Healthy Food Procurement

Purchasing Contracts

• Sugar-sweetened beverages and desserts shall not be ordered for purchase from the Regional Food Bank. Individuals and/or companies shall be notified of the food policy changes SICM is undergoing and be informed of healthier donation options.
• Example: Cornell

Policy Updates

• Action Item Effective July 1, 2016, the Food Bank will not distribute soda, energy drinks and candy to partner agencies and through its direct service programs such as Mobile Food Pantry.
• Example: Southern Tier, NY
• Small changes over time may have an increase success than large sweeping changes all at once. View Source

Assess Different Programs

• Gleaning programs (Farmers and Farmers Markets; Plant-A-Row for the Hungry; UNL Food & Crops Researchers)
• Donation garden programs (Growing Together Nebraska)
• Food Bank Heartland

Encourage Monetary Donations Over Food Donations

• Adam Ruins Everything: Why You Shouldn’t Donate Canned Food to Charities
• Food Donations vs. Monetary Donations
• Cash is Better than Cans
• Make online/monthly donations easy
  • Example: Feeding Our Communities Partners, Feeding America
• Create an “Approved Foods” list for food donations
  • Example: Feeding Our Communities Partners
• Promote “Cash Over Cans” on social media with reasons why cash donations go further (use above resources)
  • Free “Cash over Cans” Instagram/Facebook image post
  • Feel free to save and add your own pantry name/contact information
  • Try using the free version of canva.com for simple editing
  • Example created by Hannah Thompson, dietetic intern
• Statistics to use for promoting food pantry

Procurement Options

• Work with local business, schools, and religious centers to create healthy food drives to procure whole food products. Source: Minnesota Open Doors
• Work with local growers, farmers in your area to see if they are willing to work out a contract with you to provide fresh produce for your center. Source: UM Extension