Illustration depicting a healthy grocery cart entering a food bank, symbolizing improved food choices.

Food Banks vs. Healthy Eating: Can We Make the Menu Healthier?

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Jordan Keane in Health & Wellness October 2026 • 5 min read.

"Comparing the application of two different Healthy Eating Indices in food shelf settings to understand how we can improve the quality of food for those in need."


In the world of food assistance, ensuring that those in need receive nutritious meals is a constant challenge. Food banks and food shelves play a vital role in communities, but the question remains: are the foods provided meeting the standards of a healthy diet? This article explores a study that analyzed the application of two different versions of the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) to food provided by food banks. The study sheds light on whether the food provided is aligned with modern dietary guidelines, focusing on what we can do to improve the nutritional quality of food shelf offerings.

The Healthy Eating Index (HEI) is a tool developed to measure the quality of diets based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs). It assesses how well a set of foods aligns with recommendations for a healthy eating pattern. Researchers in this study compared the HEI-2005 and HEI-2010 versions to understand how changes in dietary guidelines influence the healthfulness of food choices within the food bank setting. This comparison is crucial, as it helps identify where improvements are needed.

This study is especially relevant given the food environment's influence on people's eating habits. For individuals relying on food banks, the available options directly affect their dietary intake. By examining the HEI scores, the researchers aimed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of current food offerings and determine how to better support those in need. The research also provides insight into the impact of different HEI versions and how these variations affect the evaluation of food environments. The following sections will delve into the study's findings, its implications, and suggestions for improvement within the food bank system.

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Food Access and Diet Quality

Food banks can help address immediate food insecurity, but access to food does not automatically ensure a nutritionally balanced diet. The healthfulness of available food may vary by location, supply, household needs, and preparation resources. As a result, the relationship between food-bank assistance and healthy eating should be described cautiously rather than reduced to a single outcome.

Balancing Access and Nutrition

A common approach is to prioritize reliable food access while gradually improving the nutritional quality of donated and purchased items. This can involve offering more varied foods and using nutrition guidance when planning distributions. However, such approaches may be limited by supply, storage, cost, cultural preferences, and the practical needs of households receiving assistance.

The Healthy Eating Index

The Healthy Eating Index (HEI) is a scoring metric used to assess overall diet quality and the quality of dietary components. The original HEI was released by the United States Department of Agriculture's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion in 1995 to evaluate how closely Americans followed dietary recommendations. Changes to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans in 2005 led to revisions, and later versions included the HEI-2015; the HEI-2020 was developed after the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines were released.

The Healthy Eating Index: A Closer Look at Measuring Healthfulness

Illustration depicting a healthy grocery cart entering a food bank, symbolizing improved food choices.

The Healthy Eating Index (HEI) is more than just a scoring system; it's a detailed tool designed to assess the healthfulness of diets and food environments. Originally developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for individual diets, the HEI is now being utilized to evaluate the quality of food in various settings, especially those providing food assistance. This metric allows for standardized evaluation of food offerings, making it easier to compare and improve the healthfulness of food environments.

The HEI works by scoring different components of a diet based on their adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs). The DGAs are updated every five years by the USDA based on the latest scientific research. The HEI reflects these updates, ensuring that it aligns with current nutritional science. With each edition, a score is given for different components like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and sodium. The HEI score is measured out of a total of 100 points. Each component is weighted based on its importance in a balanced diet. By calculating the HEI score, professionals can evaluate the overall healthfulness of a set of foods.

  • Adequacy Components: These components score a diet based on the amount of beneficial foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
  • Moderation Components: These components score the diet based on the levels of less-desirable elements like sodium, saturated fats, and added sugars.
  • Total Score: The sum of these component scores determines the overall HEI score, which can range from 0 to 100.
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An Evolving Evidence Base

Recent work on food assistance and healthy eating continues to examine both dietary quality and the conditions that shape food choices. Research in this area is likely to be most useful when it considers what foods are available, how they are distributed, and whether households can use them effectively. Because findings can depend on setting and study design, broad conclusions should be treated as provisional.

