Community Corner

Food Pantry Looks for Healthier Options

MUM will change the way they stock their shelves in response to needs of clients.

"We’re trying to be more mindful about the kinds of food we put on our shelves,” says Susan DeFord.

It sounds like a sentiment from a family embarking on healthy eating plan, or even a grocery store making some big changes in their stock, but DeFord is a board member of Mid-County United Ministries (MUM), a food pantry and social service provider inside the Mid-County Service Center

With 15 years of experience, MUM has decided that in their fight against hunger for local families, hunger shouldn’t be filled with empty calories and excesses of salt. 

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While working with clients, DeFord says that MUM’s director, Diane Schroeder, realized that many have chronic health conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity, among others.

“They're not only dealing with a lack of food, but a lack of nutritious food,” DeFord says.

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But updating the pantry's shelves is not a quick change. Because of space limitations, MUM can’t offer fresh food--including vegetables and fruits. Their pantry is filled with boxed, canned and other packaged foods. Healthier packaged food options--like low or no-sodium canned vegetables, high fiber cereal, dried beans and whole-grain pastas--are generally more expensive.

Instead, MUM is taking a two-pronged approach: increasing the amount of money they have to grocery shop for the pantry; and asking that donations focus on healthy food.

“We really do depend on the food drives,” said DeFord.

Although MUM is a partner of Capital Area Food Bank, the selection changes on a day-to-day basis. MUM also uses grant money to shop at local grocery stores to supplement what they receive through food drives.

Going forward this means that when reaching out to congregations, schools and other groups that do food drives on MUM's behalf, the group will also be giving them an updated suggested donations which include healthier items. They will also be making announcements in their newsletter, on their website and new Facebook page. 

In the new grant cycle, MUM is applying for larger grant amounts with the specific intention of using the money to stock healthier items.

But the shift is still new for MUM. In the meantime, they are recommending their clients to select the healthiest combination of available foods and giving tips like washing off the excess sodium on canned vegetables.


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