STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS AND RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
Promoting Healthy Eating at Food Shelves
More and more, food shelves and other community members are working to ensure that people
have access to nutritious food through the emergency food relief network. Food shelves can
choose from many simple steps to support healthy eating. This guide contains ideas for what you
can do today, tips for success, ideas in action, and ways Extension can support your work.
WHAT’S INSIDE
Identify healthy food
2
Source healthy food
2
Work with local farmers or community gardeners
3
Ensure safety of healthy food
4
Store healthy food
4
Work around limited storage space
4
Display healthy food
5
Provide information about healthy food
6
Find healthy recipes
6
Encourage clients to choose healthy food
7
Include healthy foods in your backpack program
7
Do cooking demonstrations
8
Develop a healthy food policy
9
Fund your healthy eating initiatives
9
Resources
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1
Identify healthy food
You can find “healthy foods” in all five food groups — look for options that are lower in added
sugar, sodium, and saturated fat. Visit ChooseMyPlate.gov for a review of the five food groups.
What you can do today

Read descriptions of healthy choices in the five food groups: Cooking Matters in Your
Food Pantry (p. 7-8)

Prioritize your purchasing and decipher food label claims: Healthy Foods to Prioritize
Guide

Determine if a food is healthy with this chart: Foods to Encourage

Input nutrition information from product labels to generate rankings with this
program: CHOP™ Rank a Food
Tips for success

Review your stock one food group at a time.

Make a list of new foods (10-15 items) you’d like to stock in the next three months.
How Extension can help

Connect with a SNAP-Ed educator to train food shelf volunteers on MyPlate to assist in
the identification of healthy foods.
Source healthy food
Once you know which healthy foods you are looking for and which foods you want to limit, start
communicating with your distributors and donors. With donors, be direct about which foods are
most appreciated.
What you can do today

Ask your food bank first if they have healthy foods you’re looking for available and
then how you can get more of them more often.

Draft a policy that addresses selection of foods and solicited donations.

Put together a brochure or flyer communicating to donors which foods are most
appreciated.

o
For a sample healthy food donation request letter and suggested donation items:
Cooking Matters in Your Food Pantry (p. 9-11)
o
For a sample brochure suggesting which items to donate: How to Support
Minneapolis Food Shelves Brochure (p. 2)
o
For a sample healthy food donation request letter: Healthy Donations Letter
Template
o
For a sample healthy food donation request poster: Donate Healthy Food Poster
Survey clients about which healthy foods, especially what kind of produce, they prefer.
Tips for success

Visit your local food bank to understand their distribution process. Knowing their
limitations can help you ask better questions to get the food you need.

Be specific when you solicit food donations. For example, ask for whole wheat pasta,
low-sodium soup, frozen vegetables, etc.
2

Remember that cash donations allow you to purchase the healthy foods you may not
get through other sources.
Ideas in action: Fruit and Vegetable Bucks
One strategy for sourcing produce is to work with your local chamber of commerce and grocery
store(s) to implement a Fruit and Vegetable (FV) Bucks program. Here’s the process:
1. You distribute FV Bucks to local grocery stores to display at their register.
2. Shoppers buy FV Bucks.
3. Grocery stores forward the proceeds to your food shelf for you to purchase produce.
How Extension can help

Connect with a SNAP-Ed educator to help you review the food currently available at
your food shelf and think through what healthy food you’d like to offer in the future.

Connect with Extension Educator Jamie Bain to help you draft a policy that addresses
selection of foods and solicited donations ([email protected] or 612-626-8762).
Work with local farmers or community gardeners
Local growers of all kinds can be a great source of fresh produce for food shelves, but they may
not know that you accept fresh produce donations or have funds to purchase fresh produce.
What you can do today

Assess your storage so that you do not receive more than you can safely store and
distribute. Ask growers for tips on how to store the produce they grow.

Locate farmers and farmers markets near you: Minnesota Grown

Tell growers which produce you can best use and when and how to get it. If necessary,
remind growers that you are unable to accept spoiled produce.

Visit your local farmers markets. These can be good venues for connecting with local
farmers and can sometimes be a source of low-cost or donated produce once market
hours have ended. Find volunteers to pick up available produce.

Purchase a share of produce from a farmer in the winter or spring and receive
installments throughout the harvesting season (this is sometimes called a CSA, for
“community supported agriculture”).

