Factors associated with the healthfulness of food shelf orders

Cureton, Colin; King, Robert P.; Warren, Cael; Grannon, Katherine Y.; Hoolihan, Courtney; Janowiec, Mark; Nanney, Marilyn S.

doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2017.08.002

Cited by 7 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Most papers were from the United States, 14 , 22 , 47–58 but 1 was from Israel. 46 Food banks, 14 , 22 , 46 , 48 , 49 , 57 food pantries, 47 , 50 , 52–56 and food shelves 51 , 58 were the main settings. One study 58 explored the policy process of ordering foods from food banks by food shelves.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Policy approaches to nutrition-focused food banking in industrialized countries: a scoping review

Mossenson

Pulker

Giglia³

et al. 2023

Nutrition Reviews

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Objective This review aims to synthesize the literature describing policy approaches to nutrition-focused food banking in industrialized countries, spanning the period 2000 to October 2021. Background The charitable food system provides food assistance to increasing numbers of people experiencing food insecurity in industrialized countries. Calls to improve the nutrition quality of foods provided by foods banks, pantries, and shelves have increased, yet little is known about the challenges faced when initiating policy in this setting. Methods A protocol based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses extension for Scoping Reviews Guidelines was developed and registered with Open Science Framework. Four electronic databases (MEDLINE [Ovid], Global Health, ProQuest, and Scopus) were searched for peer-reviewed articles published in English. A gray literature search was conducted using Google Advanced Search. Results Of 642 peer-reviewed articles screened, 15 were eligible for inclusion. In addition, 24 gray literature documents were included. These 39 papers were assessed against the Iron Triangle of Hunger Relief and the Campbell et al framework of organizational factors. Six themes were identified: (1) there is a moral imperative to take action to ensure the provision of appropriate and nutritious food for vulnerable clients; (2) nutrition policies are unlikely to be formalized; (3) the unpredictability of donated food is a barrier to providing healthy foods; (4) reliance on donations affects the sector’s willingness to reduce the unhealthy inventory for fear of losing donors, and the challenges of managing donor relationships were emphasized; (5) organizational capacity (volunteer workforce, executive leadership support) must be considered; (6) the existing measure of success is a weight-based metric that does not support food banks’ prioritizing of healthy foods. These, and other characteristics, were incorporated into an adapted framework. Conclusion There is a need and opportunity for nutrition-focused food banking. A priority action area is the adoption of an outcome metric that is based on nutritional quality, to reorient the charitable food system.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Policy approaches to nutrition-focused food banking in industrialized countries: a scoping review

Mossenson

Pulker

Giglia³

et al. 2023

Nutrition Reviews

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“…Furthermore, comparison food pantries were already stocking a greater variety of healthful options before the intervention. This relationship between food pantry “size” (i.e., amount of food received from a food bank and distributed to clients) and healthfulness of food offerings has been noted in previous literature [ 9 ]. Furthermore, stocks of healthier foods, like the lean proteins, fruits and vegetables, and carbohydrates featured in this study, would be more diverse if perishable versions (i.e., raw and unprocessed) of the foods within these categories were provided by pantries [ 28 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

“…Many pantries have limited inventory due to lack of funds to purchase items from their partnering food banks and lack resources such as transportation vehicles, storage, refrigeration, and volunteer help to procure food from additional sources [ 4 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Pantries with the capacity to receive a large amount of food from their partnering food banks and to service a greater number of clients typically have a healthier selection of foods [ 9 ]. However, even when healthier options are available, pantries may not display food items in ways that actively encourage selection of these options [ 10 , 11 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fresh Shelves, Healthy Pantries: A Pilot Intervention Trial in Baltimore City Food Pantries

Gunen

Reznar

Yan

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a multi-modal pilot intervention on the stocking and acquisition of healthy foods in urban food pantries. An intervention that consisted of three 8-week phases, each focused on promotion of one food group: (1) lean & low-sodium proteins; (2) fruits & vegetables; and (3) healthy carbohydrates was conducted in 3 intervention and 4 comparison food pantries. Food stocking variety scores measured changes in the stocking of promoted healthful foods at pantries. Food Assortment Scoring Tool (FAST) scores measured healthfulness of client bags. Intervention and comparison pantries showed an increase during the study in the total variety score for promoted options, with no significant differences between groups. Mean healthfulness scores for intervention client bags (n = 34) significantly increased from 58.2 to 74.9 (p < 0.001). This pilot trial identified logistically feasible strategies to promote healthy options effectively in food pantries, even in pantries with limited resources.

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“…This orientation is responsive to previously reported barriers to healthy food access in pantries and indicative of a trend of pantries adopting more holistic approaches including customer-choice models [ 13 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. While the relationship between customer-choice models and the healthfulness of pantry foods is not clear [ 40 ], our findings indicate that pantries see customer agency as vital to health promotion and a necessary precursor to nutrition-focused goals, such as sodium reduction. Behavioral economics strategies have been shown to be effective in pantries, though these principles may be less straightforward in pantries than retail settings due to factors that influence decision-making, such as stigma, stress, and restricted choice [ 26 , 27 , 31 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Healthy Food Environments in Food Pantries: Lessons Learned from a Sodium Reduction Intervention

Quinn

Ortiz

Titzer³

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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In the United States, food pantries increasingly serve as regular food sources for low income households experiencing high rates of chronic disease, including hypertension. Sodium consumption is a modifiable risk factor for hypertension, so pantry customers would benefit from access to low-sodium foods. Pantry customers often experience difficulty acquiring healthy foods, however; little is known about pantry foods’ sodium content specifically. This study assesses the sodium content of pantry foods and lessons learned from an adaptable intervention to support pantries in adopting policies and environmental changes to make healthy, lower-sodium foods appealing and accessible. We conducted sodium assessments of food at 13 food pantries, tracked implementation of intervention strategies, and interviewed 10 pantry directors. More than half of food items in 11 categories met sodium standards for foods to be chosen “often”. Pantry directors reported valuing the intervention approach and implemented six of nine behavioral economics strategies, especially those targeting the visibility and convenience of foods, along with layout changes and expanded customer choice. One pantry adopted an agency-specific nutrition policy and 12 adopted a coalition-level policy. Results can inform intervention efforts to make available healthy options appealing and easy to select while also improving the customer experience in food pantries.

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Factors associated with the healthfulness of food shelf orders

Cited by 7 publications

References 19 publications

Policy approaches to nutrition-focused food banking in industrialized countries: a scoping review

Policy approaches to nutrition-focused food banking in industrialized countries: a scoping review

Fresh Shelves, Healthy Pantries: A Pilot Intervention Trial in Baltimore City Food Pantries

Healthy Food Environments in Food Pantries: Lessons Learned from a Sodium Reduction Intervention

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