Young Asian American volunteer working in food pantry, smiling and looking at camera. She is holding a crate of donated grocery and food items.

Safe and Healthy Food Pantries

Providing food pantries with guidance on how to improve nutritional quality and safety for a safer, healthier Wisconsin.

Learn more about the Program

Table of Contents

Share

Overview

Making fresh food safe and accessible for food pantry guests is critical for Wisconsin families turning to food pantries to meet their food needs. Food pantries play an important role in supporting Wisconsin’s health and well-being by offering safe and healthy food.

The Safe and Healthy Food Pantries Project was developed to provide food pantries with guidance on how to improve the nutritional quality and safety of their food inventories. You can adopt these strategies and tools as appropriate for your pantry and guests.

Volunteer hands out food donations during charity food drive

Whom We Serve

Food pantry staff and volunteers

Community organizations supporting food and nutrition security

Ways We Help Food Pantries

Download our Safe and Healthy Food Pantries Toolkit PDF to learn the latest research, assess current practices, review strategies, and develop an action plan to improve the nutrition and safety of foods provided to families

Health & Well-Being Educators can provide classes for staff or guests in your community

Our staff supports food pantries to develop systems, strategies, policies and connections with other leaders in your local community

Overhead view of a group of young adult volunteers working at a food bank, processing donations of packaged food products and clothing.

How It Works

There are five steps to implementing the Safe and Healthy Food Pantries Project. Learn more about each step on the project website.

We assess

Use our assessment tools to evaluate your current food pantry operations and set goals for health and safety.

We review

Explore our recommendations and best practices for improving your food pantry environment.

We plan

Develop an action plan using our action plan template and available resources.

We implement

Put your plan into action.

We evaluate

Use your action plan to evaluate your progress along the way.

Success & Impact

Empowering Wisconsin Pantries to Provide Safer, Healthier Food for All

The Safe and Healthy Food Pantries Project equips Wisconsin pantries with tools and training, resulting in safer food handling and improved nutrition for pantry guests.

Quick Links

Safe and Healthy Food Pantries Toolkit

Safe and Healthy Food Pantries Project Website

Get Involved

Volunteer

Support your local food pantry. Contact your county Extension staff.

Partner with us

Host a workshop or training session. Contact your county Extension staff.

Advocate

Support healthy food policies in your community.

Contact Us

If you have any questions regarding this program in Wisconsin, please contact us through the info below:

Sarah Smith

Population Health Manager, Population Health Specialist

sarah.smith@wisc.edu

Statistic 1 Citation: Wisconsin Hunger Report, 2022. (2024). Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

Statistic 2 Citation: Rabbitt, M.P., Hales, L.J., Burke, M.P., & Coleman-Jensen, A. (2023). Household food security in the United States in 2022 (Report No. ERR-325). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. https://doi.org/10.32747/2023.8134351.ers

Statistic 3 Citation: Gregory, C.A., & Coleman-Jensen, A. (2017). Food Insecurity, Chronic Disease, and Health Among Working-Age Adults, ERR-235. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.