As demand for their services continues to rise, food pantries are taking new approaches to provide more people with food and other resources, reports The New York Times.

Using more fresh produce, offering ready-to-eat meals, starting their own farms, and collaborating with a wide range of groups, such as local supermarkets and state prisons, to help collect and process food are some of they ways food banks are adapting to serve their clients. Many pantries are also serving as social service clearinghouses to distribute information about health screenings and to sign people up for food stamps.

“It’s not just handing out a box here or there anymore,” said Peggy Grimes, executive director of the Montana Food Bank Network. “A lot of effort goes into thinking outside the box. It’s becoming the focus of food banking.”

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