HAMILTON , Ohio -- A regular food pantry client in Lucas County -- a woman who speaks limited English -- was not the type to waste food. When she received her pre-bagged groceries at the Feed Your Neighbor pantry at Toledo 's Immaculate Conception Church , she would look through the entire bag and pull out what she wouldn't use -- mainly pasta and macaroni and cheese. She left with less food, but at least it wouldn't go to waste.

Now, like other pantries around the state, she can choose what goes into the bag in the first place.

Two of Lucas County's 13 Feed Your Neighbor pantries, run by Toledo Area Ministries, are among those throughout Ohio and the nation who have switched to a "client choice" system. According to America 's Second Harvest, an estimated 22 to 25 million Americans use food pantries annually. At choice pantries, clients walk through aisles with shopping carts, choosing among the food items offered, instead of being handed a bag or carton of pre-selected food.

Often, local educators with Ohio State University Extension are part-and-parcel of making the system work.

"The choice system is a good concept -- it's much more dignified for the clients," said Dan Remley, Ohio State University Extension educator in family and consumer sciences and community development in Butler County . Remley assisted in a series of focus groups examining the transition to the new system. The research, led by assistant professor of human nutrition Hugo Melgar Quinonez, found "a great deal of food would go to waste" in the old system: Clients would sometimes throw away foods they didn't like or couldn't use. Allowing them to choose food items among a variety of offerings eliminated waste and, the focus groups revealed, "added some dignity and sense of ownership to the operation."

Despite the obvious advantages, pantries converting to a choice system found they needed guidelines to let clients know how much food they could take. And Remley was interested in helping clients make nutritious choices. That's how choice food pantries' "Rainbow of Choice" system was born.

Remley developed Rainbow of Choice based on MyPyramid, the national Food Guidance System's five-color pyramid offering direction on healthful choices within the food groups. Pantries using the Rainbow of Choice system arrange food items according to food group, and give patrons a laminated 5-by-8-inch card indicating how many food items they can choose from each group -- grain, meat, dairy, fruit, vegetable, as well as "combination" and "miscellaneous." Volunteers assist in case questions arise. Using their selection card, clients can choose among options available that day: rice, not macaroni; apple juice, not tomato; kidney beans, not lentils. It all just depends on what their family's personal preferences.

"Clients seem to like this system," said Gary Gruver, director of ServeCity food pantry in Butler County which serves between 1,100 and 1,200 clients a month. "Before, they'd check in, get handed two bags of groceries, and then they're out of here. Now, it's more like a shopping experience. It's more pleasant."

ServeCity client Venita Hendrix, a young mother of two, agreed. "Oh, this is the first time I've seen baby food here," she said as she carefully chose a half-dozen jars to put in her cart. "When your food stamps run out, this really helps you out. And they way they're organized, it's easy. All the foods are grouped just like in the pyramid."

When it converted to a choice pantry, Toledo 's Immaculate Conception food pantry adopted the Rainbow of Choice system with the assistance of Patrice Powers-Barker, program assistant in the Lucas County office of OSU Extension. "We can't say enough about the Rainbow of Choice -- as a benefit to the clients, to the volunteers, and for us as we continuously promote MyPyramid," Powers-Barker said. She said the system enables volunteers to share other nutrition and food safety messages with clients, as well. For example, when clients choose among frozen cuts of meat, they are offered an Extension fact sheet on how to safely thaw it at home. "It's more than just food security," Powers-Barker said. "It's an opportunity to share all sorts of educational information."

Extension offices also can provide additional assistance. "We're trying to integrate nutrition education throughout the system," Remley said. That benefits both clients and pantry: When one local pantry received a donation of 10,000 pounds of figs, former Extension nutrition program assistant Toni Gallagher used figs in a series of food demonstrations, and they moved off the shelves faster than pantry officials could believe, Remley said.

Now, Remley is working on an educational video to reinforce nutritional messages and serve as an orientation to choice-based pantries. The DVD can be played in the waiting area of pantries to give clients an introduction to the system. In addition, he is working on developing training for choice pantry volunteers. A big advantage of the choice system is that volunteers have more one-on-one time with clients: Remley wants to help them use that time to help families make healthful food choices. The training will also help volunteers become more sensitive to cultural differences they may encounter.

"Dietary variety is one of the key messages -- 'Put the rainbow on your plate," Remley said. "We want to offer both healthy food and an educational experience."

Choice-based pantries also have started in Franklin, Hamilton, Montgomery and Warren counties, many of which are using Remley's Rainbow of Choice system. Agencies in Indiana , Michigan , North Dakota and New York have also contacted Remley with interest in the system.

Gruver, the director of ServeCity in Butler County , said clients seem to like the choice system. "Both people who have been coming here forever and new folks who come in -- they're thanking everyone on their way out."

Client Hendrix agreed. "Now it's like a grocery store," she said. "That's what I like. You can pick out what you want."