Nancy Roman, president and CEO of the Capital Area Food Bank, has been overwhelmed by cake. Week after week, dozens of frosted, layered confections arrive at her warehouse. A 5-year-old might think this is a dream come true. But for Roman, it’s a nightmare. The cakes are donations meant to be passed along to the food bank’s end users — more than half a million residents of Washington, DC, and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs who don’t have enough to eat. Like other low-income Americans, many of these folks struggle with obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and high-blood pressure. And lately, Roman has worried that sending them highly processed, sugary foods — which are energy-dense and...
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