As a pediatric registered dietitian and mother of two, I introduced fresh herbs and mild spices to my children when they started solid foods at 6 months of age. Per the latest research, a healthy child of 6 months should be exposed to a wide variety of flavors and textures and can eat just about anything (except for foods that pose a choking hazard and those which elicit an allergic response). Of course you always want to follow your doctor’s advice if your child has any food allergies, but this is great news for parents who want to expose their child early and often to a variety of fresh, flavorful enticing foods.

Flavor can be added to baby food in two ways: by serving your child a wide variety of nourishing foods and by adding fresh herbs and mild spices to baby food.  This doesn’t mean add a ton of spice or use hot spices — you can save the heat until your child is a bit older and gradually introduce it. What can work well, for example, is a dash of cinnamon in oatmeal, a small heap of garlic pureed with meat or a pinch of cumin in smashed avocado.

Benefits of Introducing Flavor & Texture at an Early Age 

• Trains the baby’s taste buds to enjoy healthy flavors and will set the foundation for healthy eating habits.
• Teaches the baby to expect change with food. Offering a plain smashed banana one day and a smashed banana with a dash of nutmeg the next can have a valuable influence on the child’s evolving palate.
• Fresh herbs are packed with vitamins and minerals.
• Herbs and spice make food taste amazing!
• Adding herbs and spices to any recipe awakens your inner foodie, generating a creative and fun feeding environment.

Popular Flavor Combinations

Need some ideas to get started? Here are some of my tried-and-true pairings:

• Applesauce and cinnamon
• Bananas and basil
• Sweet potato and cardamom
• Pumpkin and ginger
• Carrots and cinnamon
• Green beans and garlic powder
• Smashed potatoes and garlic
• Beef and garlic
• Chicken and rosemary
• Fish and lemon

Three Easy Tips to Add Flavor to Baby Food

When you implement these tips, you will create a change in taste and expectation for your baby. When babies learn to accept change with food, they become less likely to get stuck in food ruts.

1. Start slowly. If your baby loves bananas, add a dash of cinnamon.
2. Use small amounts. A touch of dill can make fresh peas taste spectacular!
3. Prepare fresh leafy herbs properly. Puree or finely mince fresh herb leaves, as large leaves can be a choking hazard. Remember to wash all fresh produce, including herbs.

Can I share a little secret with you? I work at a food pantry. I see donations from well-intentioned people daily. Unfortunately, about 25 percent of our donations are tossed, leaving volunteers aggravated and frustrated. In my six years, I have witnessed jaw-dropping donations such as a can of 1993 expired carrots, opened and used spices, cigarettes, beer and even worse: a garbage bag full of boxed pasta covered in dried animal urine. While these examples are extreme, they are reality. The food pantry where I work recently filled a dumpster to the rim with 2,000 pounds of expired and damaged food after a Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.

Food drives are not a time to clean out cabinets. Food pantries cannot accept damaged or expired food and have limited means for disposal. A good rule to follow? Donate foods you would eat or feed your child.

In the wake of natural disasters across the United States coupled with the fast-approaching holiday season, many people are looking for ways to give back. If you want to donate, I put together a list of ideas and most of them do not cost a dime.

1. Ask First 

Contact your local food pantry and find out what they need before you donate food. Food needs change daily and are based on past donations or what is available at the local food bank.

2. Organize a #GiveHealthy Food Drive

People facing hunger are at a higher risk for diet-related disease such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Individuals with chronic disease need access to nutritious foods. #GiveHealthy enables people to donate fresh fruits, vegetables and other healthy food by making it easy and fun. Plan your next food drive using the #GiveHealthy organization.

3. Pull-Tab Canned Items

Most likely a child might not know how to use a can opener or even worse, the family may not have a can opener. When possible, donate low-sodium and no-sugar-added canned vegetables, fruit, meat, soup, pasta and beans with a pull-tab.

