December Nutrition Challenge

Help the Food Bank with our December Nutrition Challenge

Supporting local Food Banks is near and dear to my heart. It pains me to know that people in this world go hungry when there is an abundance of food waste that occurs every single day. It is for this reason, that I encourage you to take part in my December Nutrition Challenge with a Kitchen Clean-Up activity!

Research shows that when we have less food options available to us, we are less tempted to eat when we are not hungry which results in eating fewer calories overall. Because we specialize and focus in weight management here at CWMC, this is an activity that is worthwhile and will support your healthy weight goal.

To take part in this challenge, start by taking everything out of your pantry (or cupboards) and organize it into groups on your countertop. If you are not sure how to organize your pantry, I have shared what I personally do at the end of this blog post. From here, trash any opened items that are stale or are simply unhealthy and do not support your healthy eating mission. With the remaining items, look at what you will likely use within the month and place these in a "keep" section. For items that you do not plan to use within the month, place these in a "Food Bank Donation" box. Now, let's go back to the "keep" section. For any duplicate items (e.g. soup, tuna, pasta, sauces, canned beans, cereal, snack foods, and so on), keep one or two for your pantry and donate the rest.

This exericse will give you the opportunity to take in and assess if you are over-buying food and most importantly, an opportunity to help those in need at a very challenging time of year.

2015 Interesting and Quick Facts for the Calgary Food Bank

Number of Calgarians that received emergency meals from the food bank: 141,271

Number of meals served to hungry Calgarians from the food bank: 3,000,000

Pantry Organization Tips

If you are unsure how to organize your pantry into sections, feel free to use what I personal do in my own kitchen.

• Baking Section - spices, herbs, garlic, dried fruit, shredded coconut, marshmellows, chocolate, etc.
• Beverage Section - juice, tea, coffee, etc.
• Breakfast Section - cereal (hot and cold)
• Canned or Jar Food Item Section - fish, pasta sauce, soups, preserves, beans, lentils, etc.
• Cooked Grains Section - rice, pasta, quinoa, etc.
• Snack Section - whole grain crackers, popcorn, tortilla chips, etc. (*Note - choose one or two items to keep on-hand to control the availability of non nutrient dense foods in your pantry)
• Staple Items - flour, sugar, salt, onions, potatoes, etc.
• Supplement Section - protein powder, protein bars, vitamins, minerals, etc.