(Cross-posted from my Examiner.com site)

With aftershocks still rocking Haiti, Washingtonians struggle to grasp the losses the earthquake has claimed. Deciding how to help is yet another challenge. Why not start with food? Here are five ways to take action as a food lover in the D.C. area.

5. Go to one of the establishments owned by D.C. restaurateur Ashok Bajaj. As The Washington Post’s Going Out Gurus and the DC Restaurant Examiner Lisa Shapiro report, Bajaj is offering a month-long fundraising deal at his seven restaurants. He will also match any donations his employees make to relief efforts. Stop by 701, Ardeo – Bardeo, Bibiana Osteria-Enoteca, The Bombay Club, Oval Room, or Rasika. From January 19 to February 19, and one dollar from the sale of each featured menu item will go to American Red Cross relief for Haiti.

4. Look for a red cross next to dishes at members of The Neighborhood Restaurant Group. Also thanks to the Going Out Guide we know that do-gooding items include “cupcakes at Buzz, wines at Tallula, Columbia Firehouse and the Evening Star Cafe, and beer at Rustico, Birch & Barley and ChurchKey.” Proceeds from those sales will go to the Red Cross and Haitian Emergency Rebuilding Operation (H.E.R.O.)

3. Grab some vegan desserts (or donate your own handywork) at a D.C. Vegan Bake Sale for Haiti. The first takes place this Sunday, January 24, at the Takoma Park Farmers Market. The market is held at Carroll and Juniper Streets in Takoma Park, Md. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Drop off baked goods by 9:45 a.m. Or catch the sale on Saturday, February 6, in Falls Church, Va., at 1230 W. Broad St. in the Falls Plaza shopping center. Times not yet announced on the site. Proceeds will go to Food for Life Global.

2. Purchase or donate yet more desserts at a food blogger bake sale in Dupont Circle, in or close to the Dupont Circle FRESHFARM Market, tentatively scheduled for Sunday, January 31. The market takes place in the PNC Bank parking lot at Q St. and Massachusetts Ave. NW from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Check this site for more information as the day gets closer.

1. Learn about and support nearby nonprofits’ efforts to provide food, clean water, and other essential aid to Haitian survivors with a sustainable development focus. Partners in Health, which is dedicated to treating illness in developing countries, subscribes to the Haitian proverb “Giving drugs without food is like washing your hands and drying them in the dirt.” Food is essential to health and well-being, and NGOs like Partners in Health, ActionAid, and the American Red Cross of the National Capital Area know how to deliver it while, at the same time, working toward local empowerment and ongoing development.

Know of other ways to help? Leave a comment! Want more? Follow me on Twitter.