Helping the Hungry Eat Well

By Sharon Gruber, Bread for the City

Here’s a sad irony that most people still don’t realize (excepting readers of this blog): one third of Americans are obese, and another third are overweight, but many of these people are also hungry. Obesity and poverty go hand in hand in America today. Most of the foods that the poor can readily access and afford are often unhealthy.

Here at Bread for the City, we provide food for tens of thousands of poor residents of our nation’s capital. Our food pantry – the largest in DC – operates as part of a comprehensive array of services, including a medical clinic that provides free primary care. The three dominant illnesses in our clinic are high blood pressure, hypertension, and diabetes – all three attributable to malnutrition.

So even in the face of food deserts, and soaring costs of living, we know that it’s not enough to help hungry people eat. We must help them eat well.

In the past year, Bread for the City has overhauled our food pantry’s menu so that we distribute only healthful foods. Canned goods high in sodium and sugars are out; things like transfats and red meat are also out. Instead we provide fruits canned in their own juices; canned veggies without salt added; brown rice; and even fresh produce in every bag.

Our medical clinic also offers one-on-one nutrition counseling, and I conduct a regular cooking class. Our cooking classes were recently featured in a UPI video news segment about poverty and obesity:

The link between hunger and obesity is actually quite complex, and hard to capture in a few minutes of video. (Frankly, I think you can hear my hesitation to sum it up in a soundbite!)

But I do think this clip gives a good sense of the atmosphere of our cooking class, which is collegial and supportive. I’ve formed strong relationships with many of the people who attend the classes. Mr. Billingsley, the man featured in the clip, is a regular. He’s made great progress. When he first started the class, he warned me that he was something of a picky eater, but he really enjoyed things like avocado, hummus, and miso soup – and now even incorporates a white bean salad into his weekly diet.

One thing I would elaborate upon—and one of the formative principles behind the work that I do at Bread for the City—is that the effect of community modeling on eating habits is pretty substantial.

A person in a community of resources is likely to be in contact with someone who is making healthy food choices and thinking about nutrition (maybe even reading food-related blogs). These social interactions are enriching, validating, and inspiring.

But in lower-income communities, where fresh and nutritious foods are scarce and often too costly, those social interactions are less common. As a result, even though it is possible (though still too difficult) to have a balanced diet on a low budget, many people are discouraged from making the effort.

We designed our cooking classes with this function of community modeling in mind. As such, we’re able to create a peer support network that, hopefully, not only helps individuals eat well but will then percolate outward into their own communities.

Achieving true food security in low-income communities will take a lot more thank cooking classes, of course. Stay tuned for more posts about promising steps forward.

Sharon Gruber is the in-house nutritionist at Bread for the City. She blogs about nutrition and community health at Beyond Bread, Bread for the City's blog.

Update: Links added.