When I learned I’d been placed with Common Threads, I was genuinely excited. Over the past few years, I’ve developed a passion for cooking; especially learning how to do it well on a budget. Common Threads immediately resonated with me because of its mission to make healthy cooking accessible and culturally relevant. While I didn’t come in with formal nutrition experience, I was eager to learn and contribute in a hands-on way.

After relocating from Ohio to Miami, one of Common Threads’ main markets, I found myself adjusting to a new city alongside a new role. At Common Threads, my early weeks focused on onboarding and learning the organization from the inside out. I met with team members across departments to better understand the programs and mission. Stepping into a role so different from my previous experiences was intimidating at first, but with the support of my supervisor and colleagues, I quickly gained confidence.

Reflecting on this experience so far, it has been defined by learning, adaptation, and growth. Becoming deeply involved in an organization in a short period can be daunting, but the Common Threads team has been welcoming and supportive throughout. I’ve moved from feeling uncertain to feeling confident and connected to the mission. As I continue this journey, I’m excited to build on this foundation, deepening the research, listening to students, and helping shape programming that makes cooking and nutrition more accessible.

Written By: Michelle Truong

Growing up as a first generation Vietnamese American, I can vividly recall my parents struggling with the delicate balance of assimilating to American culture while keeping our Vietnamese roots, language and customs alive after immigrating to the U.S. from Vietnam. 

Today as an adult with kids of my own, I’m finding that I am experiencing a similar struggle of wanting to pass on our rich Asian culture to my kids while celebrating the melting pot of cultures, foods and traditions we find in our vibrant home city of Houston, Texas. 

Without a doubt, one of the most important aspects of Vietnamese culture is food. Food is a way we connect with loved ones, celebrate special occasions and preserve memories of the homeland. From flavorful charcoal grilled meats called “thịt nướng” to savory and sweet dessert soups, also known as “chè” and everything in between. Vietnamese foods will always hold a special place in my heart thanks to the dedication of my parents. 

Many Vietnamese immigrants living in America have made it a priority to preserve their culture by seeking out traditional ingredients to continue making the dishes they love, such as bánh cuốn (thin sheets of rice paper stuffed with savory fillings), bánh mì (French influenced baguettes with meats, pickled vegetables and unctuous handmade mayonnaise), and bún bò Huế (spicy beef noodle soup.) It is also common to gather with family and friends to make and share these dishes, passing down the cooking techniques and recipes generation by generation. 

I am always surprised, yet overjoyed, when my children ask for phở (the national dish of Vietnam) for dinner or when they happily add pungent fish sauce onto their favorite Vietnamese dishes. If you’re finding yourself feeling challenged with keeping your own culture and traditions alive, below are 5 habits that I’ve adopted into my parenting that have helped both me and my children nurture our Asian American heritage and embrace new traditions. 

1. Practice traditional greetings! While it is difficult speaking Vietnamese to my kids all the time, it is a must that they are able to greet their elders in a traditional manner. When greeting their grandparents, they’re expected to fold their arms together and bow as they say, “Chào bà ngoại” for grandma or “Chào ông ngoại” for grandpa. 
2. Research the national foods of your country of origin and beyond! Commit to making a new cultural dish as a family. In our family, my kids love to help cook fragrant jasmine rice, which is a staple in the Vietnamese dietary pattern. They are in charge of rinsing the rice until the water runs clear and they love splashing starchy water around in the rice pot. Common Threads has an extensive collection of culturally responsive recipes that can help get you started in exploring the foods of other cultures!
3. Interview an elder! Our elders have amazing stories of how they persevered through difficult times. Whether they were immigrants, like mine, or were born in America, this practice of generational storytelling can help connect both young and old. 
4. Celebrate the holidays of your native country! Our favorite Vietnamese holiday is Lunar New Year (Tết) which is celebrated in either January or February. My children love saying, “Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!” which means “Happy New Year” in Vietnamese before being rewarded with bright red envelopes filled with lucky money. In Vietnam, it is tradition to wear new red Vietnamese dresses called “ao dai” and visit our elders. 
5. Make new family traditions of your own! While traditions passed down by generation are wonderful to honor and practice, it’s also great to build new traditions of your own. In my family, we find ways to connect by playing a game at dinner called “High, Low, Tomorrow” where we all share the best thing that happened during the day, the worst thing that happened, and something we are looking forward to tomorrow. 

