NPR

One Of America's Biggest Food Banks Just Cut Junk Food By 84 Percent In A Year

D.C'.s Capital Area Food Bank is part of a growing trend to move toward healthier options in food assistance, because many in the population it serves suffer from high blood pressure and diabetes.
Dorothy Boddie runs the outreach ministry at Allen Chapel AME, one of the Capital Area Food Bank's nonprofit partners. The D.C.-area food bank is part of a growing trend to move toward healthier options in food assistance, because many in the population it serves suffer from high blood pressure and diabetes.

A year ago, Washington D.C.'s Capital Area Food Bank — one of the largest in the country — decided to turn away junk food, joining a growing trend of food banks that are trying to offer healthier options to low-income Americans. From soda to chips, the CAFB has reduced the junk food it supplies to its 444 nonprofit partners, including soup kitchens and food pantries, by 84 percent.

"This change was in large part driven by the people we're serving," says Hilary Salmon, director of communications at CAFB, which distributes 46 million pounds of food every year

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