Start a gleaning partnership. This guide includes how to connect with growers (p. 4-19),
key talking points directed to growers (p. 20), and a sample garden donation ad and
calendar (p. 38-40): Garden Gleaning: A Toolkit for Growers and Food Shelves
How Extension can help

Connect with a Master Gardener: Local Master Gardener program contact information
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Ensure safety of healthy food
Monitor the safety of healthy food the same way you monitor the safety of any other food. If
necessary, remind donors that you are unable to accept spoiled or damaged food.
What you can do today

Review basic food donation safety considerations: Cooking Matters in Your Food Pantry
(p. 12)

Get familiar with safety considerations specifically for growers: Garden Gleaning: A
Toolkit for Growers and Food Shelves (p. 23-25)

Review food safety guidelines for food shelves in Minnesota: Food Safety Guidelines for
Onsite Feeding Locations, Food Shelves and Food Banks
How Extension can help

Connect with the Food Safety Team to answer your food safety questions.
Store healthy food
Different foods have different storage requirements. Storing food in optimal conditions will
preserve the flavor and quality.
What you can do today

Make sure that you are storing your produce correctly with this simple chart: Fresh
Produce Storage Guide

Review specific storage guidelines, including shelf life, for various fruits and vegetables:
Garden Gleaning: A Toolkit for Growers and Food Shelves (p. 33-37)
Tips for success

Be sure to remove any spoiled food immediately. One spoiled item can cause food
around it to spoil.

If you have limited cold storage and limited hours of operation, coordinate the timing
and amount of your fresh food donations with your distribution so that food does not
spoil before clients can take it.

If your turnover is slower, prioritize foods with a longer shelf.
How Extension can help

Connect with the Food Safety Team to answer your food storage questions.
Work around limited storage space
Storage space is often a limiting factor for fresh food distribution, especially in smaller food
shelves that have limited operating hours, low product turnover, and infrequent deliveries.
What you can do today

Start tracking the typical fluctuations in client usage so that you can schedule fresh
food deliveries with your busiest time of the month. This will limit your need to store
food for longer periods of time.
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
Identify a community partner with underutilized storage space. For example, many
church kitchens have refrigeration and freezer capacity beyond what they need on a
regular basis.
Ideas in action: vouchers
A great option if you have the financial resources available is to work with a local grocery store or
farmers market to implement a voucher program. You can designate which foods the vouchers
can be used for, such as fresh fruits and vegetables or milk. Here’s the process:
1. You distribute vouchers to your clients at the food shelf.
2. Clients take the vouchers to the grocery store or farmers market and get the fresh foods
they want.
3. The grocery store or farmers market returns the vouchers to you for reimbursement.
Vouchers have several advantages:

Clients get to choose the specific products they prefer and will use.

The food shelf doesn’t have to manage or maintain the fresh product inventory.

The local grocery store or farmers market benefits from the financial support.
One way to secure the necessary financial resources for a voucher program is to work with
existing community partners who donate food to you. They may be willing to donate money to
support the voucher program instead, especially if they know doing so will help you provide
healthy options.
How Extension can help

Connect with a SNAP-Ed educator to help you find recipes that use foods that don’t
move as quickly.
Display healthy food
For food shelves that offer a choice-based shopping experience, how you display food makes a
tremendous difference in what clients choose. Clean, attractive, and colorful displays are very
encouraging. If you currently pre-box/bag produce for clients, you may want to consider switching
to a choice-based shopping experience, or offer choice-based shopping for fresh produce. This
model allows clients to choose the healthy foods they prefer, which can help you make the best
use of resources and allocate your spending to preferred foods.
What you can do today

Position the healthiest offerings in the places that are easiest to see, such as at eye
level, and place them near the beginning of the shopping experience.

Search the Internet for “fresh produce display images” to get ideas about how to make
your food look attractive to clients.

Call out healthy items with attractive, easy-to-read signage. For printable healthy food
signs: Merchandise Signs
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
Review one or two of the following resources:
o
For informative images and explanations of several strategies to improve food
shelf displays: Merchandising & Stocking Basics and Checklist
o
For display tips and colorful images (created for retail stores but useful for food
shelves also): Healthy Foods Here Produce Marketing Guide (p. 6-9)
o
For a healthy food display strategy, suggested food shelf layout, and colorful
images: Healthy Food Handling Training (slides 9-22)
o
For colorful produce display cards with nutrition facts and easy serving
suggestions: Fruit & Veggie Fact Sheets
Tips for success

Display healthy food in prominent, visible locations that are well lit, such as near the
front entrance or in the center of the space.