Family and traditions are important. They help to foster a positive and healthy family culture that can be passed on from one generation to the next. They also give us a true sense of belonging while reinforcing our history, values and beliefs. Whether it’s practicing an old tradition or adopting a new one, embrace your roots, celebrate those that came before you and take pride in the special mix of cultures and traditions that make you who you are! 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michelle comes from a long line of educators and believes it’s in her blood. Her grandparents and mother taught for many decades before passing the torch down to her. She is a seasoned educator with a passion for teaching a culturally responsive curriculum and equipping youth with life skills that will prepare them for adulthood. As the Education and Training Manager at Common Threads, Michelle gets to combine two of the things she loves most– education and cooking!

Written By: Allison Bunyan | Emerson Fellow

I applied for the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship in order to learn how I could enter the anti-hunger field. I wanted to better understand the root causes of hunger and poverty, how to apply a racial equity lens to my work, and learn how I could orient my passions of sustainable agriculture and healthy food systems toward solving complex social problems. My interest in this field grew over time as I pursued work in international development, environmental conservation, organic farming, and food systems development. Upon my acceptance into the program, I was thrilled to move across the country to Miami, FL for my field placement with Common Threads! In my time with Common Threads, my work and contribution to the organization was focused in three main areas. 

Marketing and Communications (M&C)

Before working with Common Threads, I served as a Food Systems Development AmeriCorps Member in Reno, Nevada creating social media content for the Desert Farming Initiative (DFI), an organic farm. In the hope of building on that experience, I listed Media/Communications as one of my skills in my Emerson Fellowship application; I was overjoyed to find out that I would get to focus on M&C with Common Threads. As a member of the M&C team, I composed blogs, drafted and scheduled social media content, created newsletters, and captured photo and video content. I also helped ensure that posts, across all social media platforms, accurately depicted Common Threads’ diverse audience. Overall, I learned how to manage digital media and market programs in a professional, organized, and efficient way. I also learned how to write content and create compelling graphics that fit into a branded story and engage an audience.

Cooking and Nutrition Education: Teaching Small Bites

In 2019, I served in Peace Corps Mongolia as a Health Volunteer; I assisted with English lessons and co-taught elementary, middle, and secondary students on a range of health and life skills topics. While working with Common Threads, I was able to build on that experience by facilitating an after-school Small Bites class teaching nutrition and healthy snack-making to middle school students. At first, I was quite nervous, but I recognized that it would be an amazing opportunity to teach on my own for the first time. My main goals were to 1) Bring my students into the lesson planning/preparation process and 2) Cater each lesson to their needs and preferences.

Of course, teaching did not come without its challenges. My biggest challenge was getting the class’s attention and engaging them in the lesson. I began to focus on getting to know my students and asking for their feedback, which improved my rapport with them. As I learned how to make each lesson more enjoyable for my students, I found myself enjoying the experience more and more as well. In the end, I finished the course feeling more confident in my teaching abilities and I plan to continue pursuing teaching opportunities in the future!

DEI Progress Report

The final portion of my field placement with Common Threads focused on leading the writing process for their inaugural Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Progress Report. The purpose of this report is to document the progress made from their different DEI projects, identify areas for improvement, and pinpoint future priorities. The goal for the final report is to drive internal conversations around DEI and hold the organization accountable to its values. 

