Hippocrates once said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”But in long-term care facilities across the country, meals are often treated as an afterthought — especially for residents from culturally diverse backgrounds. In 2023, my grandfather, a proud Italian immigrant, spent three weeks in long-term care recovering from a partial hip replacement. His experience was not unique; he had become one of the many older adults at risk for malnutrition in long-term care. Leaders in long-term care have an opportunity to treat food as more than fuel. The opinions expressed in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News guest submissions are the author’s and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News or its editors.