scholarly journals Implementing food bank and healthcare partnerships: a pilot study of perspectives from charitable food systems in Texas

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie S. Poulos ◽  
Eileen K. Nehme ◽  
Molly M. O’Neil ◽  
Dorothy J. Mandell
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Healthcare Systems ◽  
Structural Level ◽  
Patient Privacy ◽  
Food Bank ◽  
Implementation Barriers ◽  
Implementation Challenges

Abstract Background Partnerships between charitable food systems and healthcare systems have been forming across the country to support individuals and families experiencing food insecurity, yet little research has focused on these partnerships, particularly from a food bank perspective. The objective of this exploratory pilot study was to identify implementation challenges and facilitators of charitable food system and healthcare partnerships from the food bank perspective. Method Texas food banks with existing food bank/healthcare partnerships were identify through website review and support from Feeding Texas. Interview questions were tailored to each interview, but all focused on identify program components of the food bank/healthcare partnership and implementation barriers/facilitators of the partnership. In total, six interviews were conducted with food bank/healthcare partnership leaders (n = 4) and charitable food system experts (n = 2) about their experiences of working with food bank/healthcare partnerships. All interviews were completed via Zoom and took between 30 and 60 min to completed. Detailed notes were taking during each interview, and immediately discussed with the complete research time to formulate broad implementation themes. Results Interviews suggest unique implementation challenges exist at all levels of food bank/healthcare partnerships including the partnership, program, and system levels. Partnership-level implementation challenges focused on issues of partnership scale and data collection, sharing, and analysis. Program-level implementation challenges focused on food and produce expectations. Structural-level implementation challenges included issues of food safety, subsidized food regulations, and patient privacy. Implementation facilitators included leadership support, mission compatibility/organizational readiness, food insecurity training, and identify of partnership champions. Conclusions This study adds to the growing interest in food bank/healthcare partnership as it highlights unique implementation challenges and facilitators for cross-sector partnerships between healthcare systems and community-based charitable food systems. Ultimately, we believe that collaborative discussion among leaders of charitable food systems and healthcare systems is needed to overcome outlined implementation challenges to better facilitate sustainable, equitable implementation of food bank/healthcare partnerships.

scholarly journals Mobilizing Networks and Relationships Through Indigenous Food Sovereignty: The Indigenous Food Circle’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Northwestern Ontario

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Z. Levkoe ◽  
Jessica McLaughlin ◽  
Courtney Strutt
Keyword(s):  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Emergency Situation ◽  
Indigenous Leadership ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Meaningful Relationships ◽  
Settler Population

This paper explores the Indigenous Food Circle’s (IFC) response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. Established in 2016, the IFC is an informal collaborative network of Indigenous-led and Indigenous-serving organizations that aims to support and develop the capacity of Indigenous Peoples to collaboratively address challenges and opportunities facing food systems and to ensure that food-related programming and policy meets the needs of the all communities. Its primary goals are to reduce Indigenous food insecurity, increase food self-determination, and establish meaningful relationships with the settler population through food. This community case study introduces the IFC and shares the strategies and initiatives that were used during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to address immediate needs and maintain a broader focus on Indigenous food sovereignty. The food related impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Indigenous People and determining solutions cannot be understood in isolation from settler colonialism and the capitalist food system. Reflecting on the scholarly literature and the experiential learnings that emerged from these efforts, we argue that meaningful and impacting initiatives that aim to address Indigenous food insecurity during an emergency situation must be rooted in a decolonizing framework that centers meaningful relationships and Indigenous leadership.

