From nutrition-education classes to on-site consultations, our partner organizations have access to a range of nutrition resources specifically designed to assist in supporting clients.
Partner Classes and Workshops
We offer free classes and workshops for all of our partner organizations. Examples of past events include:
- Wellness Pantry Workshops
- Seasonal Cooking Classes
- Winterizing Your Garden
- Seed Starting in the Garden
- Composting Basics
- Meatless Monday Cooking Class
Check out our calendar of upcoming partner events here:
Request Our Services
Would you like a food demo at your next distribution? Or do you need a pantry or garden consultation? Check out all of the FREE services we offer:
Nutrition Education Services
- Wellness Pantry Consultations and Workshops: We lead regular workshops as well as one-on-one consultations to address your specific needs.
- Cooking Classes: Cooking classes can help partners and their clients stretch their dollars and cut down on food waste by learning new ways to use food bank items.
- Food Budgeting Workshops: We offer food budgeting workshops for pantries interested in offering them to their neighbors and clients. A few simple tips can help stretch any food budget.
- Food Demos: If you’d like to offer a food demo at your next distribution, reach out to us! We bring all of the food and materials, so there’s no added burden on your pantry. We can also teach you how to run your own food demo.
- Recipe Cards, Produce Guides & 7-Ways Cards: Printable versions of our recipe cards, Produce Guides and 7-ways cards are available on our website. Or contact us to request cardstock versions of these resources.
To request any of our services, please reach out to education@capitalareafoodbank.org.
Garden Education Services
- Garden Consultations: Our gardener can help solve any garden-related issue or give you advice on how to increase your garden’s productivity.
- Request for Seeds: If you have a garden or would like to start one, Capital Area Food Bank can supply your seeds.
- Garden Workshops: Want to learn how to build a raised bed? Or how to grow food in small spaces? We offer a variety of garden workshops for pantries interested in growing food.
- School Groups in the Garden: Know a school that could benefit from a food growing-focused field trip? Send them our way!
To request any of our garden education services, please reach out to garden@capitalareafoodbank.org.
Our Nutrition Policy and Initiatives
We know nutrition isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. That’s why we work to listen to our partners and community and tailor our nutrition policy and menu accordingly.
Our nutrition policy outlines CAFB’s commitment and actions to source and distribute nutritious foods to the neighbors we serve. CAFB is committed to providing high-quality, nutrient-dense foods to our neighbors in accordance with our nutrition policy guidelines,
Medically Tailored Foods
Medically tailored foods are foods that are believed to either help prevent or manage different medical conditions. Partners are now able to sort our menu based on four common medical conditions: heart disease, diabetes, renal disease and neurological-related diseases.
To read more about this initiative, click HERE [links to PDF]
Culturally Familiar Foods
The DC metropolitan area is incredibly diverse with cultures and languages spanning the globe. We responded by identifying six major cultures in our region, researching foods that are familiar to those cultures and then offering those foods on our menu. These cultures include Latin America, East Africa, West Africa, MENA, Central/South America, and East Asia.
H.E.R. Guidelines [links to PDF]
Nutrition Education Resources
Capital Area Food Bank offers our partners a wide variety of nutrition-related resources. And if there’s something you need that isn’t listed below, let us know!
- Nudges (small changes you can make to your pantry to make the healthy choice the easy choice)
- Nutrition Education for your Clients and Neighbors
- Ordering for Common Medical Conditions (English and Spanish)
- Heart Health [links to PDF]
- Diabetes [links to PDF]
- Kidney Health (Renal) [links to PDF]
- Brain Health [links to PDF]
- Wellness Pantry Toolkit / Healthy Pantry Resources
- H.E.R. Guidelines [link to PDF]
- Food Coding Guide [link to PDF or other section that includes this guide on our website]
Overview Page?
Nudges – What is needed?
Nutrition Education for your Clients and Neighbors (link to community nutrition ed resource page) – what is needed?
Ordering for Common Medical Conditions (link to MTF ordering handouts) – what is needed?
Wellness Pantry Toolkit (PDF) / Healthy Pantry – what is needed?
HER Guidelines – what is needed? And does this need to be in here twice?
Link to Federation Learning Management System – what is needed?
Partner Newsletter (PDF updated every six months) – what is needed?
Get in Touch
Have a question for our nutrition education team? They’re ready to help!
- Have a question about an item in your pantry? Need ideas for quick, nutritious meals? For answers to all of your nutrition-related questions, call or email our “Ask the Nutritionist” line at (202) 735-3053 or education@capitalareafoodbank.org.
- To request a food demo or nutrition education class/ workshop, please fill out our Request for Nutrition Education Form.
- To request seeds for your garden, inquire about field trips to the CAFB garden, or ask any other garden-related questions, contact garden@capitalareafoodbank.org.
- Other questions? Please reach out to education@capitalareafoodbank.org.