I was honored to be part of drafting such an important  report and I felt supported from every direction as I started drafting an outline, co-leading stakeholder feedback sessions, and writing different sections of the report. This work required me to gather feedback from staff across multiple departments, which was overwhelming at first, but over time, as I settled into my role, I appreciated the opportunity to improve my skills in project management and interacting with the staff. I also found that my work with the M&C team directly supported my work on the DEI Progress Report. As I learned about Common Threads’ DEI work, I already had a breadth of knowledge about everything that Common Threads does which helped me quickly get my bearings in leading the report writing process. I am excited to see the final draft of the report in spring 2023!

I am so thankful to have had this opportunity to work with Common Threads! From the very beginning, I felt welcomed, accepted, and taken care of by the team. They supported me in getting to know Miami, adjusting to working remotely, and even navigating hurricane season in Florida.  I have learned how to tell Common Threads’ story, teach nutrition and snack-making, and track the progress of DEI work. I also improved my skills in critical writing, research, social media, community outreach, project management, and applying a racial equity lens to my work. These skills will no doubt benefit me as I move into my policy placement, attend graduate school, and begin a career in anti-hunger work. Life in Miami was a wonderful whirlwind of new experiences, knowledge, fun adventures, and a time I won’t soon forget! 

Written by: Emily Stasko

You may have seen the book or heard about it on social media. It’s gaining traction in popular culture, although it is not to be confused with the latest fad diet: Intuitive Eating. If it’s not a diet, what exactly is it? Intuitive Eating is a mind-body approach to eating created by two dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. It involves listening to your body and responding to its messages to meet your physical and psychological needs. Intuitive Eating is not a diet or food plan, but rather a journey to improving your relationship with food and body awareness. There are ten principles of Intuitive Eating, included below and briefly explained by following this link: 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating. It is important to keep in mind these are not rules surrounding our eating, but rather general guidelines in the continual process of personal development. As these are not hardened rules, the process will have many ups and downs and will therefore look different for everyone.

• Principle 1: Reject the Diet Mentality
• Principle 2: Honor Your Hunger
• Principle 3: Make Peace with Food
• Principle 4: Challenge the Food Police
• Principle 5: Respect Your Fullness
• Principle 6: Discover the Satisfaction Factor
• Principle 7: Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food
• Principle 8: Respect Your Body
• Principle 9: Exercise- Feel the Difference
• Principle 10: Honor Your Health

Intuitive Eating can be adopted throughout any stage of life. Kids are unique in that they innately have the ability to monitor their hunger and fullness levels and choose foods that are satisfying to them. As they grow older, this can be affected by both the influence of others around us, diet culture, or a set of beliefs that equate thinness with health and happiness and prioritizes weight over physical and mental wellbeing. How can we help to protect and reinforce Intuitive Eating in children? Start by following these general tips:

Share the power of nutrition early on

Teach your kids that food has the power to help them grow big and strong, avoid getting sick, pay attention at school and provide them with energy. There are a few different terms that can be given to these foods: “nutritious foods,” “growing foods,” or “vital foods.” Pick a descriptive word that works best for you. 

Talk about foods in non-moralistic terms, rather than “good” food and “bad” food 

Assigning foods the “bad” designation can instill feelings of guilt and shame in a child. Instead, tell children that some foods aren’t as packed with nutrients, they exist mainly to taste good. These can be referred to as “play foods.” Refrain from calling them “junk foods,” as this implies that they serve no purpose and could elicit a feeling of shame for eating something with no value. For kids to better understand, give this example. Just like they don’t go to school year-round without weekends or breaks, they also don’t play all year long without going to school. We can’t have learning in school without breaks, just like we can’t have nutritious foods without play foods. 

Prepare balanced meals for your kids

Once children are at the age where they can eat all foods, prepare balanced meals including fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean and plant-based sources of protein, dairy products, and healthy fats. Explain to them what each food group is and the purpose that each serves on the plate.