Arrange food in baskets or bins, or on a checkered table cloth.

Remove any spoiled food from the display area immediately.

Display recipes next to healthy items.

Group the ingredients for healthy recipes together. This strategy is called “crossmerchandising.” For suggestions on how to group items to encourage clients to choose
healthy food: Cross-Merchandising: Tips for a Food Shelf
Provide information about healthy food
Aim to provide simple, practical information on which foods to eat and how best to prepare them.
What you can do today

Review these handouts with simple tips about healthy choices and food preparation
and choose one or two to distribute: Cooking Matters in Your Food Pantry (p. 53-69)

Review these colorful produce display cards with nutrition facts and easy serving
suggestions and choose one or two to distribute: Fruit & Veggie Fact Sheets

Review these free printable materials about healthy food choices and choose one or two
to distribute: Choose MyPlate Printable Materials & Ordering
How Extension can help

Connect with a SNAP-Ed educator or EFNEP coordinator to host a series of classes on
healthy eating on a budget.
Find healthy recipes
Recipes encourage clients to try new foods or to prepare familiar foods in new ways. Recipes that
can be prepared in thirty minutes or less are especially popular.
What you can do today

Review these frameworks that teach methods based on flexible ingredients: Cooking
Matters in Your Food Pantry (p. 71-105)

Review these recipes based on flexible ingredients: Good Food on a Tight Budget Recipes

Find recipes containing ingredients currently at your food shelf: Recipe Rainbow
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
Browse recipes that are searchable by ingredient and other categories: Recipe Finder
Tips for success

Pair recipes with healthy foods you have available and hand out copies.

Focus on recipes that involve common, inexpensive ingredients readily available at the
food shelf or grocery store.

Offer new recipes frequently so that regular clients can get new ideas.
How Extension can help

Connect with a SNAP-Ed educator or EFNEP coordinator to set up a cooking
demonstration or sampling of a recipe as a recruiting tool for a series of cooking
classes or classes on healthy eating on a budget.
Encourage clients to choose healthy food
Volunteers can be especially helpful in promoting the healthy foods available at the food shelf.
What you can do today

Empower volunteers to support clients. Provide them with information about the
healthy options available that day at the start of their shift.

Request that volunteers speak positively about healthy foods regardless of their
personal experience or preferences. For example, a volunteer who dislikes broccoli
could still say to a client: “I’ve heard several people say they like it roasted, and kids
seem to prefer it when you sprinkle a little cheese on top.”
Ideas in action: prime, remind, support
Train volunteers to prime, remind, and support clients to choose, prepare, and eat healthy foods.
The three parts of this strategy work like this:

Prime — Prime the client to choose healthy foods. Upon arrival, let the client know
about specific healthy options that they may want to try are available. For example:
“I’ll be helping you today. I’m happy to let you know that we have some fresh vegetables
in: cabbage and sweet potatoes. You might think about whether or not you could use
some of those.”

Remind — Remind the client about the healthy foods when you come to that section.
For example:
“Here’s those low-sodium beans I was telling you about. Do you think you might like to
try some?”

Support — Support the client in choosing, preparing, and eating the healthy foods by
suggesting preparation tips. For example:
“Have you made whole wheat pasta before? You make it just like you make the other
kind, and you can use the same sauce. Here’s a recipe for spaghetti with a quick tomato
sauce. Would you like to take a copy? We have all the ingredients in stock today. If you’re
worried about your kids noticing the different flavor, you could start by mixing the whole
wheat kind with regular pasta after it’s cooked. Do you think that might work for you?”
This strategy is useful in both food shelves that offer clients a choice-based shopping experience
and in food shelves that pre-box/bag the food allocated for a family. Even when the client does
not choose which foods to take, they do choose whether they prepare and eat the foods at home.
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Include healthy foods in your backpack program
If your food shelf supports a backpack program for children, you are likely facing the challenge of
choosing low-cost, kid-friendly foods that are shelf-stable and can be packed in advance. Focus on
the big picture: providing the kids with nutritious, filling foods.
Tips for success

Include protein. Good options include individual cups of peanut butter, plain nuts,
tuna or chicken in foil packets, and small cans of beans. If you include prepared foods,
remember that thin soup is not particularly filling. Aim for chunkier varieties or other
types of prepared foods. Chicken-based options are often lower in sodium and
saturated fat than beef-based options.

