Food is fuel. A healthy person may survive two or three weeks without food. A person can survive a much longer time with foods that are less than perfect, but better fuel leads to a better life.

Sometimes, we eat foods simply because they taste good or because we eat whatever is served to us, without much thought about the ingredients. It is up to each of us to decide for ourselves what to include in our diets and whether to make healthy or unhealthy choices.

Our bodies perform best when fueled with healthy and balanced foods. Nourishing foods containing protein, vitamins and nutrients are crucial to well-being for our muscles, bones, organs and blood.

The best approach for a healthy diet is to eat foods that are more natural and less processed. Generally speaking, we should aim for foods that are lower in saturated fat, sodium and added sugars and higher in fiber.

Food is medicine. We’ve all heard some the old statements “you are what you eat” or “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Many doctors will suggest to their patients with certain chronic diseases or conditions that they should “eat this, but not that.”

If it’s possible that prevention of illness and chronic disease is as simple as the food choices we make, it makes sense to do our best to make our food choices healthy. The Feeding America 2023 Elevating Voices Report found “93% of neighbors surveyed agreed that ‘food is medicine’ and that you will feel better physically, emotionally and mentally if you have regular access to healthy foods.”

For those who struggle to afford food and use the assistance of food pantries, the Healthy Pantry Initiative and Pennsylvania Eats Partnership, through the Pennsylvania Department of Health, are working to increase availability and consumption of healthy foods for everyone.

Second Harvest Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley and Northeast Pennsylvania serves six counties and guides our pantry to provide healthy options, along with the 200-member agencies it supports.

The food sourcing department at Second Harvest Food Bank does its best to obtain foods that follow the healthy guidelines established by the registered dietitians and food educators on staff, so they are available at the pantry.

When the WCHI team orders food from Second Harvest, we use the system in place on its food ordering system, following the nutrition categories assigned like that of a traffic light - green: chosen often; yellow: chosen sometimes; and red: chosen rarely. We would like for 80% of our offerings to be green and yellow.

When people or organizations in the community offer to donate food, we try to request items that are within these guidelines as well - for example, canned fruits that are in 100% juice instead of syrup, low salt or no salt added vegetables and cereals that do not contain a lot of added sugar.

Throughout the year, we are guided by a nutrition educator from Second Harvest, who instructs us on ways to help our guests make better choices. We use different methods inside the pantry to help indicate foods that are better choices.

The basics of fruits, vegetables and proteins are offered before pasta, soups and snacks. We have signs around the pantry to indicate canned vegetables that are lower in sodium, foods that are higher in fiber or protein and recipe cards for ideas on how to cook with some unfamiliar ingredients.

We place the healthier items higher on the shelves at eye level and make them more visible by offering them before items that may be coded “red.” We always offer a variety of fresh produce that is in season.

We have also been offering tastings of recipes made with ingredients that we have available in the pantry. We have tried sweet potato chili, baked oats and beef enchilada casserole, to name a few. It is great to see people get excited about tasting a new recipe and knowing we offer the ingredients to help them make something new at home.

We need to eat to live. Better fuel leads to a better life.

If you would like an appointment for the monthly food distribution at Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative, call 484-225-0358.

Editor’s note: This column was written by Jenn Dietz.