NORTH CENTER — Common Pantry’s recently expanded nutrition program is helping people learn more about healthy eating habits while providing hot, ready-to-eat meals.
of Nonprofit food pantries It has been providing assistance to Northside residents struggling with hunger and food insecurity since 1967. In 2021, it used a state grant to purchase a commercial building at 3900-10 N. Lincoln Ave. for $1.5 million to expand its operations.
The facility opened last year, allowing Common Pantry to not only provide food but also help people with housing information, job searches, government benefits, medical and legal referrals, homeless services and government documents.
The nonprofit also now offers nutrition education, a program staff created after surveying its clients, said executive director Margaret O’Connor.
“We’ve dabbled in this before, we’ve done tests and pilots, but we’ve really been going at it for the last three months with this new full-scale program of nutrition classes and cooking for seniors,” O’Connor said.
Thanks to its on-site commercial kitchen and shared dining room, Common Pantry is able to provide hot meals to clients every Wednesday and also teach them how to prepare healthy meals at home, said Isabel Markowski, food programs manager for Common Pantry.
“It’s a very communal atmosphere. It’s a large, open dining room, the food is served from the kitchen counter, and volunteers hand the food directly to the guests,” Markowski said.
On Wednesdays, between 80 and 100 people stop by for hot meals from the pantry, which include dishes like shrimp diavolo, pollo guisado, gumbo and Thai fried rice.
“We make sure we have bread, cookies, beverages. We have coffee and things like that. We put on some music and it makes for a really good meal. We’ve actually seen a surge in demand for the program,” Markowski said.
Markowski, a registered dietitian who majored in environmental studies and has experience working on farms, said her focus is on helping people achieve better “nutritional security” while addressing food insecurity through the hot meal program.
To that end, Common Pantry surveyed 200 clients earlier this year to get a better understanding of the community’s interest in learning about nutrition, Markowski said.
“The data showed us that many of our guests already knew how to cook, but they wanted to learn more about the science of food and health. They know vegetables and fruit are good for them, but why?” Markowski said.
For one cooking class, the pantry partnered with Green City Market to create a veggie bowl topped with a green sauce made with cilantro and other fresh herbs, Markowski said.
“Everybody knows what coriander is, everybody knows what these herbs are, but we were able to talk about how these are also vegetables that contain antioxidants,” she said.
Customers have heard of antioxidants but typically don’t take the time to separate fact from myth about their nutritional value, which is why in-person education is so valuable, Markowski said.
“Our focus is on meeting you where you are and making sure you have a good time. We’re not here to police food,” she said.
Customers are also looking to gain a deeper understanding of the foods of their own culture from a nutritional standpoint, and to learn healthy recipes from other cultures they may be less familiar with, Markowski said.
“So if you’re Venezuelan and you have Mexican neighbors and you want to share food with them, some people might not know if it’s too spicy or not spicy enough,” she says.
Another takeaway from the survey was that pre-prepared meals are helpful for customers who know how to cook but have busy schedules, which led the pantry to offer freshly prepared grab-and-go meals on Tuesdays, Markowski said.
“If people don’t have time to cook and cooking stresses them out, we want to adapt and work with people’s circumstances,” Markowski said.
Common Pantry served about 600 families per month in 2023. This year, that number has grown to more than 1,000 families per month, and demand for the nonprofit’s services continues to grow, O’Connor previously said.
“And there’s always a waiting list. Delivery for seniors” said O’Connor.
Factors contributing to the increased demand include a steady influx of immigrants into Chicago since August 2022, rising grocery and other costs due to inflation and disruptions to the food supply chain, COVID-19 Assistance Programs Expiring And much of the area’s elderly population is on fixed incomes.
According to Common Pantry, one-third of families who use Chicago food pantries have someone with diabetes and more than half have someone with high blood pressure.
That’s why food pantries Nutrition-focused policies and services Markowski said the goal is to address the vicious cycle of chronic disease and food insecurity.
“This isn’t just about access to food, but access to nutritious food that is culturally appropriate and lays the foundation for people to live as their best selves,” Markowski said.
For more information about nutrition programs and volunteer opportunities, visit Common Pantry. Website.
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