Archive: Nov 30, 2016, 12:00 AM

Making the case for healthier food donations

What does “food insecurity” mean? It means people or households are limited in their resources to buy food. It can also mean they’re running out of food, cutting the quality of their food, eating unbalanced meals and maybe even skipping meals. Food insecurity is closely linked with high rates of obesity, diabetes and other health problems, and this is partly due to the lack of choices supplied by food pantries. As families depend on donated foods more and more for a greater share of their nutritional needs, the quality of those foods becomes more important. Local research has shown that one-third of all donated pantry food is of low nutritional value, damaged or very outdated.

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