scholarly journals Examining Patterns of Food Bank Use Over Twenty-Five Years in Vancouver, Canada

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 853-869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Black ◽  
Darlene Seto
Keyword(s):  
Service Use ◽  
Food System ◽  
Food Banks ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Food Bank ◽  
Service Usage ◽  
Income Source ◽  
Emergency Food System ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Program Data

Abstract Food banks have grown substantially in Canada since the 1980s but little is known about patterns or predictors of engagement including frequency or duration of service use. This study examined food bank program data from a large food bank organization in Vancouver, Canada, finding that between January 1992 and June 2017, at least 116,963 individuals made over 2 million food bank visits. The majority of members were engaged for a short time and came for relatively few visits, but 9% of members engaged in longer-term episodic or ongoing usage over several years, accounting for 65% of all visits. Results from cluster and regression analyses found that documented health and mobility challenges, larger household size, primary income source, and older age were predictors of higher frequency and duration of service usage. Findings add to growing critical examinations of the “emergency food system” highlighting the need for better understanding of the broader social policies influencing food bank use.

scholarly journals Food Bank Donations in the United States: A Landscape Review of Federal Policies

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 3764
Author(s):  
Katelin M. Hudak ◽  
Emily Friedman ◽  
Joelle Johnson ◽  
Sara E. Benjamin-Neelon
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nutritional Quality ◽  
Food System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Healthy Food ◽  
Food Banks ◽  
Food Bank ◽  
Federal Policies ◽  
Food And Beverage

Rates of food insecurity have increased substantially in the United States (US), and more families are turning to the charitable food system to help meet their needs. Prior studies have examined the nutritional quality of foods offered through food banks, but little is known about what government policies may shape the healthy food donation landscape. The purpose of this study was to review US federal policies that impact food and beverage donations to food banks and assess whether policies encourage healthy food donations. In spring 2020, two researchers independently reviewed federal food and beverage donation policies using predefined search terms in two legal databases. We identified six categories of policies based on the existing food donation literature and themes that emerged in the policy review. We identified 42 federal policies spanning six categories that addressed food and beverage donations to food banks. The largest category was “government programs,” with 19 (45%) policies. The next largest category was “donation via schools,” with 12 (29%) policies. However, no policies specifically addressed the nutritional quality of food donations. There is an opportunity for the federal government to strengthen food bank donation policies and improve the nutritional quality of donated foods and beverages.

Hungry for change: the food banking industry in Australia

2014 ◽  
Vol 116 (9) ◽  
pp. 1392-1404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Booth ◽  
Jillian Whelan
Keyword(s):  
Food System ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Food Banks ◽  
Food Bank ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Relief System ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – Over the last 20 years, food banks in Australia have expanded nationwide and are a well-organised “industry” operating as a third tier of the emergency food relief system. The purpose of this paper is to overview the expansion and operation of food banks as an additional self-perpetuating “tier” in the response to hunger. Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws on secondary data sourced from the internet; as well as information provided by Foodbank Australia and Food Bank South Australia (known as Food Bank SA) to outline the history, development and operation of food banks. Food banking is then critically analysed by examining the nature and framing of the social problems and policies that food banking seeks to address. This critique challenges the dominant intellectual paradigm that focuses on solving problems; rather it questions how problem representation may imply certain understandings. Findings – The issue of food banks is framed as one of food re-distribution and feeding hungry people; however, the paper argue that “the problem” underpinning the food bank industry is one of maintaining food system efficiency. Food banks continue as a neo-liberal mechanism to deflect query, debate and structural action on food poverty and hunger. Consequently their existence does little to ameliorate the problem of food poverty. Practical implications – New approaches and partnerships with stakeholders remain key challenges for food banks to work more effectively to address food poverty. Social implications – While the food bank industry remains the dominant solution to food poverty in Australia, debate will be deflected from the underlying structural causes of hunger. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the limited academic literature and minimal critique of the food bank industry in Australia. It proposes that the rapid expansion of food banks is a salient marker of government and policy failure to address food poverty.

scholarly journals Pilot testing an intervention to educate and promote nutritious choices at food pantries

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah L. McKee ◽  
Eminet Abebe Gurganus ◽  
Abiodun T. Atoloye ◽  
Ran Xu ◽  
Katie Martin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Diet Quality ◽  
Food System ◽  
Saturated Fat ◽  
Comparison Study ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Food Pantry ◽  
Food Pantries ◽  
Client Choice ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Aim This study aimed to assess the impact of the Supporting Wellness at Pantries (SWAP) system on client food selections at a food pantry. Subject and methods In a pre–post comparison study design, a client-choice food pantry implemented SWAP by reorganizing its inventory to promote healthy options. Each product was ranked as “choose often” (green), “sometimes” (yellow), or “rarely” (red) based on saturated fat, sodium, and sugar. Signage was added to indicate each item’s SWAP rank and healthier foods were placed at eye level. Client food baskets were assessed at time 1 (n = 121) and time 2 (n = 101). The proportions of green and red foods selected were compared using regression analyses. Results The regression analyses showed that the proportion of green foods selected by clients increased by 11% (p < 0.001) and the proportion of red foods selected decreased by 7% (p < 0.001) after SWAP was implemented (n = 222). Conclusions SWAP has the potential to positively shift client choices among the items available in a food pantry setting. SWAP is one component of a suite of changes to the charitable food system that have the potential to alleviate food insecurity, improve diet quality, and assist clients in managing diet-related diseases.