Limits of Nutrition-First Solutions

Improving the nutritional profile of food-bank offerings may not resolve every barrier to healthy eating. Households may face competing pressures involving affordability, transportation, cooking equipment, time, and personal preferences. Therefore, a nutrition-focused intervention can produce limited results when broader access and resource constraints remain.

Comparing Food Assistance Models

Food-bank models can differ in the foods they provide, the frequency of distribution, and the support available to recipients. Comparing them requires more than counting fruits, vegetables, or other individual items, because overall diet quality also depends on variety, balance, and how food fits household circumstances. Evidence should therefore be interpreted in the context of each program rather than assuming that one model will perform identically everywhere.

The study focused on two versions of the HEI: HEI-2005 and HEI-2010. These editions reflect different iterations of the DGAs, which means the components and scoring methods varied. This difference is crucial because the research team aimed to understand how the shift between the two HEI versions impacted food shelf evaluations and what that means for efforts to improve the food environment. Their goal was to assess how changes in scoring between the HEI-2005 and HEI-2010 could influence the healthfulness of food options for people using food assistance programs.

Moving Forward: Making Food Banks Healthier

This study underscores the importance of regularly assessing and improving food offerings in assistance programs. As dietary guidelines evolve, food banks must adapt to ensure that their services align with current nutritional science. By utilizing tools like the HEI, these programs can make more informed decisions about food procurement and distribution, making it possible for the people that use the food banks to live a healthier and better life. This commitment to improving the quality of food provided supports communities and improves the well-being of vulnerable populations.

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What the HEI Can and Cannot Show

The Healthy Eating Index has been evaluated for content validity, construct validity, and reliability, with performance analyses conducted since 2005. Research groups have also used the HEI-2010 alongside the Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010, the alternate Mediterranean Diet score, and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension score, showing that dietary quality can be examined through several established indices. The HEI-2020 review process incorporated the updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans, expert input, and federal stakeholders, while a meta-analysis examined mortality associations for dietary patterns defined by the HEI-2015.

Toward More Flexible Measures

Future work may focus on making diet-quality measures more adaptable to changing dietary guidance and different populations. Researchers may also seek methods that better reflect the foods people can realistically obtain and prepare. Such developments could help connect nutrition assessment more closely to the practical realities of food assistance, although their usefulness will require further evaluation.

Beyond the Food Package

Healthy eating in food-insecure households is shaped by systems beyond the food bank itself. Availability, affordability, transportation, storage, preparation facilities, and public nutrition policy can all influence what people are able to eat. A durable response therefore likely requires coordination between food assistance and broader social and health supports.

Diet Quality in Real Life

Dietary indices can integrate individual nutrients into eating patterns that more closely reflect real-world dietary practices and can provide evidence for dietary recommendations. The HEI-2015 has also been studied in relation to the risk of diminished ovarian reserve, illustrating how diet-quality research may address specific human health concerns. In food-as-medicine and nutrition research, Adaptive Component Scoring has been proposed for advancing fair and universal diet-quality scoring, while school-meal evidence links improved nutrition standards with benefits to children's health and well-being.

What pantry measures capture-and what they do not

The two food-supply scores indicate that the measured pantry inventories scored well against the HEI scale, while the large processed and ultraprocessed share shows that a favorable overall score can coexist with a substantial contribution from those foods. These measures describe the food supply, not what any particular household ate.[1]

An estimate of pantry clients’ dietary intake was low compared with the reported U.S. population estimate. That comparison concerns clients’ diets, whereas food-supply scores describe pantry inventories, so the figures do not establish that the inventory scores translated into clients’ overall diet quality.[1] [2]

How pantry scores compare across measures and settings

The pantry-client HEI-2010 estimate was reported as low relative to the most recent U.S. population estimate, which was 59.0 ± 1.0. This is a dietary comparison, distinct from scores assigned to pantry food supplies.[2]

A separate food-supply assessment reported total HEI scores of 77.55 and 79.45 out of 100, alongside a majority share of processed and ultraprocessed food by servings, pounds, and calories. The differing measures caution against treating a pantry inventory score as a direct proxy for clients’ diets.[1]

Another analysis was a cross-sectional secondary analysis of baseline data from an intervention study. Its sample comprised 575 adult clients recruited by convenience from 24 rural Midwestern food pantries during August through November 2014, so its findings describe a particular group and setting rather than all pantry users.[3]

Reviews describe pantry clients as often having low food security and note that food packages may fall short in several recommended food groups. They also describe pantry-based approaches including inventory policies, nutrition education, improving healthy-food supply, and behavioral strategies; these are reported approaches, not evidence here that any one approach caused better outcomes.[2] [4] [5]

What further evidence would need to show

  • How consistently do these findings apply beyond the convenience sample of rural Midwestern pantry clients, and beyond the baseline period measured?[3]

Terms used to describe pantry evidence

Food pantry
A community-based organization providing food to households with low or very low food security.[4]

Sources

  1. The translational implications of applying multiple measures to evaluate the nutrient quality of the food supply: a case study of two food pantries in Montana. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
  2. Daily Dietary Intake Patterns Improve after Visiting a Food Pantry among Food-Insecure Rural Midwestern Adults (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
  3. Fruit and Vegetable Healthy Eating Index Component Scores of Distributed Food Bags Were Positively Associated with Client Diet Scores in a Sample of Rural, Midwestern Food Pantries. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
  4. A review of the food security, diet and health outcomes of food pantry clients and the potential for their improvement through food pantry interventions in the United States. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
  5. Validating a Nutrition Ranking System for Food Pantries Using the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (uconnruddcenter.org)

About this Article -

Written with AI assistance from published research, and reviewed by the Mystum team. See our About page for more information.

Everything You Need To Know

1

What is the main goal of using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) in food bank settings?

The primary goal of using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) in food bank settings is to evaluate the nutritional quality of the food provided. By applying the HEI, the aim is to determine if the food offerings align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) and to identify areas where improvements can be made to ensure that individuals relying on food assistance receive healthier, more nutritious options. It helps in making informed decisions about food procurement and distribution.

2

How do the Adequacy Components and Moderation Components contribute to the overall Healthy Eating Index (HEI) score?

The Adequacy Components and Moderation Components are essential in determining the overall Healthy Eating Index (HEI) score. Adequacy Components score the diet based on the presence of beneficial foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, encouraging the consumption of these nutritious items. Conversely, Moderation Components score the diet based on less desirable elements such as sodium, saturated fats, and added sugars, discouraging excessive intake. The total HEI score, ranging from 0 to 100, is the sum of these component scores, offering a comprehensive assessment of the diet's healthfulness.

3

Why did the study compare the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2005 and the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2010?

The study compared the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2005 and the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2010 to understand how changes in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) impacted the evaluation of food in food shelf settings. These two versions reflect different iterations of the DGAs, meaning the components and scoring methods varied. By comparing them, researchers could assess how these shifts influenced the healthfulness scores of food options and identify the implications for improving the food environment for people using food assistance programs. This comparison helps show how updated dietary guidelines should influence the foods offered.

4

What are the broader implications of improving the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) scores within food banks for community health?

Improving the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) scores within food banks has significant implications for community health. By aligning food bank offerings with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), vulnerable populations gain access to more nutritious foods, improving their overall well-being and reducing the risk of diet-related diseases. This commitment supports healthier communities, addresses food insecurity, and contributes to long-term public health by promoting better dietary habits among those who rely on food assistance.

5

Beyond the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), what other factors should food banks consider to improve the healthfulness of their offerings?

While the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) is a valuable tool, food banks should also consider other factors to enhance the healthfulness of their offerings. These include incorporating culturally relevant foods to meet the diverse needs of their communities, providing nutrition education to help individuals make informed food choices, and partnering with local farmers and organizations to source fresh, local produce. Addressing food storage and accessibility issues, reducing food waste, and promoting sustainable food practices are also crucial for comprehensively improving the food environment. Food banks could offer cooking classes or recipes that align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) to improve the overall health and well-being of the community.

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