The Healthy Pantry Initiative: Utilizing Emergency Food Boxes

Amanda Rosenberg

Target Audience:
Low income individuals receiving emergency food boxes from the Oregon Food Bank.

Goal:
This program will teach participants about foods located in their emergency food boxes and how to utilize their emergency food box to create the most nutritious meals.

Implementation:
I taught participants how to make kale and bean soup with purple kale from the community garden. I taught participants how to make a mushroom marinara sauce with USDA commodity ingredients. ` Samples were prepared in Good Roots kitchen using their equipment.

Results:

Objectives:
Participants will be able to identify every food in their emergency food box. Participants will be able to identify a recipe they can use that utilizes emergency food box items. Participants will participate in food preparation and/or taste test prepared food items.

Literature Review:
There are several barriers to healthy eating including1: Cost Food preparation and skill Taste Participants receiving emergency food boxes want2: Cooking demonstrations Nutrition education

Lasting Impact:
This outreach is part of The Healthy Pantry Imitative, where Oregon Food Banks are graded based on healthy food marketing. This outreach is utilizing Train the Trainer.

Participant Feedback:
Marinara is good but too chunky Soup is yummy Brown stuff [kale] in the soup is weird You should cook for us every week

References:
1. Mason, M, Jaskiewicz, L, Christoffel, K. Learning from Program Participants: Obtaining Participant Input on Service Development in an Emergency Food Program. Journal of Applied Social Science 2010. 1-17. 2. Mobley, A. Emergency Food Programs: Untapped Opportunities for Extension? Journal of Extension 2012. 1-7.