netflix series Waffles + Mochi. Walmart and Blue Apron were identified as inaugural partners. The campaign used the show's characters and associated digital resources to promote affordable home meals, draw attention to food inequity, and seek the distribution of more than one million meals to families in food-insecure communities. Today, PHA's identity is primarily that of a national health-equity and food-system nonprofit. Its work spans public campaigns, food-bank reform, retail access, early-childhood nutrition, emergency food assistance, stakeholder commitments, and sector-wide convening. The organization seeks systemic improvements while retaining a public-facing communications component that makes healthier food and eating habits more understandable and appealing.
- 2021
Pass the Love with Waffles + Mochi launches
[1]PHA, Michelle Obama, and Higher Ground Productions launched a food-equity campaign connected to Waffles + Mochi.
- 2020
COVID-19 Fresh Food Fund launched
[1]PHA began a fresh-produce access program during the COVID-19 pandemic, including work in Colorado and New York.
- 2020
Annual summit moves online
[1]The Building a Healthier Future Summit became a virtual event after a decade of in-person meetings because of the pandemic.
- 2015
FNV campaign begins
[1]PHA launched FNV, a celebrity-supported campaign designed to encourage greater consumption of fruits and vegetables.
- 2012
Youth physical-activity commitments
[1]PHA brokered commitments with sports organizations and reported beginner athletic programming for more than 1.7 million children.
- 2011
First Building a Healthier Future Summit
[1]PHA held its inaugural summit in Washington, D.C., establishing an annual forum for cross-sector discussion of health equity and food-system change.
- 2010
Organization established alongside Let's Move!
[1]PHA was created as a nonprofit organization connected to, but separate from, Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative.
Products and positioning
A cross-sector nonprofit intermediary focused on transforming the U.S. food landscape and advancing health equity through partnerships, commitments, campaigns, and practical programs.
Public-health campaign · 2015
FNV
FNV, short for Fruits 'N Veggies, is a celebrity-driven communications campaign that applies recognizable entertainment and advertising techniques to fruits and vegetables. Supporters have included athletes and entertainers. The campaign expanded beyond its original national platform into state and local programs, including SNAP-Ed public-awareness efforts in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
Early-childhood nutrition initiative
Veggies Early & Often
Veggies Early & Often brings together early-childhood educators, baby-food manufacturers, and related stakeholders to encourage children to become familiar with vegetables at an early age. The initiative is intended to support parents and reshape the market around repeated, positive exposure to nutritious foods during formative years.
Food-bank nutrition program
Healthy Hunger Relief
Healthy Hunger Relief works with food banks to increase the supply and distribution of nutritious foods for people experiencing food insecurity. The program addresses hunger and diet-related disease together by encouraging food banks to add higher-nutrition products and reduce lower-nutrition items in their inventories.
Emergency food-access program · 2020
COVID-19 Fresh Food Fund
The COVID-19 Fresh Food Fund responded to pandemic-era food insecurity by distributing fresh produce and examining ways to make healthy food more affordable and accessible. PHA reported more than two million servings of fruits and vegetables delivered in communities in Colorado and New York.
Food-equity campaign · 2021
Pass the Love with Waffles + Mochi
This campaign used the Waffles + Mochi entertainment property, digital resources, and partner support to promote affordable family meals and raise awareness of food inequity. PHA and its partners aimed to provide more than one million meals through branded bundled meal boxes for families in food-insecure communities.
Hydration campaign
Drink Up
Drink Up encouraged Americans to choose water more often. PHA described the initiative as a driver of water consumption and linked it to the growing prominence of water as a beverage choice in the United States.
Campus wellness initiative
Healthier Campus Initiative
The Healthier Campus Initiative partnered with colleges and universities to create environments that supported healthier eating and increased physical activity. It extended PHA's systems-oriented approach into educational institutions and campus operations.
Marketing campaigns
- 2021Pass the Love with Waffles + Mochi
United States
A partnership with Michelle Obama and Higher Ground Productions inspired by Waffles + Mochi, combining food-equity education with meal distribution.
Outcome. The campaign aimed to provide more than one million meals to families in food-insecure communities.
- 2015FNV
United States
A celebrity-led campaign promoting fruits and vegetables through consumer marketing and public-health messaging.
Outcome. Expanded into states and cities and was used in SNAP-Ed awareness programs.
Brand decisions
2021
Use entertainment partnerships to advance food equityStrategyBackground
PHA sought to connect food-access advocacy with practical, affordable home cooking and broad public engagement.
Action taken
PHA partnered with Michelle Obama and Higher Ground Productions on Pass the Love with Waffles + Mochi, with Walmart and Blue Apron identified as inaugural partners.
Aftermath
The campaign combined food-equity awareness with a goal of distributing more than one million meals.
2020
Shift the annual summit to a virtual formatStrategyBackground
The organization had held its summit in person for ten years, but the COVID-19 pandemic made a physical gathering impractical.
Action taken
PHA converted the Building a Healthier Future Summit into a virtual event while continuing its cross-sector convening role.
Aftermath
The summit continued as an online forum during the pandemic period.
Recent events
Partnership for a Healthier America partners with Brainiac Kids[3]
Reported:
Partnership for a Healthier America announced a collaboration with Brainiac Kids. Products meeting PHA nutrition standards will carry the PHA logo on retail packaging, beginning with Brainiac applesauce lines.
Sources3 sources
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