Hurdles to Healthy Eating on SNAP

By Rebecca Rice

Summer 2021


  

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we did something crazy at the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank (IFCB). We took all the limits off our non-perishable foods. This means a person can take as much soup, tuna, peanut butter, crackers, rice, etc. (you get the picture) as their family needs. This is a big departure from pre-pandemic, where every single item had a specific limit, making shopping feel more complicated and challenging.

Why can we afford to allow people to take as many non-perishable items as they want? Well, while the canned and dry goods are great pantry staples and often easier for parents working one or more jobs, our clients, like most of us, don’t want to eat canned or processed food all the time. Fresh food has become far more popular over the years at the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank and we have shifted our systems and programs to follow this trend toward healthier eating. 

Our food bank is an essential part of helping households get enough fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy items into their homes. Even though most of our households do receive SNAP (food stamps), 88% of SNAP recipients still have trouble getting enough fresh food into their homes. In addition to cost, transportation is another barrier to accessing produce – if you can only get to a corner gas station, your produce options will be extremely limited (Source).

“Today’s report makes clear we still have work to do to ensure all Americans
not only have food to eat, but access to nutritious foods.”

- Tom Vilsack, USDA Agriculture Secretary

The Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank has developed programs to address each of these struggles. We provide a wide variety of quality produce, meat, and dairy items to shoppers. We have restarted our grocery store pick ups - which were paused during the pandemic - to provide more options to our shoppers. These pick ups include a wide variety of pre-made deli items, such as wraps, sandwiches, salads, and dips, like hummus. This allows families to grab quick and healthy meals and provides nutrition with little to no preparation needed to our clients experiencing homelessness. For shoppers without transportation, our Groceries to Go program delivers fresh groceries right to their door. Our grocery deliveries have nearly doubled during the pandemic, to almost 200 households every other week.

We have also shifted many of our youth feeding programs, such as Lunch for the Break and Summer Lunch, away from pre-packed non-perishable foods to include much more fruits and veggies, meeting the needs and wants of our families with kids.

The Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank plays a vital role in ensuring our vulnerable populations receive the healthy, fresh food they need and want, and we are continually modifying our programs and systems to ensure we’re meeting the changing needs of our shoppers.