Executive Summary
The Healthy Hawai’i Guidelines for Food Banks and Pantries are a set of culturally-relevant recommendations for food bank staff, volunteers, and community members to provide more nutritionally-dense food choices for their communities. The Guidelines utilize the Supporting Wellness at Pantries (SWAP) stoplight nutrition system and are based on the Healthy Eating Research (HER) Nutrition Guidelines for the charitable food system, which breaks food products into eleven categories classified as either “choose often”, “choose sometimes”, or “choose rarely”. Each classification is represented by a stoplight symbol: green (choose often), yellow (choose sometimes), and red (choose rarely).
Individuals utilizing the charitable food system may be at higher risk of poor nutrition and diet-related chronic diseases including obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and heart-disease. The Healthy Hawai’i Guidelines for Food Banks and Pantries is designed to help guide improved access to healthy culturally-appropriate foods, which are essential to improve life-long health and wellbeing.
The Guidelines may be visualized as a three-tiered system: “choose often,” “choose sometimes,” and “choose rarely.” Designated as green, yellow, and red, respectively. Eleven distinct categories of food were reviewed in relation to the three tiers as follows: fruits and vegetables; grains; protein; dairy; non-dairy alternatives; beverages; mixed dishes; processed and packaged snacks; desserts; condiments and cooking staples; and other miscellaneous items.
Of these, nine were classified based on three nutrients: a) saturated fat; b) sodium; and c) added sugar. The guidelines recommend limiting products with excess of these nutrients as there is a strong evidence base to show links between excess consumption and diet-related chronic diseases. The other two categories (condiments and cooking staples and miscellaneous products) were not ranked.
Acknowledgement
The Healthy Hawai’i Guidelines for Food Banks and Pantries are based on the Healthy Eating Research (HER) Nutrition Guidelines for the Charitable Food System. The Guidelines also utilize the Supporting Wellness at Pantries (SWAP) stoplight nutrition system designed to help promote healthy food choices at food banks and food pantries. SWAP was revised in 2020 to align with the HER Nutrition Guidelines.
These guidelines were adapted to be culturally relevant with the intent to provide equitable healthy food access for residents of Hawai‘i with different backgrounds. This project was a collaborative effort that is consistent with Hawaii’s values and embraces a shared kuleana (responsibility) to achieve health equity for all Hawai‘i residents.