Aim for whole grains over refined grains. Good options include whole grain cereal (e.g.,
Cheerios, Total, and Wheaties) and plain oatmeal, graham crackers, and popcorn.

Include shelf-stable milk or a milk substitute. Plain white milk that’s skim, 1%, or 2% is
best. There’s no need to provide chocolate milk. If fluid milk isn’t provided, consider
adding pudding, hot chocolate mix, Carnation Breakfast Essentials, or milk vouchers.

Include fruit. Fruit options include unsweetened applesauce cups, diced fruit cups
(packed in juice, not syrup), and fruit puree tubes. If you can distribute anything fresh,
consider oranges and apples. If you include juice, make it 100%. Because juice is not
filling, however, consider dedicating your limited resources to foods that will keep kids'
tummies full, like other fruit products or milk.

Include veggies, if possible. Good options include cans of carrots or green beans. Be
mindful of the weight canned food can add.
Do cooking demonstrations
Cooking demonstrations are a great way to show off easy and delicious recipes that use foods
from the food shelf. Demos are a good way to promote ingredients that clients may be unfamiliar
with or to highlight a less common preparation method. Demos can be as simple as you choose.
Simple taste-tests of prepared foods, such as boxed soups, can also be a helpful way of
introducing clients to a product they may not have tried before.
What you can do today

Review this step-by-step guide to planning, preparing for, promoting, delivering, and
evaluating demos: A How-To Guide for Recipe Demos

Review this comprehensive guide for planning ideas, recipe tips, nutrition messages,
and an evaluation tool for demos: Cooking Matters in Your Food Pantry (p. 13-37)
Tips for success

Offer samples.

Have copies of the recipes to give out.
How Extension can help

Connect with a SNAP-Ed educator or EFNEP coordinator to set up cooking
demonstrations or sampling as a recruiting tool for a series of cooking classes or
classes on healthy eating on a budget.
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Develop a healthy food policy
A healthy food policy can help your food shelf create a healthy food environment by establishing
a vision and guidelines that prioritize health. Once complete, you will to find numerous ways to
apply your healthy food policy to food shelf activities to achieve your goals.
What you can do today

Review this a simple, step-by-step guide to creating a healthy food policy, an
accompanying timeline, an accompanying worksheet, and a sample policy: Healthy
Foods Policy Information

Request a meeting with food shelf leadership. You may need to convince them to make
health and nutrition a priority.

Make a list of stakeholders who will have a vested interest in your policy and
brainstorm ideas for engaging them.
How Extension can help

Connect with Extension Educator Jamie Bain to help you draft a policy that addresses
selection of foods and solicited donations ([email protected] or 612-626-8762).
Fund your healthy eating initiatives
There are many potential options for funding projects at your food shelf.

Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) works to improve healthy food access.
Contact your local SHIP project coordinator to inquire about mini-grant opportunities.

Health-related organizations in your community, including health care clinics, may be
looking for preventive health activities to support.

Grantors (organizations or foundations) in your local community, as well as across
the state and nation. An Internet search can help you locate opportunities.
If you are looking for larger sums of money and you have the infrastructure to manage a federal
grant, you may want to consider a federal grant in a program area such as USDA Rural
Development or National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
What you can do today

Locate your local SHIP Coordinator and learn more about SHIP: SHIP Communities

Search for federal grant options: Grants.gov Search Grants
How Extension can help

