The Tenino Community Service Center and Food Bank Plus has partnered with multiple agencies and launched the Supporting Wellness at Pantries (SWAP) program, a nationwide program that aims to educate communities on making better food purchases for both themselves and food bank donations.
SWAP was brought to Tenino in partnership with Tenino Market Fresh, the Washington Food Coalition and the American Heart Association. It was highlighted during an event on Tuesday, Aug. 22.
While inexpensive food staples such as Top Ramen might be tempting to both eat and donate due to affordability, Tenino Community Service Center Executive Director Jody Stoltz said that for the clientele she sees at the drive-up food bank, those kinds of foods aren’t actually good for them.
“Our biggest number of clients are seniors, and they need more nutritious food than others,” Stoltz said. “They’ve got to watch their sodium intake. They’ve got to watch their sugar intake, for a number of reasons.”
Whether it’s heart disease, diabetes, medications or another reason, seniors are often limited in the food selections they can make. Stoltz estimated between 80% and 85% of the people the Tenino Community Service Center provides food for are seniors.
It isn’t just seniors who need nutritious food, but children as well. Throughout this summer, the Tenino Community Service Center has provided lunches to children out of school living in Bucoda, Stoltz added. She wants to ensure no matter who the food bank is serving, they are getting healthy food.
For SWAP-approved foods, color-coded cards will be going up on the shelves of Tenino Market Fresh to show shoppers healthier alternatives to consider purchasing.
“So you swap out your choice. Green is the best choice. Yellow, maybe eat only one or two of those. And red, you want to eat as little as possible …” Stoltz said. “It’s an education mindset. It’s educating everybody on the labels and what they need to think about. Just because something says that it is natural or low in sugar, it’s gonna be high in saturated fats. Low fat foods are often higher in added sugars or sodium.”
Using SWAP to make education easier, Stoltz is thinking outside the box, so not only are people donating healthier food but buying it for themselves and their families.
“We have these little cheat sheets which we will be putting up at the grocery store, our website and on social media,” Stoltz added.
The Tenino Community Service Center and Food Bank Plus provides food to families in the Tenino and Bucoda area and is located at 224 Sussex Ave. E. in Tenino. It is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon. For more information, including what kinds of foods to donate, visit https://teninocsc.org/.
Tenino Market Fresh is located at 669 Lincoln Ave. E. in Tenino. It is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
SWAP was initially developed in 2016 by Healthy Eating Research, a nationwide nonprofit focused on building a culture of health through identifying strategies to improve childhood nutrition and prevent obesity, according to its website. For more information, visit https://healthyeatingresearch.org/research/supporting-wellness-at-pantries-swap-toolkit-2021/.
