U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foods programs for households are designed to provide nutritious foods at no cost to income-eligible individuals in the United States. Our aim was to evaluate the nutritional quality of the foods available from 3 USDA Foods programs for households (ie, The Emergency Food Assistance Program, Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, and Commodity Supplemental Food Program) according to the Healthy Eating Research (HER) Guidelines for the Charitable Food System. Review of the nutritional information of the foods available from USDA Foods programs for households was performed. Using the HER Guidelines, foods were categorized into a 3-tiered system (ie, choose often/green; choose sometimes/yellow; choose rarely/red) based on levels of saturated fat, sodium, and added sugar per serving, and presence of whole grains. All unique foods available from The Emergency Food Assistance Program, Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, and Commodity Supplemental Food Program (n = 152) for fiscal year 2022 were evaluated. The majority of USDA Foods were ranked green (57.3%) or yellow (35.5%). A small number of items were ranked red (3.3%) or were unranked condiments or cooking staples (3.9%). The USDA Foods available in the household programs were primarily fruits and vegetables; lean proteins; whole grains; and low-fat dairy products that were consistent with national dietary guidelines. There is some room for improvement, and adjustments in the specifications for certain items are recommended to strengthen the nutritional value of the foods provided through these important federal programs.
Published: February 2023
ID #: CAS081
Journal: Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Authors: Gombia-Vaca MF, Schwartz MB
Keywords: Commodity foods, Food insecurity
Focus Areas: Food Access, Healthy Communities
Resource Type: Journal Article
States: National, Tribal Nation
Related Research
August 2025
Resources to Improve Implementation of the Healthy Eating Research (HER) Nutrition Guidelines for the Charitable Food System
This guide contains training materials, resources, tips, and examples of practices to help food banks improve the implementation of Healthy Eating Research (HER) Nutrition Guidelines for the Charitable Food System. To create this guide, the research team interviewed people working in food banks across the country to learn how they approach ranking foods using the MoreSeptember 2025
Food Insecurity-Related Stigma Among Adults in the United States: A Scoping Review
This review aimed to characterize individual- and structural-level stigma associated with government (ie, SNAP, WIC) and emergency food program (ie, food banks, pantries, cupboards, soup kitchens) utilization in the US. 5 databases (PubMed, PsychINFO, Web of Science, CINAHL, Sociological Abstracts) were searched in June 2024. The review included peer-reviewed articles (January 2004 – June 2024), MoreAugust 2025