Over the past year, Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative Food Pantry’s focus has been providing healthy foods for our pantry guests. WCHI strives to alleviate food insecurity in Whitehall and Coplay by providing healthy and nutritional food at our monthly pantry food distributions.

Our Healthy Pantry Initiative action plan to achieve this goal for 2026 includes using the green, yellow and red traffic light system when purchasing and supplying food at the food pantry.

WCHI adopted this Feeding America traffic signal system to specify the healthier traits of each color. The traffic light in reverse, with green items mentioned first, shows the difference in food selections.

At least 65% of our food selections will be “green” — foods that are nutrient-dense options that can be selected all the time. Green selections include fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and low-fat dairy, which provide essential vitamins, minerals, fiber and energy without excess added sugars, sodium or unhealthy fats.

No more than 30% of our food selections will be “yellow” — foods that are moderately processed or higher in certain nutrients that should be chosen occasionally. Yellow selections include items like dried fruits, flavored yogurts, 100% fruit juices, granola bars or vegetables with added sauces as they offer some benefits but more calories, sugars or fats than green options.

No more than 10% of our food selections will be “red” — foods that are of lowest nutritional value and should be chosen rarely. Red selections are typically high in added sugars, unhealthy fats or sodium and includes snacks, cereals and some ready-to-eat foods that high in sugar and fat content.

At least 10% of our food selections will be fresh fruits and vegetables. WCHI has a vibrant vegetable garden that produces fresh vegetables and herbs, and Second Harvest Food Bank will hopefully have fresh fruits and additional vegetables for us to order. WCHI is looking forward to providing these fresh produce items to our pantry guests.

More information on our WCHI healthy food choices and interesting HPI reads will come in future newspaper articles.

Have a wonderful new year!

Editor’s note: This column was written by Jenn Dietz, Healthy Pantry Initiative chair.