Donating Nutritious Food to the Food Bank

Guest blog by Cara Rosenbloom, RD

March is Nutrition Month, and this year’s theme from Dietitians of Canada is to Unlock the Potential of Food. All month long, dietitians will be helping Canadians discover food’s potential to fuel, discover, prevent, heal and bring us together. You can learn more at www.NutritionMonth2018.ca.

Early this month, we published Healthy Foods for Nutrition Month where we looked into how to unlock the power of food that can help prevent chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The blog also focused on how cooking on a budget of $4 per day is possible while eating healthy.

If you are thinking of making a food bank donation, please consider these nutritious items in this handy list:

Vegetables & Fruit

  • Sodium-reduced tomato sauce
  • No-salt-added canned vegetables
  • Fruit canned in water
  • Fruit cups with no added sugar
  • Low sodium vegetable soups and chilies

Whole Grains

  • Oats and unsweetened “regular” or “natural” oatmeal
  • Pot barley
  • Quinoa
  • Buckwheat
  • Whole grain flour
  • Whole grain or high fibre bran cereals
  • Whole grain pasta
  • Brown rice

Protein

  • Canned tuna, salmon or sardines
  • Canned chicken
  • Canned no-salt-added chickpeas, lentils and beans
  • Dry peas, beans and lentils
  • Peanut butter or other nut butters
  • Unsalted nuts, seeds or soy nuts
  • Skim milk powder
  • Evaporated milk
  • Soy beverages in tetra pack containers

Click to view full size.

Take this list with you on your next grocery store visit!