Celebrating Winter Holidays through Food
We believe that food brings people together across cultures, as we share traditions. The winter holidays are filled with special dishes that celebrate joy and togetherness. The food available at our food bank reflects the diversity of our neighbors and the celebrations that take place in our community, because we all know how important it is to sit down at a table that honors each of our family’s traditions. As the holiday season begins, we want to pause to highlight some of the foods that show up at the food bank this time of year to celebrate the winter holidays.
Diwali — October 20, 2025
Diwali, the festival of lights, is a five-day celebration in October that honors joy, prosperity, and togetherness. In 2025, the main day of Diwali fell on October 20th. Food plays a meaningful role in this celebration. Across India, each region celebrates with its own flavors, recipes, and rituals that make the festival special:
Western India enjoys a mix of sweet and spicy bites.
South India highlights the balance of sweet, spicy, and tangy flavors.
East India celebrates with a variety of sweets.
Central India features hearty and comforting dishes.
At RVFB, our shelves are stocked with fresh fruits, vegetables, and pantry staples—like greens, squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, and rice to help our neighbors prepare festive meals at home.
Hanukkah — December 15–22, 2025
Celebrated from December 15th to 22nd, Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday when people traditionally enjoy foods fried in oil, symbolizing the miracle of the oil that lasted eight days. Classic Hanukkah dishes include potato latkes with applesauce or sour cream, and sufganiyot, the jelly-filled doughnuts enjoyed throughout the holiday.
We provide fresh ingredients—like potatoes, onions, apples, and other produce to help our neighbors prepare these classic dishes, and we also offer some additional Kosher items.
Christmas — December 25, 2025
Christmas is celebrated around the world with a variety of different traditional and popular foods.
In the United States, common meals include roast turkey with cranberry sauce and gravy or glazed ham with pineapple and brown sugar. These dishes are often served with sides like stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, or sweet potato casserole.
In the United Kingdom, families enjoy a traditional prime rib with Yorkshire pudding. While in Australia, a rack of lamb with rosemary and mint is a favorite holiday meal.
In Vietnam, families gather around sizzling grills to enjoy a variety of seafood. In China, Christmas is celebrated with roast pork, jiaozi (dumplings), spring rolls, huoshao (baked rolls), and rice.
In Germany, people celebrate with roast goose paired with stuffing and apple sauce. In Mexico, tamales and pozole, a classic soup, are beloved Christmas dishes.
These are just a few examples of the many traditional foods enjoyed around the world during Christmas. At our food bank, we provide many of the fresh ingredients families need to prepare these dishes, including greens, sweet potatoes, squash, cranberry sauce, turkeys, hams, Bok choy, and cilantro. We know our neighbors celebrate in many different ways, and our vision is to offer foods that reflect the traditions of the families we serve.
Kwanzaa — December 26, 2025–January 1, 2026
Kwanzaa is a weeklong African American and Pan African cultural holiday celebrated annually from December 26th–January 1st. It honors the rich traditions and values of the African diaspora and is a “joyful seven-day celebration of Black culture, food, and unity.” On the sixth day of Kwanzaa, families come together for a community feast called Karamu, where they share various dishes from blended cuisines that originated from the African Diaspora. Classic dishes include black-eyed peas, collard greens, peanut soup, fried bananas, coconut desserts, shrimp gumbo, and sweet potato pie.
We provide fresh produce and ingredients—like collard greens, bananas, black-eyed peas, sweet potatoes, and squash so our neighbors can prepare dishes like these at home.
New Years eve & New Years Day — December 31, 2025 & January 1, 2026
Many cultures celebrate New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day with foods that carry special meaning for the year ahead. In Spanish and Latin American traditions, people eat twelve grapes at midnight on New Year’s Eve — one for each month of good fortune in the year to come. Across many Asian cultures, long noodles are eaten on New Year’s Day as a symbol of longevity. In the South, black-eyed peas are believed to bring luck and prosperity in the year ahead.
Our food bank ensures families can celebrate these traditions by stocking our shelves with staples like black-eyed peas, greens, root vegetables, and rice noodles.
Lunar New Year — February 17, 2026
Lunar New Year will be celebrated on February 17th. Traditional foods often symbolize prosperity, unity, and good fortune, with some of the most common dishes being dumplings, fish, spring rolls, and niángāo (glutinous rice cake).
At our food bank, we provide ingredients like bok choy, green onions, carrots, squash, and rice noodles so our neighbors can celebrate their holiday traditions.
Around the world, winter holiday traditions and foods show how deeply food and culture are intertwined, and how sharing them brings connection, community, and joy to the season.