Supporting Community Nutrition and Diverse Cultures

A bag of groceries can feed a family, but it may not always feel like home. New research led by the University of California, Davis, finds that labeling foods that are meaningful to different cultures can help local pantries better serve the communities they support.

The study, published in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, found that labeling culturally relevant foods made agencies two times more likely to select them. Cassandra Nguyen, assistant professor of Cooperative Extension with the Department of Nutrition and senior author of the paper, said food bank

s are important to addressing food insecurity, but the food they provide should also feel familiar to the people receiving it by reflecting their cultures and traditions.

“Foods are only nutritious if they’re actually eaten,” Nguyen said. “We could provide lots of healthy foods, but if it’s not something that’s familiar and appealing and preferred, then they’re not going to be able to provide the nutrition if they’re not consumed. The ability to provide nutritious healthy options that are also providing comfort or memories, and a sense of belonging is a really appealing approach.”

Testing system with labels

Nguyen partnered with a food bank in Rochester, New York, that supplies food to local agencies such as food pantries, soup kitchens and group homes. Those agencies regularly place orders through an online system, choosing from the inventory the food bank has available to distribute.

Over three 45-day periods, researchers first observed agencies’ usual ordering patterns, then added labels that identified culturally relevant foods in the online ordering system. The study analyzed 720 orders representing nearly 32,000 food items. Researchers found that with labeling alone, agencies were two times more likely to order culturally relevant foods. They also found that adding more of those foods to the inventory increased selection even more, to 50% of agencies.

“Not all food banks have the ability to go out and specifically procure these cultural foods,” Nguyen said. “They may not have access to the funds or specific additional foods. But most food banks that use an online ordering system for their member agencies would have the capacity to implement labels, which could make a difference at a low- or no-cost investment. That’s really exciting.” 

Expanding the impact

Examples of culturally relevant foods included sauerkraut and canned beets for Eastern European communities, and cornmeal, tortilla flour and pigeon peas for Hispanic and Latinx communities.

Nguyen believes the findings could help food banks across the country. In California, she sees an opportunity to apply the same approach with input from local communities. Working with the California Association of Food Banks, Nguyen is leading another project to identify the foods that are most meaningful to community members served by agencies associated with three regional food banks. The goal is to understand which foods align with different cultural groups and make it easier for food banks to track what they're already offering and identify opportunities to expand food options.

“There’s a lot of interest in providing these cultural foods, but if you don’t know which foods are aligned with a culture, you can’t really track your progress or understand your current capacity,” Nguyen said. “We’re working on identifying what those foods are.”

Laura Held, director of food bank programs and compliance for Foodlink, is a co-author of the paper.