It’s a new day at the Capital Area Food Bank. Yesterday, on Food Day, we launched our Healthy Food Initiative which sets nutrition standards throughout our entire food distribution operation and will ultimately bring more healthy food into the communities we serve.
In the midst of a hunger crisis right here in the Washington metro area, we recently expanded into a new facility that will help us reach the nearly 700,000 individuals, seniors and children struggling to get enough food to eat. Since the food bank’s founding, we have been committed to providing access to quality, nutritious foods. Our Healthy Food Initiative reaffirms that commitment and will help us get good food into the community.
We now have standards on food such as healthy dry goods – beans, whole grains and canned goods –that will help encourage wholesome food donations. We also have programs that showcase how food bank ingredients can be transformed into nourishing meals.
Many of the individuals we serve are not only challenged with finding enough food to feed their families, but they are also coping with diet-related illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease. Managing these serious conditions can deplete vital resources that could be used to pay bills and buy healthy food.
We are not the food police but we do care about what we give our community. Our Healthy Food Initiative puts us in a position to distribute healthy food that can help families stretch food dollars and also encourage healthy eating habits that ultimately result in positive health outcomes.