Healthier Food Options Report Webinar

Learn how to complete the Healthier Food Options tracking forms

for food pantries and meal programs

October 10, 2014

Questions -

Please send us your questions as we move through the webinar. We will answer them as best we can or follow up with you individually as needed.

Tracking Healthy Food

Potential benefits:

Importance of healthier food options for clients, especially those with special dietary needs.

Sharing the story of how much healthier food options are being distributed by emergency food system.

Potential future funding sources to support increased options of healthier food.

Governor’s Goal #4 Governor Inslee’s Results Washington Report

Goal #4 –Healthy and Safe Communities ~ Fostering the health of Washingtonians from a healthy start to a safe and supported future.

Our specific indicator reads: Increase the percentage of healthier food options being offered to low-income children and families through food pantries, farmers markets and meal programs by 5% from 2014-2017.  

WSDA worked with the Food Assistance Programs (FAP) Advisory Committee to focus on the definition of healthier food, create an implementation plan, develop subcontractor report forms and rollout timeframes.  Three pilots were conducted in May and June.

Data Reporting Flow Chart

Basic Facts about the report

All EFAP food pantry and TEFAP meal program subcontractors will complete.

Quarterly reports due: November 2014, February, May, August and November in 2015 through 2017.

Reports are due to your EFAP or TEFAP contractor at their required due date. They will compile and send to the State by the 20th of the following month.

Programs will report on all foods including: donated, TEFAP, purchased, or other.

If an agency is both an EFAP and TEFAP subcontractor they will need to do both reports and send to respective leads.

Data collected will not be used to allocate funds or to negatively impact any subcontractor.

Programs should use the same methodology to complete their report each quarter.

How to complete the report:Food Pantries: Food pantries have a couple of options for completing

the report. One option is to pick a day, any day in the targeted reporting month (Nov, Feb, May and August) and look at the food distributed in a single distribution – average bag per family. The second option is to track, over the course of a month, what foods you distributed in each category.

There are two different options of report forms, one is a hard copy where percentages can be entered or an Excel version where if pounds of food are entered it will assist you in calculating the percentage of each food category.

In the upper right hand corner of the report form you can check if you are tracking for a Single day or for the Month.

Meal Programs Meal programs will track the components of the meals

they serve and determine the percentage of healthy and less healthy food for each category that makes up the meal.

There are two options to choose from –use the tabs at the bottom of the page to locate the report you chose to use – a single day or monthly report. A program can determine which day they would like to track the options that make up their meal(s) distribution. If helpful, a program may use the pounds column as a tool to help calculate the percentage.

There is also a Calculator Tool if you serve more than one meal in a day.

Food Pantry Form – Hard Copy Form-Single Day

If using this report:1. Pick a day in the targeted month to report on.2. Complete top part of report.3. Check Single Day and what Quarter you are

reporting. 4. Review descriptions of food categories. 5. Report all sources of food provided.6. Look at the contents of an average distribution to

a household or individual and estimate the % of food distributed in each food category, Healthy and Less Healthy, for that day.

7. If helpful, use the pounds column to assist you in calculating the percentage by weighing all the foods in that category. Write down the pounds and then total at the bottom. Then divide the pounds in each category by the total weight to get the %.

8. Write the % for each category in Percentage column. Percentages should total 100% at bottom of form.

9. Use Comments box to share any feedback or information on how you were able to provide or not provide healthier food options or any information that you think might help us better understand your report.

10. Sign, title and date.

Food Pantry form – Electronic Monthly or Single Day

If using this report:1. Complete top part of report.2. Check Single Day and Monthly3. Check which Quarter you are reporting on. 4. Review descriptions of food categories. 5. Report all sources of food provided.6. If Single day, look at the contents of an

average distribution to a household or individual and estimate the % of food distributed in each food category, Healthy and Less Healthy, for that day.

7. If helpful, use the pounds column to assist you in calculating the percentage by weighing all the foods in that category. Enter the pounds in the pounds column and the form will calculate the % for each category. Percentages should total 100% at bottom of form.

8. If Monthly, enter the pounds of food distributed for the month in each category –the percentage will calculate for you automatically.

9. Use Comments box to tell your story – where your food came from, did you purchase any food, comments on the report, etc.

10. Sign, title and date.

Meal Programs Hard Copy Form- Single Day

1. Pick a day that a meal(s) is served within the reporting month (November, February, May or August).

2. Weigh or estimate the pounds of food you served for each category identified on the report.

3. If you are reporting more then one meal on the Single Day report then you may use the Calculator tool (see tab at bottom of report).

4. The form allows you to use the pounds column as an optional tool to help calculate the percentage. Weigh foods in that category. Write down the pounds and then total at the bottom. Then divide the pounds in each category by the total weight to get the %.

5. Or just enter the percentage directly Write the % for each category in Percentage column. Percentages should total 100% at bottom of form.

Meal Programs--Electronic Form

1. On this report you have a choice to report for a single day or for the month. Mark in upper right hand corner of this report.

2. Pick a day that a meal(s) are served or use one of the reporting months (November, Feb., May or August).

3. Weigh or estimate the pounds of food you served for each category for that day or month.

4. If you are reporting more then one meal on the Single Day then you may use the Calculator tool (see tab at bottom of report).

5. The form allows you to use the pounds column as an optional tool to help calculate the percentage – weigh all the food in each category. Enter the pounds and it will total at the bottom. Or just enter the percentage directly.

6. Both columns will automatically total. 7. Use Comments box to tell your story – where

your food came from, did you purchase any food, comments on the report, etc.

8. Sign, title and date.

Meal Program Calculator

How-to-Videos available on WFC Website – Resources/Videos

For More Information Contact:

WSDA Staff: Kim Eads,keads@agr.wa.gov,360-725-5651 or your regional

representative:Kyle Merslich, kmerslich@agr.wa.gov,360-725-5657Susan Eichrodt, seichrodt@agr.wa.gov,360-725-2853James Scovel, jscovel@agr.wa.gov, 360-725-5641

Trish Twomey, Washington Food Coalition trish@wafoodcoalition.org 206-669-1740

Rosemary Rankins, Food Lifeline, rrankins@fll.org, 206-545-6600

Kim Jones, OPERATION: Sack Lunch,  kim@oslserves.org206.922.2078