The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County stands with all demanding justice for Black, Brown, Latinx, and Indigenous communities who have been devastated by policies and practices that hurt, silence, and oppress them. We are an organization involved with many partners in building a movement to end hunger and ensure that nutritious food is a fundamental […]
Category: Health
Unraveling the Kinks in the Local Food Chain to Build and Sustain a Resilient Food System
The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on the weaknesses in our current food system. But Santa Barbara County’s Food Action Plan — a community-driven strategic plan that assesses and provides recommendations for how we grow, distribute, consume, and dispose of food — has proved to be an increasingly relevant blueprint for our community. Spearheaded […]
Food Substitutions
Don’t want to make trip to the grocery store for one ingredient? Great – its probably not a good idea right now anyway. Fortunately, there are many easy, healthy food substitutions that are a great way to add more nutrients to your food, while limiting your trips to the store. Here are a few healthy […]
How to Safely Unpack and Clean your Groceries in the Age of Coronavirus

Here at the Foodbank, we’ve gotten a lot of questions recently about how to correctly unpack and clean your produce and food items during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Foodbank takes precautions to limit exposure of your food to COVID-19 – food is held for two days before it gets distributed to eliminate any contamination […]
Pistachios and other nuts!
Homemade Pistachio Raisin Bars Prep Time: 15 Mins Total Time: 1 Hour 40 Mins Yield: Serves 12 (serving size: 1 bar) Why buy store-bought granola bars when it’s so easy—and so much healthier—to make them at home? Switch them up with any dried fruit, nuts, or grains you like. Ingredients 2 cups old-fashioned oats 1/3 […]
Raisins
Homemade Pistachio Raisin Bars Prep Time: 15 Mins Total Time: 1 Hour 40 Mins Yield: Serves 12 (serving size: 1 bar) Why buy store-bought granola bars when it’s so easy—and so much healthier—to make them at home? Switch them up with any dried fruit, nuts, or grains you like. Ingredients 2 cups old-fashioned oats 1/3 […]
Pasta
Pantry Pasta with Vegan Cream Sauce Many vegan cream sauces rely on blended nuts or steamed cauliflower, but this sauce is made of beans and pasta water alone—no soaking or blending necessary. It’s important that the beans are adequately hydrated: Once you start mashing, make sure there’s plenty of pasta cooking liquid in the pot […]
Salmon
One-Pan Salmon and Veggie Bake PREP TIME: 15 mins COOK TIME: 30 mins TOTAL TIME: 45 mins YIELD: 4 servings Ingredients 1 ¼ lbs. Wild-caught salmon, cut into 4 portions 1 lb. sweet potato (about 1 medium) 12 oz. green beans, trimmed ½ small red onion, thinly sliced 3 Tbsp. avocado or olive oil Juice […]
Beans
20-Minute Black Bean Burgers Making a vegetarian burger shouldn’t have to mean spending hours roasting vegetables, cooking beans, and forming patties. This quick and tasty recipe can have dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes. Try using half of a spare whole-grain hamburger bun in place of the bread slice. These burgers also […]
Green Peanut Butter Smoothie
Skill Level: Easy Prep Time: 5 min Serves: 2 Smoothies can be a healthy way to start your day, but when eating breakfast you want to consume something that will give you long lasting energy. While fruit contains lots of important vitamins and nutrients, smoothies made of only fruit can leave you feeling hungry. Fruit […]