Alaska Food Coalition (AFC)
Teleconference Minutes
October 18, 2012
9:30-10:00 a.m.
Participants
Cara Durr, Alaska Food Coalition
Paul Watson, Alaska Food Coalition
Mary Sullivan, Food Bank of Alaska
Jennifer Lewis, Food Bank of Alaska
Raissa D’Antonio, F.I.S.H.
John Beyers, Alaska 2-1-1
Rachel Greenberg, Palmer Senior Citizens Center
Lynette Drumbarger, Wasilla Area Seniors
Arnold Hague, Cook Inlet Housing Authority
Tracey Burke, UAA School of Social Work
Diane Owens, He Will Provide Community Food Bank
Eddie Ezelle, Wasilla Food Pantry
Paula Davis, Nome Community Center
Leslie Shallcross, CES
Helen Idzorek, CES
Linda Bond, Catholic Social Services
Alice Hollinger, Wasilla Food Pantry
Guest Speaker: Leslie Shallcross, Cooperative Extension Service (CES)
Leslie gave an overview of the nutrition programs that CES offers. Helen Idzorek (CES) assisted
Leslie in answering questions. Key points of Leslie’s presentation include:
 CES operates the Family Nutrition Program (FNP), which assists low-income and public
assistance-eligible families and youth to acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes and
behaviors necessary to select nutritionally sound diets.
 They provide nutrition education to adults, seniors, food pantry clients – they offer
something for everyone!
 CES has nutrition educators in the following locations: Anchorage, Bethel, Fairbanks, Tok,
and Palmer. They have agents in other parts of the state.
Question and Answer:
Raissa asked: Do you have regularly scheduled classes?
 No. CES used to offer these, but they found that attendance was sporadic and that regularly
scheduled classes were not the best use of their staff and resources.
Mary thanked Leslie and Helen for the work that they are doing. She added that she was recently at
a food pantry distribution and she saw that the signup sheet for one-on-one sessions with CES staff
was full! Leslie added that the one-on-one classes were great, because the purpose of CES’ cooking
demonstrations at pantries is not just to have clients taste the food, but to have them learn more
deeply about the nutrition and preparation. One-on-one sessions are a great way to impart this
information.
Lynette asked: Do you have a limit on the number of classes that a person can take? How many do
allow per class?
 Ideally the would have around 8 meetings with clients; this allows CES staff to really work
with their clients and help them to implement more long term changes in their diets. They
allow up to 15 clients in one class, but the smaller classes are preferred.
For more information on CES programs or to schedule a CES visit to your organization, contact:
Helen Idzorek
FNP Coordinator
907-474-7930
[email protected]
Discussion: Should Nutrition Influence What Food Banks Do?
After receiving a lot of feedback on the September whitepaper, “Should Nutrition Influence What
Food Banks Do,” it was decided that we should allow some time for discussion of the topic. Cara
gave an overview of the paper, which looked at both sides of the argument and concluded that
while we shouldn’t censor what we give out to our clients, we can try to include nutrition education
components into our distribution efforts. We discussed this somewhat controversial topic; some
comments included:
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Eddie said that while he tries to keep the food he hands out nutritional, he hands out
whatever is donated. Sometimes items such as soda go on a “special” shelf.
Mary discussed client choice, and commiserated with Eddie on the struggle to distribute
healthy foods while allowing client choice.
Diane operates on a pound system and said that her most popular items are “meats and
treats.”
Raissa said that F.I.S.H. clients are given pre-selected boxes of food. While she tries to keep
things like cakes on hand for birthdays and other requests, she also tries to provide a
nutritious mix in the boxes. For example, F.I.S.H. recently made the decision to stop
including ramen noodles in their boxes, but seeks to replace them with an increase in
vegetables.
Helen reiterated that nutrition education is the key here; Leslie said that even though she is
a nutritionist, she doesn’t think that restricting access to “less healthy” foods is important
or is the place of food pantries. Instead we should expose clients to healthy options and
choices.