Visit Regional Food Access Profiles for regional data to support grant writing or to
connect with an Extension Educator in your region.
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RESOURCES
A How-To Guide for Recipe Demos from Emergency Foodshelf Network. Available at:
http://www.emergencyfoodshelf.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/A-How-To-Guide-for-Recipe-Demos-FINAL.pdf
Choose MyPlate Food Groups from U. S. Department of Agriculture. Available at:
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/
Choose MyPlate Printable Materials & Ordering from U. S. Department of Agriculture. Select materials here:
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/print-materials-ordering.html
CHOP™ Rank a Food from Greater Pittsburg Community Food Bank. Input nutrition information here:
http://www.cloudnutrition.net/rank-a-food/
Cooking Matters in Your Food Pantry from Share Our Strength. Available at:
http://cookingmatters.org/sites/cookingmatters.org/files/CMYFP.pdf
Cross-Merchandising: Tips for a Food Shelf from Emergency Foodshelf Network. Available at:
http://www.emergencyfoodshelf.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Cross-Merchandising-Tips-for-a-Food-Shelf-FINAL.pdf
Donate Healthy Food Poster from Minneapolis Healthy Food Shelf Network. Available at:
http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/public/@health/documents/webcontent/wcms1p-104846.pdf
EFNEP at University of Minnesota Extension. Contact the EFNEP coordinator here:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/family/health-and-nutrition/efnep
Food Safety Guidelines for Onsite Feeding Locations, Food Shelves and Food Banks from Minnesota Departments of
Health and Agriculture. Available at: http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/food/fs/foodbanksafety.pdf
Foods to Encourage from Healthy Food Bank Hub. Available at:
http://healthyfoodbankhub.feedingamerica.org/?resources=foods-to-encourage
Fresh Produce Storage Guide from Emergency Foodshelf Network. Available at:
http://www.emergencyfoodshelf.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Fresh-Produce-Storage-Guide-FINAL.pdf
Fruit & Veggie Fact Sheets from Anoka County. Available at:
http://www.goanokacounty.org/documents/FruitVegetableCombinedSheets.pdf
Garden Gleaning: A Toolkit for Growers and Food Shelves from The Garden Gleaning Project. Register for free and
download document here: http://gardengleaning.org/2013/03/05/garden-gleaning-toolkit/
Good Food on a Tight Budget Recipes from Environmental Working Group. Available at:
http://static.ewg.org/reports/2012/goodfood/pdf/recipes.pdf
Grants.gov Search Grants from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Search for grants here:
http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/search-grants.html
Healthy Donations Letter Template from Minneapolis Healthy Food Shelf Network. Available at:
http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/public/@health/documents/webcontent/wcms1p-111172.pdf
Healthy Food Handling Training from Minneapolis Healthy Food Shelf Network. Available at:
http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/public/@health/documents/webcontent/wcms1p-107960.pdf
Healthy Foods Here Produce Marketing Guide from Healthy Foods Here. Available at:
http://bit.ly/1qjxBAK
Healthy Foods Policy Information from Emergency Foodshelf Network. Available at:
http://www.emergencyfoodshelf.org/index.php/health-foods-policy-information/
Healthy Foods to Prioritize Guide from Emergency Foodshelf Network. Available at:
http://www.emergencyfoodshelf.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Healthy-Foods-to-Prioritize-Guide-FINAL.pdf
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How to Support Minneapolis Food Shelves Brochure from Minneapolis Healthy Food Shelf Network. Available at:
http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/public/@health/documents/webcontent/wcms1p-105773.pdf
Local Master Gardener program contact information from University of Minnesota Extension. Available at:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/master-gardener/contact/county/
Merchandise Signs from Emergency Foodshelf Network. Available at:
http://www.emergencyfoodshelf.org/index.php/merchandise-signs/
Merchandising & Stocking Basics and Checklist from Emergency Foodshelf Network. Available at:
http://www.emergencyfoodshelf.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Merchandising-Stocking-Basics-and-Checklist-FINAL.pdf
Minnesota Grown from Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Search for farms here:
http://www3.mda.state.mn.us/mngrown/
Recipe Finder from U. S. Department of Agriculture. Search for recipes here:
http://recipefinder.nal.usda.gov/
Recipe Rainbow from Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Select recipe ingredients here:
http://www.pittsburghfoodbank.org/recipedatabase/
Regional Food Access Profiles from University of Minnesota Extension. Available at:
http://z.umn.edu/rfap
SHIP Communities from Minnesota Department of Health. Local SHIP here:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/oshii/ship/communities/
SNAP-Ed at University of Minnesota Extension. Find a local educator here:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/family/health-and-nutrition/snap-ed/
Do you have a favorite resource that’s not listed here? Please let us know so that we can share it.
Kelly Kunkel, Extension Educator — Health and Nutrition, University of Minnesota Extension
[email protected] | (507) 389-6721 | 1961 Premier Drive, Suite 110 | Mankato, MN 56001
© 2014, Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. Written by Sally Dover and Kelly Kunkel, Extension Educators — Health and Nutrition
Programs. University of Minnesota Extension is an equal opportunity educator and employer. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, this
material is available in alternative formats upon request. Direct requests to 612-626-6602. The information given in this publication is for educational
purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names is made with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement
by University of Minnesota Extension is implied.
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