Foodlink is one of five food banks nationwide to receive grant funding through The Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition’s inaugural Rooted in Evidence grant program.

The grant supports food banks currently implementing “innovative and dynamic programming to improve the health and dietary quality of emergency food recipients.” Foodlink’s project includes the evaluation of its new “The Healthy Choice” nutrition ranking system in its network of “Front Door” agencies across its 10-county service area. Funding will help Foodlink understand how improvements to the nutritional quality of the food it receives and distributes will impact pantry- and client-level outcomes.

Funding for this program is provided by the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition Foundation.

The Healthy Choice is a new, evidence-based nutrition ranking system adopted by Foodlink that monitors and improves the proportion of nutritious foods distributed to its network of agencies. Foods are placed in green, yellow and red categories based on their nutritional value, and Foodlink aims to build client-facing messaging to encourage the selection of healthier foods. Foodlink is committed to distributing 95% green- and yellow-ranked foods by 2021.

The Healthy Choice is one component of Foodlink’s new Community Healthy Committment, which was established in 2018 as a means to implement nutrition guidelines for the receipt and distribution of food.

Other food banks that received grant funding include: Food Gatherers (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Montana Food Bank Network (Missoula, Mont.), Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee (Maryville, Tenn.) and Inter-Faith Food Shuttle (Raleigh, N.C.).

Learn more about the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition, and all of the grantees’ projects by visiting: https://www.centerfornutrition.org/rootedinevidence.