Food Aid – Normalising the Abnormal in Finland

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 471-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiina Silvasti
Keyword(s):  
Food System ◽  
Policy Issue ◽  
Food Aid ◽  
Food Banks ◽  
Welfare Regime ◽  
Security Costs ◽  
Economic Developments ◽  
Food Charity ◽  
First Time ◽  
Deep Recession

In Finland, food banks and bread lines emerged for the first time during the deep recession in the mid-1990s and, since then, have become permanent. This was partly an outcome of cutting or freezing social security costs during the economic slump, but there has also been an increasingly explicit transformation in national social policy. However, the emergence and persistence of food aid cannot be explained purely as a social and poverty policy issue. This article examines charity food aid as a solution to the hunger problem within the Nordic welfare regime and traces connections linking the establishment of food charity to the prevailing food system. This article focuses on different policy actions and economic developments that took place independently during the 1990s, producing, apparently accidently and without conscious co-ordination, entrenchment of charitable food aid in Finland.

scholarly journals The Role of the Food Banks in Saving Freshwater Resources through Reducing Food Waste: The Case of the Food Bank of Navarra, Spain

Foods ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
Josemi G. Penalver ◽  
Maite M. Aldaya
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Food Waste ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Waste Reduction ◽  
Food Banks ◽  
Food Bank ◽  
Food Loss ◽  
Total Food ◽  
Food Wastage

In the year 2011, the FAO estimated that food loss and waste reached one third of the total food produced worldwide. Since then, numerous studies have been published characterizing this problem and reflecting on its repercussions, not only social, but also environmental. Food wastage triggers unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation or loss of biodiversity. This study aims to quantify the water-related benefits associated with food loss and waste reduction by studying the Food Bank of Navarra (FBN). For this purpose, the water footprint assessment manual has been followed. First, the water footprint of the activities of the FBN has been analysed for the year 2018 (scenario with the FBN). A comparative analysis has been carried out between the scenario with the FBN and a theoretical scenario without the action of the FBN. This has allowed us to highlight the benefits associated with the activity of this entity. The FBN not only avoided the waste of 2.7 thousand tons of food suitable for consumption in 2018, but also avoided the unnecessary use of more than 3.2 million m3 of freshwater. As a result of the present investigation, it can be stated that promoting food banks, which avoid food waste, would be an effective way to contribute to the protection and conservation of water resources.

scholarly journals Linear programming can help identify practical solutions to improve the nutritional quality of food aid

2008 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zo J Rambeloson ◽  
Nicole Darmon ◽  
Elaine L Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
Linear Programming ◽  
Nutritional Quality ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Saturated Fatty Acids ◽  
National Level ◽  
Food Aid ◽  
Food Banks ◽  
Food Bank ◽  
Quality Of Food

AbstractObjectivesTo assess the nutritional quality of food aid delivered by food banks in France and to identify practical modifications to improve it.DesignNational-level data were collected for all food aid distributed by French food banks in 2004, and its nutrient content per 2000 kcal was estimated and compared with French recommendations for adults. Starting with the actual donation and allowing new foods into the food aid donation, linear programming was used to identify the minimum changes required in the actual donation to achieve the French recommendations.ResultsFrench food-bank-delivered food aid does not achieve the French recommendations for dietary fibre, ascorbic acid, vitamin D, folate, magnesium, docosahexaenoic acid, α-linolenic acid and the percentage of energy from saturated fatty acids. Linear programming analysis showed that these recommendations are achievable if more fruits, vegetables, legumes and fish were collected and less cheese, refined cereals and foods rich in fat, sugar and/or salt. In addition, new foods not previously collected are needed, particularly nuts, wholemeal bread and rapeseed oil. These changes increased the total edible weight (42%) and economic value (55%) of the food aid donation, with one-third of its edible weight coming from fruits and vegetables, one-third from staples, one-quarter from dairy products and approximately a tenth from meat/fish/eggs.ConclusionsImportant changes in the types and amounts of food collected will improve the nutritional quality of food-bank-delivered food aid in France. Such changes are recommended to improve the diets of deprived French populations.

scholarly journals Realizing urban food policy: a discursive institutionalist analysis of Ede municipality

Food Security ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara V. Sibbing ◽  
Jeroen J. L. Candel
Keyword(s):  
Food System ◽  
Food Policy ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Food Governance ◽  
Short Time Span ◽  
Depth Study ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
Ideational Change ◽  
Short Time

AbstractTo overcome pressing food system challenges, academics and civil society actors have called for the development of integrated food policies. Municipalities have increasingly picked up on these calls by developing municipal food strategies. It remains unclear, however, whether and how these commitments have resulted in a genuine institutionalization of food governance across local administrations. We address this gap through an in-depth study of how food governance ideas were institutionalized in the Dutch municipality of Ede, which is considered a frontrunner in municipal food policy. Drawing on discursive institutionalism, we explore how actors, ideas and discourses mutually shaped the institutionalization process. Our analysis shows that food governance ideas were institutionalized following a discursive-institutional spiral of three stages. First, an abstract food profile discourse emerged, which was institutionalized exclusively amongst a small group of policy makers. In the second stage, the discourse shifted to a more elaborate integrated food policy discourse, which was institutionalized across various departments. Finally, a food system discourse emerged, which was institutionalized across an even broader range of policy departments. Our study suggests that integrated food policy can be institutionalized within a relatively short time span. A food strategy, budget and organizational innovations seem key in this process, although they can also be constraining. At the same time, we conclude that retaining a food policy institutionalized remains challenging, as sudden ideational change may cause rapid deinstitutionalization.

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