Children love to mimic their parents/caregivers

Enjoy and appreciate food together as a family by trying to have a meal together whenever possible. Eat a variety of foods yourself to model a healthy relationship with food. 

Don’t be a short-order cook for your children

Make one meal for the whole family, but include multiple side dishes so that each child has something to eat, even if they do not like the main course. Let them know that you will not be making several different dishes for each person. Assure them that you are including foods that you know each family member likes.

Put a variety of foods on the table

Dietitian Ellyn Satter encourages parents/caregivers to determine the what, when, and where of feeding. It’s up to the child to determine whether to eat what is provided and how much to eat. Occasionally, put some play food on the table at the same time as the rest of the dinner. Don’t make any comments about which foods or how much a child should eat. Trust your child’s innate abilities. If you show a vested interest in what or how much your child eats, they may react to you instead of their inner signals. Some days they may only want the play foods, but most days they will eat some of everything that is served. Also, refrain from telling your children to eat a certain amount of the nutritious food prior to eating the play food as this could lead to negative results. The child may start a negotiation process that can lead to tension at the meal. It could lead to children developing the habit of cleaning their plates and oftentimes eating past their fullness level just so they can eat dessert. This results in changes to the way children view dessert, giving it the appearance of a reward for finishing their meal. It is best to avoid rewarding, bribing, and/or attempting to comfort children with food. Food should only be used for its main purposes: hunger, satisfaction, and nourishment. Help your children by letting them know their feelings are valid and that they can comfort themselves in other ways without using food. 

While you may already be following a few of these tips, some may seem unfamiliar. It takes time to unlearn behaviors that are common throughout communities and cultures. Strive for progress, not perfection. Start by choosing one tip to focus on and continue to work on until it becomes a habit; then move on and tackle the next one. Remember that similar to how you would practice Intuitive Eating for yourself, implementing these tips with children is a continual process with ups and downs. For more information and guidance on promoting Intuitive Eating during different stages of life, check out the book Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. If you’re interested in learning more about how to apply Intuitive Eating in your own life, find a dietitian in your area that specializes in Intuitive Eating or those who are Certified Intuitive Eating Counselors by following this link: Trained and Certified by the Original Intuitive Eating Pros. 

References

Tribole, E. & Resch E. (2012). Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program that Works. 3rd edition. St. Martin’s Griffin. 

Please note: there is a newer fourth edition published in 2020. 

https://alissarumsey.com/what-is-diet-culture/ 

https://www.ellynsatterinstitute.org/how-to-feed/the-division-of-responsibility-in-feeding/ 

Written by: Alejandra Zamora

Since Common Threads’ inception nearly two decades ago, the organization has  always had great engagement and support from corporate and foundation partners over the years, with several groups stepping forward to indicate support for cooking and nutrition education. In late 2020, one particular partnership started heating up, opening a spicy new world for Common Threads. 

First We Feast is a digital media brand that bridges the gap between food, drinks and pop culture. You may know them from two of their most well-loved programs, The Burger Show and Hot Ones, which are fun, niche-specific shows that talk with A-list celebrities like Kevin Hart, Elijah Wood and Charlize Theron all while making you drool for burgers and wings. The First We Feast team approached Common Threads via email in fall 2020, indicating that the organization was very aligned with First We Feast’s goals for cause marketing. The resulting conversations showed that First We Feast is just as passionate and delighted about food and nutrition as Common Threads is. 

“When we were looking for charities to partner with, we fell in love with Common Threads,” said Dominique Burroughs, a producer at First We Feast. “The mission of giving back to the communities by teaching the next generation about nutrition and providing meals to families in need was so powerful; we wanted to be a part of it.”

The Common Threads team quickly realized that a partnership between two different brands that both prioritized making good food fun and approachable would flourish. Now, a little over a year since Common Threads was selected as the official charity partner of First We Feast, so many wonderful creations and rewards have come about as a result. Here are some of our favorite highlights of the Common Threads x First We Feast friendship.