4. Money is Better than Food

Instead of buying groceries for the food pantry, consider giving cash. Depending on their partnerships, a food pantry can buy more food for the value of a dollar because they usually pay wholesale prices.

5. Consider Toiletries

Many families make the decision between essential toiletries and food to feed their children. Consider donating feminine hygiene products, diapers, laundry detergent, soap, shampoo, razors, toothpaste, toothbrushes and toilet paper.

6. Donate Your Unique Passion

Reach out to your local food bank and pantry to donate your time but more specifically, your passion.  While it is great to have people available to pack food bags for client pick-up, it’s even better to have people with passion. Here are examples of the passionate donations to the pantry where I work:

• Elementary students practicing their instruments during client pick-up. We have experienced the sounds of flutes, guitars and even a baby grand piano while clients picked up their orders!
• A college student brought her gift of photography to help with social media promotion of our free bi-weekly farmer’s market.
• A senior gentleman built us new shelves to ensure safety of our volunteers.

7. Organize a Food Sorting Play Date at the Food Pantry

Call your local food pantry to determine when the next food donation is being delivered. Let the food pantry know you want to organize a volunteer day for kids. Older kids can inspect the food for expired product and damaged goods. Younger kids can organize the food by product and parents can carry heavy items to storage.

8. Plastic Grocery Bags

Plastic grocery bags usually are free when shopping. Help us reuse the plastic bags when packing up our client’s food by donating the bags.

9. Donate Garden Surplus

Even if you have one cucumber, drop it off! If everyone gave a cucumber or other garden surplus, there would be more than enough to go around. Remember, every piece of produce counts in the fight against hunger!

10. Unused Hotel Toiletries

Going on a business trip? Save your unused toiletries and drop them off at your local food pantry.

11. Get Social

Use your social media influence to let your friends know the local food bank is taking donations. Call your local food pantry and blast out their unique needs. Make sure to include a day, time and place for drop off.

As a registered dietitian with more than 15 years of public health experience under my belt, I initially made two catastrophic assumptions that I believe are aiding hunger in America. Most public health educators and healthcare professionals promote the impractical consumption of fresh produce to prevent and manage chronic disease, and I, too, jumped directly into nutrition education and health promotion without asking an important question. Blinded by my own privilege, I never asked my clients if they had access to or could afford fresh produce. My second assumption was thinking that those on Medicaid were the only patients at high risk for food insecurity and utilized food assistance programs.

In health promotion, we must first ensure that our clients have access to healthy foods before we preach about how important it is to eat our vegetables.  For example, teaching someone that broccoli helps prevent chronic disease means very little to a person who cannot afford to buy broccoli, even at a discount grocery store. Imagine living with the chronic stress of hunger and feeling powerless over food choices. Until the basic need for food is met, healthy eating tips are not a priority for most people.

Healthcare professionals also tend to look at Medicaid status as an indicator of food insecurity. As I now know, it is not the only one. Shockingly, since 2007, food insecurity has grown at a faster rate in suburban America than in cities. Yet, according to a nationwide survey, Americans believe hunger is an urban issue, even though more poor people live in suburbs than in cities.

Because the middle class is not immune to hunger, we need to realize those who are food insecure can be anywhere. Unfortunately, food insecure families tend to hide their struggle from family, friends and neighbors. Pride in a world where food assistance is surrounded by shame prevents people from reaching out for the help they need.

If we are going to end childhood hunger, public health officials and healthcare providers need to transform their approach to nutrition education by assessing for food access using tools such as The Hunger Vital Sign at every patient visit. If a family is found to be at risk for food insecurity, they are referred to food assistance programs such as the SNAP, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC, school nutrition programs and other emergency food resources.

Because hunger is an invisible health epidemic hitting new and unexpected neighborhoods, hunger relief is everyone’s job. It is time to evaluate how worksites, schools and healthcare providers play a role in the fight against hunger. Every organization has the power to influence and improve food access.

