unty food pantries start healthy eating initiative

unty food pantries start healthy eating initiative

County officials approve resolution to help get healthier donations into the hands of needy families

Volunteer Dorothy Latta assists families in need and in crisis situations pick out food from all the essential food groups at the Plattsburgh Interfaith Food Shelf. Latta is now trying to promote the pantry’s healthier items.

PLATTSBURGH — For those with a limited budget, healthy food options can hard to come by.
But the Clinton County Legislature and Health Department plan on changing that by increasing the availability of healthy items at food banks.
Earlier this month, county officials voted unanimously to accept over $300,000 in funding through the National Women, Infants and Children Association and NYS Health Foundation.
“The donations food banks are currently getting aren’t as healthy as we would like them to be,” County Legislator Jonathan Beach said. “We want to change that.”

Mandy Snay, director of health planning and promotion, said in February the department utilized a portion of this funding into an evaluation of some local food banks.
Through this, the health department gained knowledge of each bank and what the nutritional needs are for the pantries and their customers.

JCEO’s 12 sites and the Plattsburgh Interfaith Food Shelf serve thousands of people each month. Both entities receive foods through the regional food bank, business donations and community donations.

Both organizations serve thousands of people each month, Snay said.
“Instead of having to purchase those (healthy) items,” she said, “we want to try to get them through donations.”
The funding will partially go toward improving refrigeration in order to accommodate more healthier options, such as dairy, meat, eggs and possibly milk.
The rest of the funds will go toward spearheading a community campaign to get healthier donations into the hands of needy families.
Snay said the department plans on doing this through advertising, educational presentations at local food drives and markets and working with the pantries themselves.

Participating food pantries include the Plattsburgh Interfaith Food Shelf and the JCEO food pantries in Altona, Ausable, Black Brook, Champlain, Chazy, Clinton, Dannemora, Ellenburg, Peru, Saranac, town of Plattsburgh and city of Plattsburgh.
JCEO’s sites give families in need three-days worth of food and follow nutritional guidelines by the regional food bank.
Clients get to choose a number of items from each category, such as fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins.
Community Outreach Director Sally Sousie said through this initiative plans on educating their clients about healthier eating with the products in the pantries, including putting up posters with nutritional facts and writing healthy recipes.
“We have no issue getting healthy foods,” Sousie said. “But we do want our clients to choose the healthier option.”
The Plattsburgh Interfaith Food Shelf, on the other hand, does not receive as much healthy choices as they would like.

“I’m not going to lie, not all of our food is healthy,” said volunteer Dorothy Latta. “But we’re hoping to get healthier donations through this initiative.”
The emergency food pantry offers families in need four days worth of food and drinks seven times a year.
Healthy choices are limited, said Latta.
The volunteers purchase 22,000 of food per month from the regional food bank, which is 90 percent of their $150,000 budget.
A majority of that order, Latta said, is for foods with less sodium and fat.
Latta said she’s noticed a trend in more clients going toward the canned beef stew and boxed macaroni and cheese instead of the canned tuna and whole wheat pasta. As part of the initiative, the food shelf hopes to get out into the community during food drives and markets in hopes to get people to donate healthier items.
Snay said the campaign and upgrades to the food pantries should start sometime next month.

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