Holiday Extravaganza

Picture Hot Ones host Sean Evans and iconic chef Gordon Ramsay chaotically laughing (and try not to break down) while eating super spicy wings and acclaimed rapper and producer T-Pain accepting a trophy shaped like a bottle of hot sauce. That’s essentially a glimpse of what went down at the Hot Ones Holiday Extravaganza, one of our biggest fundraising collaborations with First We Feast that resulted in over $130,000 in funds raised for Common Threads during the 2021 holiday season. 

As Evans said, “every little bit counts to help kids in under-resourced communities make affordable, nutritious and appealing food choices wherever they live, work, learn and play.”

The Holiday Extravaganza also featured the launch of Hot Ones Jr., a mild, green hot sauce that was specially created for children. Four students from longtime Common Threads partner Brooklyn Green School were featured as product testers. The tastefully green sauce celebrates an array of complementary flavors like mildly spicy jalapeño peppers, tart green apples, sweet bananas and other yummy ingredients. 

 “As a project, it’s probably one of things we’re most proud of in our nearly 10 years as a brand, and the ‘Hot Ones Jr,’ segment that we produced with the help of students from Common Threads was so fun and heartwarming,” said Chris Schonberger, the creator and executive producer of Hot Ones. “Seeing our audience rally around the cause and donate nearly $130,000 really galvanized the team around the impact this partnership can have.”

Summer Health Campaign

A staple of Common Threads is its annual Summer Health Campaign, where the team initiates a focused fundraising and awareness effort to address issues of food insecurity in the summer months. The end of school also means the end of reliable, consistent meals like breakfast and lunch for the length of the break, as well as a “summer slide” of knowledge that happens because students are out of the classroom for a long period of time. When First We Feast heard of Common Threads’ goal to combat some of these typical occurrences, they jumped on board with their support, helping to promote the campaign. In total, the campaign exceeded its $15,000 fundraising goal! 

So many nutritious summer recipes and health tips were shared with and loved by students and more thanks to this campaign; in fact, Burroughs found a new favorite drink thanks to the summer health campaign! 

“The strawberry pineapple agua fresca is a fun, refreshing drink on a hot day. I’ve actually made it a few times and had the ingredients ready in my fridge all last summer!”

Hot Ones Products for Kids

Children are the main motivators behind everything we do at Common Threads, so it was only natural that First We Feast created their very own hot sauce for kids.

First We Feast also created a puzzle for kids (and kids-at-heart) to solve when they’re not teasing their taste buds with heat. A portion of the proceeds from each puzzle sale benefits Common Threads, yet another way for the First We Feast brand to give back.

Clearly, the love is felt all around, from our Common Threads class students to our friends at First We Feast and employees here at our organization, including our CEO and co-founder, Linda Novick-O’Keefe.

“After 18 years of doing this work, one of my biggest lessons has been that partnerships matter. In fact, partnerships are everything,” she said. “Common Threads is grateful to be the official charity partner of First We Feast; their support has raised funding for our programs and generated awareness for our organization and the importance and connection between healthy cooking, eating and living.”

Common Threads’ partnership with First We Feast has been nothing short of amazing and a great success since inception, and we can’t wait to see what else we cook up in the near future. Stay tuned! 

ABOUT COMMON THREADS

Common Threads is a national nonprofit that provides children and families cooking and nutrition education to encourage healthy habits that contribute to wellness. We equip under-resourced communities with information to make affordable, nutritious and appealing food choices wherever they live, work, learn, and play. We know that food is rooted in culture and tradition so we promote diversity in our lessons and recipes, encouraging our participants to celebrate the world around them.