How is your organization screening for potential food insecurity and working to improve food access?

During the school year, nearly 22 million children rely on the National School Lunch Program for a steady and predictable lunch, according to Feeding America. In the summer, this daily meal disappears for approximately 82 percent of those children due to issues relating to transportation, location of programs, unsafe areas and weather. Parents are forced to stretch their tight budgets and rely on food pantries.

Let’s work together to end hunger all year long.  Here are 5 ways you can donate to end hunger today:

Donate Your Passion

What are you passionate about? Everyone has something unique to offer the world. The Al Beech West Side Food Pantry, in Kingston, PA, where I volunteer, empowers its volunteers to lead with their passions and hobbies, which helps fight hunger with dignity. What does that look like? Here are some examples:

• Students volunteers are allowed to practice their instruments while clients are picking up food— this adds warmth, comfort and dignity to the food assistance process.
• Photographers take photos of our free farmers market that are then used to bring awareness to the program and its mission.
• One of our senior gentleman volunteers recently built new shelves to ensure the safety of our clients and volunteers.
• A retired senior and Master Gardener donated time to teach children how to run our small food pantry garden.
• A college student helped edit articles for the promotion of the food pantry.

When people lead with their passion, dignity is cultivated, which encourages more of those struggling with food insecurity to use their local food pantry’s services.

Don’t Let Garden Surplus Rot

Consider dropping off your garden surplus. One cucumber can change the world. If everyone dropped off one piece of produce, pantries would be able to feed many people.

Know the Right Foods & Products

• Food pantries appreciate nourishing, non-perishable canned foods such as tuna, chicken, beef, salmon, peanut butter, beans, fruits and vegetables that contain no added salt or sugar.
• It is always best to buy canned items with a pull-tab to open with ease.
• Food packaged in plastic containers is preferred over food in glass containers to prevent broken glass and spills.
• Toiletries most appreciated by clients include toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, toilet paper, feminine hygiene products and diapers.

Donate Plastic Grocery Bags

Bring in some of those plastic grocery bags taking up space at your house. These are often needed to pack up donations for food pantry clients.

Volunteer Your Time

Reach out to your local food bank to find a Summer Feeding Program near you. Without volunteers to distribute the lunch, the programs cannot run and many children rely on this meal.

Hunger is real for 1 in 6 children in the United States. Together we can change the world and be the voice many children need.

What is Food Insecurity? 

Imagine how you felt the last time you were hungry. Did you experience headaches or did you become aggravated, impatient, frustrated and intolerable? Now envision yourself walking to your refrigerator to find it empty. You open your wallet to learn you do not have money to buy food for the rest of the month. This is food insecurity. Food insecurity also can occur when a person does not have enough money to buy a variety of foods with high nutritional quality. For example, a family experiencing food insecurity may rely on instant noodles or prepared pancake mix to feed their families breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

Unfortunately, many people who qualify for food assistance programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, do not pursue the support they need because of the stigma associated with food assistance. While food insecurity impacts everyone’s health negatively, it is particularly crushing to children. Nourishing foods are critical to a child’s mental, emotional and physical development. 

If we are serious about ending child hunger in the United States and improving our next generation’s health, we must dismantle the stigma associated with food assistance programs. We must shift the way we individually and collectively think and talk about food insecurity in the United States. 

For more information on food insecurity and how Clancy Cash Harrison’s own misconceptions led her to become a food justice advocate, listen to her TEDx Talk on YouTube, below:

If you have participated in a nutrition program such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, or any national school nutrition program, don’t be afraid to talk about how it transformed your life. What if you did not have access to the National School Lunch Program? Would you have done well on your exams, or would you have been too hungry to concentrate? Did food assistance help pave the way to your higher education? Would you be who you are today if you did not have access to school lunch and breakfast? 

Your ability to listen to other people’s stories and share your own success stories will help our nation see food assistance as a hand up, not a hand out. Let’s stop the stigma together and be the change so many children need.