Nutrition

What is a Healthy Meal?

The Federal Government always depended on the food pyramid to show how much of each type of food we should be consuming. This tended to be confusing and too much information. The new symbol for healthy eating is now the Plate. Healthy eating includes eating a variety of foods with vegetables and fruits filling half of your plate, vegetables being the larger portion. The Plate also helps to discourage taking larger portions. Avoiding processed foods such as high sugar and processed carbohydrates is important as they offer minimal nutrition.

Unfortunately, for many poor and homeless families, processed carbohydrates are often all they can afford. Meats, fruits and vegetables are too expensive for families barely scraping by. Children in these families may be getting enough overall calories, but from minimally nutritious foods. These children often show malnutrition:

• Skin appears swollen or puffy due to possible protein deficiency
• Redness and /or cracking around the lips
• Dry and itchy eyes indicator of possible Vitamin A deficiency

Food for Thought focuses on providing nutritious meals for our community’s hungry children. Each bag we pack includes a healthy combination of healthy protein, fruits, vegetables and complex carbohydrates. We do often include a fun snack as well.

My Plate