Transforming the Marketplace

Feeding America

2018 Progress Report

Year Committed: 2017

Length of Commitment: 7 years

Select a Progress Report:

View Partner

Committed to increase annual fresh/frozen/canned/dried fruit/vegetable category from 35% to 45% of all distributed food, refine and pilot to food categories to then establish a goal for increasing foods to encourage (F2E) based on baseline data and to pilot behavioral economic nudges.

Verified Results

Implementation Date
June 2023
Reporting Date
September 2018

Commitment Element
Between July 2015 and June 2023, increase annual fresh/frozen/canned/dried fruit/vegetable category from 35% to 45% of all distributed food.
Progress To Date

Feeding America is making progress toward its goal to increase annual fruit and vegetable distributions to 45%. Between July 2017 and June 2018, 637,708,395 pounds of fresh, frozen, canned and dried fruit vegetable were distributed, accounting for 31% of all distributed food.
Implementation Date
June 2018
Reporting Date
September 2018

Commitment Element
Operate 6-8 regional produce cooperatives across the country to distribute fresh produce more equitably across the Feeding America system.
Progress To Date

Between July 2017 and June 2018, Feeding America operated 7 regional food cooperatives throughout the country, distributing 184,517,324 pounds of fresh produce.
Implementation Date
June 2019
Reporting Date
September 2018

Commitment Element
Pilot 2-3 product/packaging transformation efforts across fruit/vegetables, protein and/or dairy to evaluate scalability and if feasible, scale up.
Progress To Date

The Feeding America Supply Chain team is in the development phase of product and packaging pilots to support protein donation, processing, packaging and distribution. Feeding America is working with donors, food banks, network peers, industry professionals, higher education institutions and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to shape the pilot projects.
Implementation Date
June 2018
Reporting Date
September 2018

Commitment Element
Refine food categories with The Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity and American Heart Association.
Progress To Date

Feeding America worked with the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity and other organizations to identify 31 unique categories to define food distributions.
Implementation Date
June 2018
Reporting Date
September 2018

Commitment Element
Identify 2 behavior economics principles within food bank network, known commonly as nudges or environmental cues.
Progress To Date

Feeding America has identified 7 behavioral economic principals to increase selection of foods to encourage including placement in convenient locations, updating product displays, fully stocking shelves, bundling items to suggest meal options, signage suggesting amounts to select, signage identifying nutritional benefits and displaying signage at multiple locations throughout the food pantry.
Implementation Date
June 2021
Reporting Date
September 2018

Commitment Element
Provide 10 new recipes meeting Hunger + Health recipe criteria for each of the top 31 donated produce items.
Progress To Date

Feeding America is making progress toward its commitment and has identified 78 new recipes that meet its Health+Hunger Recipe Criteria. New recipes feature 24 of the top 31 donated produce items.
Implementation Date
June 2023
Reporting Date
September 2018

Commitment Element
Identify and implement strategies to integrate nutrition guidance into child nutrition programs at food banks.
Progress To Date

Feeding America supports three programs targeted to alleviate childhood hunger: BackPack, Kids Café and School Pantry. Each program has a mission and goal of providing nutritious, healthy food to children at risk of hunger. Feeding America integrates nutrition guidance in its program agreements by emphasizing distribution of Foods to Encourage and strongly recommending partners follow its Detailed Foods to Encourage criteria when purchasing food for each program. A "Nudge Toolkit" is in development that will provide information about Foods To Encourage and how to leverage them. Additionally, Feeding America provides the Hunger+Health website with tools and resources to support the increased distribution and consumption of healthy foods across all programs.
Implementation Date
June 2020
Reporting Date
September 2018

Commitment Element
Support 15 food banks to expand and strengthen their nutrition and health promotion initiatives via Pathways to Health Promotion Framework, which will include 3 evidence-informed strategies.
Progress To Date

In 2018, Feeding America supported implementation of its Pathways to Health Promotion Nudge Toolkit to expand nudge strategy and interventions in 5 food banks. All food banks reported implementing at least 3 nudges in 3 or more sites. All food banks reported increased distribution of foods that qualify as Foods to Encourage as a result of their engagement with the toolkit.
Implementation Date
June 2022
Reporting Date
September 2018

Commitment Element
Establish criteria for and a mechanism by which to recognize excellence in nutrition for health in food banking.
Progress To Date

No update provided.

Partner Statement

“Feeding America is the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. For 35 years, we have responded to the crisis of food insecurity in the United States by providing food to people in need through a nationwide network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs. We provide meals to more than 46 million people each year and strive to help the people we serve build a path to a bright, food-secure future. For more than a decade, Feeding America has made considerable strategic, structural and programmatic advancements to improve the nutritious food supply for children and families across the food bank network. Our collective efforts have led to substantial improvements across the charitable food system and have culminated in the development of our 2025 Goal: By 2025, Feeding America, in collaboration with our network and our partners, will ensure access to enough nutritious food for people struggling with hunger, and make meaningful progress toward ending hunger.

"We aligned Feeding America’s existing 2025 Goal and longstanding efforts to three specific areas with PHA. These include increasing Feeding America’s supply of healthy foods, increasing the demand of healthy food options, and providing tools to increase capacity for member food banks and their pantries to focus on nutrition and health. To learn more, visit www.HungerandHealth.org.”