Written by: Susan Bandler, Curriculum Developer, FRESHFARM FoodPrints

One of Common Threads’ program partners, FRESHFARM FoodPrints, offers programming that creates opportunities for students to learn about different food traditions through their five senses and by building connections with their own cultures and history. In this guest blog, the FoodPrints team shares its approach to educating communities about food (something aligned with Common Threads’ mission) and provides some tips for how families can engage children in positive discussions about food.

Picture students in a winter garden exploring broccoli plants by looking for different shades of green and noticing their flowers, feeling their bumpy and smooth textures, listening to them, smelling them, and tasting them. This is a taste of the experiential learning in the FoodPrints curriculum. 

Using a model of grow, cook, eat, learn, FoodPrints lessons nurture a sense of curiosity and excitement through positive experiences with food, whether with young children exploring with their five senses or older children becoming nutrient detectives and telling their own “food stories.”

The FoodPrints curriculum consists of 63 hands-on, minds-on interdisciplinary lessons for grades  Pre-K through 5th grade aligned with national standards.  These lessons integrate gardening, cooking and nutrition education into the curriculum with the goal of improving health outcomes for children and families. Founded in 2009 at one elementary school in Washington, D.C., FoodPrints currently partners with 19 Washington, D.C. public schools serving 7,000 students.

Students use their senses to explore and engage with food and the natural world

The FoodPrints approach is anchored in one of the first Pre-K lessons, Exploring with Our Five Senses, where students are encouraged to use all of their senses to fully explore and engage with their natural world.  

As they explore the school garden, they 

• look for different shades of green (they can use paint color sample cards or colored pencils in multiple shades of green); 
• touch items with different textures, such as soft sage leaves, bumpy cabbage leaves or the soil; 
• listen to sounds (birds, squirrels, the wind) while closing their eyes; 
• smell herbs such as mint and rosemary; and 
• taste sour sorrel leaves or mild lettuce leaves. 

In the kitchen, students are also encouraged to use their five senses when exploring new foods. We understand that it can take eight to 10 presentations of a new food before a child will openly accept it;  students who are hesitant to taste a new food are encouraged to touch, smell, and even listen to it before taking a small bite. Sometimes, a student is ready during one class period–though often it is a process that occurs over months or an entire school year–and enthusiastically participates in food preparation. 

Students’ own food experiences and stories guide their learning

FoodPrints understands that every student comes with their own food story, and we avoid using terms such as “good” or “bad” or “healthy” or “unhealthy” when talking about food and the choices students and their families make.  Throughout the Health & Nutrition theme students explore ingredients in the kitchen and garden; they are encouraged to eat a rainbow and learn why to choose whole grains. 

The “big idea” in the 3rd grade lesson Nutritious and Delicious is that nutritious and delicious food promotes good health. In this lesson, students become nutrient detectives, searching for the vitamins in a school lunch menu or the sugar on a food label.  They also spend time designing a delicious and nutritious snack focusing on the tastes and textures they most enjoy and develop an advertisement for their new product.

FoodPrints lessons give students an opportunity to learn about different food traditions around the world while building connections with their own cultures and history. Throughout the theme of Food Culture & Family Traditions, students reflect on their own food traditions while learning about other food traditions — in their classes and communities — and how they have evolved. In Celebrating Food Stories, the final lesson of the 5th grade, students share some of their own food memories and then create a new food tradition with their classmates. 

In addition to the 63 lessons, the FoodPrints curriculum includes additional resources to help with the planning and implementing of the program.  The organization has a series of 28 high-energy lesson videos for students and educators as well as cooking skills videos and recipe videos. 

Register here to receive full access to our curriculum and resources.  Please reach out with any questions about bringing FoodPrints to your community. Contact Jennifer Ramsey, the director of curriculum and instruction, at jramsey@freshfarm.org or Susan Bandler, curriculum developer, at susan@freshfarm.org. 

By Howard Seltzer, National Food Safety Education Advisor, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Although the food supply in the United States is one of the safest, bacteria or pathogens may still contaminate some foods we eat, making us ill with foodborne disease, also known as “food poisoning”. Currently, there are around 48 million cases of foodborne illness each year – the equivalent of sickening 1 in 6 Americans, making it essential to be mindful about food safety while cooking. 

