Nutrition

Hunger is not just about lack of food; it’s also about lack of nutritious food.

Families that experience or are at risk of hunger are also likely to be malnourished due to lack of access to nutritious foods such as lean meats, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.  A lack of adequate transportation and grocery stores within walking distance, combined with an abundance of fast food restaurants and processed foods, has been shown to create “food deserts” in low-income areas, with a measurable negative impact on health and nutrition.  These characteristics are highly correlated with increased rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, premature death, and other health problems.

Hunger and lack of nutritious food has long-term consequences for children, including increased rates of impaired cognitive and brain development, lowered immune response, short stature, and obesity. Similarly, studies show that malnourished elders experience two to twenty times more complications with hospitalization, have up to 100% longer hospital stays, and compile hospital costs $2,000 to $10,000 higher per stay.

In the United States, few people die from pure starvation.  Rather, hunger and chronic food insecurity take their toll on lower income communities through diet-related diseases such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and other symptoms of malnutrition or unhealthy eating habits developed due to lack of access to other options or resources.

The Food Bank’s Nutrition program includes three core activities:

Intergenerational Community Meals: A workshop series offered in low-income communities for families, including elders, adults, and children.  The workshops cover topics related to nutrition, healthy eating habits, cooking at home, shopping on a budget, and physical activity.  At each session, participants prepare and eat a meal together, then bring home a free bag of groceries and recipes to recreate that meal at home.

Choosing Healthy Options Program (CHOP): Our on-staff nutritionist is working with our Food Distribution and Agency Relations departments to increasing ordering of highly nutritious foods, create signage in the warehouse indicating nutritional value of certain food products, and provide nutrition education workshops for our member agencies. 

Nutrition Education: Free workshops are offered to Food Bank member programs and Brown Bag sites on basic nutrition and healthy eating.  These workshops serve the staff of emergency feeding programs to help them offer better choices to their clients, as well as elders at our Brown Bag sites.