Craving for Saving: The Nutritional Aspects of Recipes for Food Pantry Produce
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Demonya Davis
College:
The Dorothy and George Hennings College of Science, Mathematics, and Technology
Major:
Biology
Faculty Research Advisor(s):
Kim Spaccarotella
Abstract:
Food pantry clients face barriers to produce consumption, including poor produce quality and lack of cooking resources. Research has shown that clients use Google for recipe ideas, but these recipes may not align with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Dietary Guidelines for healthy eating. A Google search for “green bean recipes” and “green bean meals” was completed, and the first 5 recipes were analyzed with Food Data Central. The mean and standard deviation for energy and selected nutrients was calculated and compared to the Dietary Guidelines for a 2000 kcal diet. Mean energy was 50.30±3.19 kcal for meals. Total fat was 21.99±22.34 g, and mean sodium was 145.67 ± 279.19 mg. Butter and cheese contributed to the sodium and fat, and substituting unsalted butter and reduced fat cheese reduced mean sodium to 28.13±92.54 mg for meals and mean total fat to 15.80±19.45 g for meals. Future research should test the effectiveness of providing pantry clients meal kits with healthy recipes, fresh produce and other recipe ingredients to further reduce barriers to produce consumption.