Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank

Nutrition

Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank is committed to providing nutrition education programs to people living in low-income communities. The Food Bank offers a series of nutrition education initiatives that include: Choosing Healthy Options Program (CHOP); Cooking, Activity and Nutrition Newsletter; Food Demonstrations; and Commodity Supplemental Food Program Nutrition Materials.

Choosing Healthy Options Program (CHOP):

The Choose Healthy Options Program has two major components: a food analysis tool that assigns a rank to a food based on nutrient content provided by the Nutrition Facts Label; and education activities centered on the use of the ranks as a guide to making healthy food choices. Agencies are taught how to use the ranks to maximize healthy choices when ordering product to distribute from the Food Bank’s inventory; and product procurement staff are advised of a food’s nutritional quality prior to acquisition. CHOP rankings provide an easily understood and effective tool that can be used to educate all those involved in emergency food solicitation and distribution, as well as food recipients. Foods are ranked 1, 2, 3 or MC (minimal contribution) with 1 being the highest rating a food can receive.

Foods are analyzed and a rank is assigned for each food in our Wholesale Buying Program, State Food Purchase Program, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), and national and local food donations.
The nutrition rank appears with each product on our inventory list, in print and online.
Nutritionists use agency order history, which includes food ranks, to determine the amount of nutritious food ordered pre and post intervention.
Food distribution is analyzed each month to measure progress towards strategic nutrition goals for food distributed by the Food Bank.

Cooking, Activity and Nutrition Newsletter:

A monthly newsletter dedicated to nutritious eating and activity, healthy recipes using emergency food, and basic nutrition information. Each issue engages and educates parents and other family members about the connection between healthy eating and disease prevention. Each person who receives food assistance at a pantry takes home a copy of the newsletter that includes nutrition information and healthy recipes using the products distributed by the Food Bank. Current distribution is approximately 300,000 issues per year in a 9-county area of southwestern PA.

Food Demonstrations:

Through demonstrations and taste-testing at farm stands and food pantries, the nutrition staff show customers and clients healthy ways to prepare fresh produce or foods that they receive through their food pantry. Recipes and information on food storage and safe food handling practices are distributed at each demo and staff answers questions about food and nutrition.

Commodity Supplemental Food Program Nutrition Information:

Each month two commodities are featured in flyers included with the senior food box. Flyers are based on USDA commodity fact sheets, are senior friendly, and include information on using and storing the food, its nutrient content health benefits, and healthy recipes.

For more information about our nutrition education programs contact Kristi at (412) 460-3663, ext. 402.