Resource Library

• Healthy Food Access Resources:

  • Feeding America Survey about HER Nutrition Guidelines Implementation Findings Brief: This report explores different strategies that food banks have used to implement the HER Nutrition Guidelines, based on a survey in May 2023.

  • Healthy Food Banking Landscape Assessment: More Than Food Consulting convened a working group of charitable food researchers, food bankers and key decision makers to identify key strategies of healthy food banking, assess existing evaluation tools, and to compare with pantry-level assessment tools.

  • Nutrition Policies in Washington State: This report evaluates nutrition policies in Washington State’s charitable food system, led by the Washington Food Coalition (WFC), the American Heart Association (AHA), and More Than Food Consulting. Full Report.

  • UConn Rudd Center: Find a wealth of resources to support the ranking of foods nutritionally using the HER Nutrition Guidelines on the UConn Rudd Center Website.

• Capacity Building Resources:

  • Building Connection at Food Pantries: Offering connections to other community resources and programs can help address the root causes of hunger and serve the whole person. This guide describes opportunities and strategies for building connections and offering more than food.Creating a Welcoming Culture at Food Pantries: A neighbor’s experience at a food pantry is an important factor of whether they will come back or be willing to seek food assistance again. The term “culture” describes a neighbor’s experiences engaging with a pantry and its staff.

  • Example Capacity Building Mini Grants: In 2025, the Tri-Corner Nutrition Security Coalition partnered with More Than Food Consulting to assess capacity and host a workshop for regional food access providers. The Coalition then re-granted a $30,000 award from the Foundation for Community Health to four food pantries to strengthen community food access.

  • Offering Healthy Choice at Food Pantries: Offering choice in pantries is a better practice to promote dignity, increase satisfaction for neighbors and volunteers, and reduce food waste. This guide explains research, benefits and strategies to offering healthy choice.

  • Offering Choice at Food Pantries: Impact for Families: This research brief is based on a 2022-2023 project that included participation from 30 food banks in the Feeding America network. Research showed that neighbors had a better experience at food pantries that offered full choice.

    Offering Full Choice in Food Pantries is Feasible and Improves Pantry Operations: This report is based on a 2022 study that explores the barriers, facilitators and impact of offering full choice at food pantries. Of pantries that increased choice, 79% said overall operations improved.

• Root Cause Work

  • Gather Feedback from those with Lived Experiences: If we want to make sure that food pantries are accessible and acceptable to people in the community, it is important to engage with neighbors and ask for their feedback. Asking those with food insecurity for their opinions can improve the neighbor experience and encourage neighbors to become advocates.

  • upLIFT Coaching Program: In partnership with More Than Food Consulting, Lebanon County Christian Ministries started a coaching program in 2023 and has seen transformational changes among participants. Check out this 9 month report with impressive findings.

• Peer Learning

  • Monthly Newsletter: Each month the More Than Food Consulting team compiles an inspiring, educational, and brief newsletter to keep you informed of our work and the work of our partners. Our newsletter also includes important industry research and publications, staff picks from our team and a message from Katie Martin, our CEO.

    Peer Learning Webinar Series: One of the best ways to learn and grow your organization’s capacity is to hear about the work of others! In this webinar series, we invite panelists from all corners of the charitable food network to share their experiences and expertise. Webinars are free to all and occur every other month.