Despite foodborne illness often being mild and temporary, in some cases it can become severe and life-threatening. When you prepare meals and snacks for yourself, your family, and your friends, follow these steps to prevent foodborne illness: Clean, Separate, Cook, and Chill. 

Clean.

When preparing food, always wash your hands before and after handling food. Wash surfaces, and utensils with hot water and soap after each use. Instead of using cloths for cleaning, the FDA recommends using paper towels. Finally, when handling canned food items, always remember to clean the lids before opening.

Separate.

When prepping and cooking food, it is important to separate raw foods, such as meat, poultry, fish and eggs from other ready to eat ingredients that will not be cooked. Using different cutting boards for raw foods and fresh produce is recommended. When cooking with marinades, never reuse the marinade before it has been boiled.

Cook.

Always cook to safe internal temperatures. Use a cooking thermometer to be  sure. Also, when cooking with a microwave oven, always cover, stir, and rotate the food. For more information on safe cooking temperatures, visit Safe Food Handling | FDA

Chill.

After you’ve finished prepping and cooking, remember to refrigerate foods properly and promptly. As a rule, you should always refrigerate or freeze meats, poultry, eggs, or other perishables within 2 hours of cooking or purchasing. When thawing your ingredients, never do so at room temperature or on the countertop. Generally, food should be thawed by using the refrigerator, cold water, or in the microwave. If you use a microwave to thaw, the food should be cooked immediately. After cooking, separating the foods into smaller containers will ensure that foods cool quickly.

Learning more about of food-safe meal prep can help prevent foodborne illness. Start putting these important steps into practice to protect you and your family.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Howard Seltzer has been a public health educator at FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition since 1998. Before joining FDA, he was with the U.S. Office of Consumer Affairs as Director for Education and Intergovernmental Relations.

By Lisa Lubin, MS, RDN

The Nutrition Facts label on packaged foods and drinks has been updated to make it easier for you to make informed choices. The Daily Values for many nutrients have been updated based on new nutrition research. So, the % Daily Value, or %DV, may be different on some of your favorite foods and beverages.

%DV shows how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to your overall daily diet. You’ll notice the %DV column doesn’t add up vertically to 100%. Instead, %DV is the percentage of the Daily Value for each nutrient in a serving of the food. The Daily Values are reference amounts (in grams, milligrams, or micrograms) of nutrients to consume or not to exceed each day.

%DV on the label is a handy tool to help you make informed choices about what you eat and drink. You can use it to:

• Check if a food is high or low in an individual nutrient: As a general guide, 5% DV or less of a nutrient per serving is considered low, and 20% DV or more of a nutrient per serving is considered high.
•  Compare Foods: %DV makes it easy for you to make comparisons. Just make sure the serving sizes of each product are the same. Look at the %DV listed for the different nutrients and more often choose foods that are higher in dietary fiber, vitamin D, calcium, iron, and potassium and lower in saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars.
•  Manage Dietary Trade-Offs: You don’t have to give up a favorite food to have a healthy diet. Use %DV to make dietary trade-offs with other foods throughout the day. When a food you like is high in a nutrient you want to get less of—or low in a nutrient you want to get more of—you can balance it with foods that are low (or high) in that nutrient at other times of the day.

But remember, there is no Daily Value assigned to either Trans Fat or Total Sugars, so no %DV appears on the label for these nutrients. Also, a %DV is only listed for protein in specific situations. For these nutrients, use the number of grams to compare and choose products.

Learn more about the Lows and Highs of Percent Daily Value on the New Nutrition Facts Label

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About the Author

Lisa Lubin is a Public Health Educator at FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. She is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and has a Master of Science in Nutrition Science from Drexel University and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania.