From floor to ceiling, the Central Illinois Food Bank’s 25,000-square-foot warehouse on the east side of Springfield is packed with donations, ranging from traditional items like juice boxes, cereal and canned goods to the more unusual – chili-flavored lollipops, strawberry corn starch and potato chips made to taste like ketchup. In six weeks, new inventory will have completely replaced the old, as the food bank will have distributed the 700,000 pounds it now has on hand to food pantries, soup kitchens and other nonprofit hunger relief organizations.

Central Illinois Food Bank plans to distribute six million pounds of food this year, up from the 4.7 million pounds distributed in 2009. Its distribution is wide: 170 hunger relief programs in 21 counties. One of eight food banks in the state, Central Illinois Food Bank has seen about a 20 percent increase in individuals seeking food assistance in the last year, says Kristy Gilmore, manager of agency and food resources. It’s no surprise to anyone that the current economic climate has more and more families heading for their local food pantry. Feeding Illinois reports a 50 percent increase in requests for food assistance over the past two years. What is surprising, however, is that the Springfield-based food bank has seen an unexpected and unprecedented increase in donations of fresh food and produce, Gilmore says.

“Food banking is changing at a relatively rapid pace,” she says. “When you go into the grocery store you see more and more frozen foods, you see more and more fresh products, more and more cooler products.”

As the organic food movement gathers momentum, national attention has focused on not just the quantity but the quality of “free” food, such as the meals provided by food pantries, soup kitchens and school lunch programs. First lady Michelle Obama’s recent “Let’s Move!” initiative to end childhood obesity and British chef Jamie Oliver’s documentary television series, “Food Revolution” (where Oliver attempts to change the quality of food served at a West Virginia elementary school) exemplify this trend. Advocates stress the importance of quality nutrition as prevention for obesity, diabetes and other health issues, particularly in the food and meals served to low-income children.

For food banks, the move toward local, whole and organic foods is a mixed blessing. While places like Central Illinois Food Bank are built to store hundreds of thousands of pounds of food, they are not equipped with proper freezers or refrigeration systems, Gilmore says.

“Food banking used to be strictly dry products, where you didn’t have to worry too much about needing a refrigerator or a freezer,” Gilmore says. “But we’re getting more and more products that are frozen or require refrigeration.”

Gilmore started to notice a slow change in products five years ago, but the biggest change has happened in the last year and a half, she says.

“The organic food movement has had a big impact on our donations,” she says. “And we’re trying very diligently to provide the more nutritious products. We think it’s really important to provide food that’s good for people’s health.”

Temperature-sensitive produce, milk and meat must be properly stored, Gilmore says.

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