March is National Nutrition Month, and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has made this year’s theme “Fuel for the Future.” Throughout the month, they have emphasized the importance of eating a healthy diet as well as making sustainable food choices. When my team started talking about “fuel for the future,” we immediately thought about making sure students have access to the healthy foods they need to grow and thrive at school. We also thought about the importance of reducing food waste in order to protect the environment for many years to come. As it turns out, this year’s theme for National Nutrition Month is right in line with Food For Free’s mission and work. 

Feeding Students to Fuel the Future 

Our work at Food For Free is centered around bringing fresh and nutritious food to people who may not be able to get it otherwise. The number of people in Massachusetts who do not have the resources to buy enough nutritious food for themselves and their families is alarming. Around 1 in 3 adults in Massachusetts experienced food insecurity in 2021, and households with children were even more likely to be food insecure. 

The health effects of food insecurity among children can be long lasting. The importance of nutrition begins before birth. Pregnant mothers who do not get enough nutrition are more likely to have babies with low birth weights, which is a risk factor for numerous health conditions. Children who are food insecure may experience delayed development, higher risk for asthma, or behavioral issues (Feeding America). Clearly it is very important that children always have enough nutritious food to eat but unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. 

Thankfully, free breakfast and lunch are available to all Massachusetts public school students this school year, and Governor Healy recently proposed extending the universal free lunch program into next year as well. Still, not all students have enough to eat when they aren’t in school. That’s where Food For Free comes in. 

Food For Free has a number of programs designed to make sure children have enough food to eat when they aren’t in school. Our Weekend Eats program provides students in Cambridge and Somerville with debit cards, called Carrot Cards, loaded with $25/month ($35 in months with extended school breaks) that can be used to buy food at any grocery store or bodega. This program is meant to ensure that children have enough to eat on days when they aren’t in school and can’t rely on Free School Breakfast and Free School Lunch to guarantee two meals a day. Feedback for this program has been overwhelmingly positive. 

Another Food For Free program that targets families with children is School Markets. School Markets resemble farmers markets, or pop-up food pantries. The markets are conveniently hosted at different Cambridge and Somerville public schools after school hours, and everything is free and open to community members. The markets have fresh fruits and vegetables as well as eggs and pantry staples like canola oil, rice, and beans. So far in this fiscal year, we have distributed food to 1,180 families who attended School Markets. 

Reducing Food Waste to Fuel the Future 

Another way we think about fuel for the future at Food For Free is by reducing food waste. Food that ends up in landfills produces methane gas – a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to the climate change crisis. Food waste also means that the resources like energy and water that go into producing and transporting the food are wasted too. Composting is certainly a better alternative to throwing food away, but making sure that good food gets consumed is the most sustainable option. 

At Food For Free we repurpose food that would otherwise be wasted and distribute that perfectly good food to people experiencing food insecurity. Our food rescue efforts involve going to grocery stores and farms that have extra food (mostly fruits and vegetables, but also proteins and shelf-stable goods) and bringing that food to community organizations that feed people. Our Heat-n-Eats program collects bulk prepared food from corporate, university, and hospital dining halls and repackages it into single-serving meals, each with a starch, protein, and vegetable component. These frozen meals are long-lasting, convenient, and tasty; perfect for college campuses and busy families. 

Fueling the Future at Home

There’s a good chance that you can also reduce your food waste at home. One way is to make sure that the food you discard has actually gone bad. People are often misled by the “sell by,” “best by,” and “use by” dates on food packages. These labels are not safety labels, and most food is perfectly safe to eat well after these dates have passed. According to the USDA, “most shelf-stable foods are safe indefinitely” and “foods that have been in the freezer for months…may be dry, or may not taste as good, but they will be safe to eat.” Generally speaking, “spoiled foods will develop an off odor, flavor or texture due to naturally occurring spoilage bacteria” so you’ll be able to tell if your food has gone bad (USDA). 

When you do need to discard food that has spoiled, at-home composting is the best way to do so. We recommend checking your city’s website to see if there is free or reduced-priced composting available where you live. The City of Cambridge provides compost services for all residents; you can request the materials at this link. Boston has also recently started free composting for their residents; you can sign up here to join the waitlist. Somerville, Medford, Belmont, and Arlington residents can pay around $15 a month for a composting service like Garbage To Garden or Black Earth Compost. Garbage to Garden even offers free composting for people who volunteer at one of their monthly featured nonprofits. 

More Ways To Eat Sustainably 

Here are a few more tips to make sustainable food choices that are good for your health and good for the planet:

• Try to buy foods with minimal packaging, and especially avoid plastic packaging as it is not recyclable or compostable.
• Substitute a plant-based protein for red or processed meat. Red and processed meats result in more greenhouse gasses than all other food groups, and require more resources than other foods to produce. If you’re not sure where to start, try making one of these high protein plant-based recipes. 
• Check out Eatright.org  for more ways to eat sustainably for the future and for free recipes. 

Adrienne is Food For Free’s Grants Manager, and has a Master’s in Public Health and a Master’s in Agriculture, Food and Environment from Tufts University. She follows a vegan diet, and enjoys taking care of her many houseplants, hunting for treasures at local thrift stores, and hiking with her dog Lulu in her free time.