The Obesity Pandemic and Food Insecurity in Developing Countries

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Lowitt ◽  
Katherine Gray-Donald ◽  
Gordon M. Hickey ◽  
Arlette Saint Ville ◽  
Isabella Francis-Granderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Nutrition Transition ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
School Type ◽  
Farm To School ◽  
Double Burden

Overweight and obesity affect over half a billion people globally and represent major public health concerns because excess weight gain is a key risk factor for non-communicable diseases. This chapter presents an overview of global trends in obesity, considering both developed and developing country contexts. It describes how this pandemic is rooted in the “nutrition transition” taking place around the world as a result of a globalized agri-food system that is changing the quantity, types, and desirability of foods available for consumption. In some countries, this is contributing to a “double burden of malnutrition,” as the problem of undernutrition now coexists alongside an increasing prevalence of over-nutrition. An overview of key policy responses and policy instruments that governments can utilize to address obesity is provided, recognizing that a holistic food systems response is needed to address the global challenge of obesity. The remainder of the chapter focuses on the food security and obesity challenges facing the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and profiles a “farm to fork” school feeding project in the island nation of St. Kitts-Nevis that was designed to reduce obesity and improve food security among children. Implementation and key results of this integrated project are presented, including the core components of agricultural production, procurement of local produce, and children’s consumption of nutritious foods. The chapter concludes by identifying lessons for supporting “farm to school”-type projects as a possible food systems response to addressing obesity and food insecurity.

scholarly journals The State of Food (In)Security in the Trans-Himalaya, Upper-Mustang, Nepal

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 92-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rishikesh Pandey
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Food Aid ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Global Issue ◽  
Food Transport

Food insecurity is a global issue, with higher prevalence of hunger in developing countries. Low crop yield and food production - due to difficult topography and traditional farming methods - combined with lower income; fluctuations in prices and supply, and low quality of food have been causing food insecurity in Nepal. This research examines food (in)security situation in Upper-Mustang, Nepal. The results are derived from the data collected through face–to-face interviews with the heads of 66 households, in-depth interviews conducted with 22 key informants, and discussions with the group of local people in different (6) places. The household food system was studied from livelihood perspectives and food (in)security was assessed in relation to self-sufficiency or production sufficiency, access, utilization, and stability of food. Households in the Trans-Himalaya acquire food from multiple sources such as farming and livestock ranching, buy food from the market, and also receive food aid for the sake of survival during the food crisis. Food security situation in terms of self-production in Upper-Mustang is at worst stage that many households are facing severe to chronic food insecurity. Studied households access marketed food, though the price they pay is very high. The worrisome issue is that there is no significant improvement in food security situation over time in the Trans-Himalaya. Study found that not the household size but dependency ratio in the household increases food insecurity. On the other hand, quality of farmland in terms of cropping intensity and availability of irrigation rather than the farm-plot size contribute for food security. The issue of food security is still a valid development policy goal for Nepal in general and for the Trans-Himalaya in particular. Accordingly, food security interventions are important. Yet, policy for interventions should look into all components of food systems, particularly providing irrigation, promoting local food varieties, and provisioning for food subsidies and food aid together with subsidies in food transport.

scholarly journals How partnerships shaped the Dane CARES Farm-to-Food Bank program

2021 ◽  
pp. 33-36
Author(s):  
Jessica Guffey Calkins ◽  
Claire Mance
Keyword(s):  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food Distribution ◽  
Food Bank ◽  
Great Work ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Market Opportunities ◽  
Future Program ◽  
Local Farmers

The COVID-19 pandemic forced Wisconsin’s food systems institutions into rapid innovation as they responded to rising community food insecurity. With support from the Dane County Executive’s office, federal relief funding eased previously onerous barriers to allow Dane County’s largest food bank to implement a unique local purchasing program: Dane CARES. The program sought to support Dane County producers experiencing reductions in market opportunities, while feeding the rising number of Dane County families experiencing food hardship. Drawing on existing food and agriculture partner­ships, Extension Dane County staff connected partners to assist with project expedition and docu­mented partners’ efforts through a series of semistructured interviews. The program achieved its two primary goals of replacing lost markets for local farmers and facilitating increased food distribution to communities in need. To elevate this multisector collaboration and inspire more great work like Dane CARES, we outline the evidence of program value to farmers’ livelihoods, demonstrate the growth of partner networks to support institutional purchasing of local food, and offer recommendations to improve future program iterations.

Creating health enabling environments in large, complex and competitive food systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
J a n e Dancey ◽  
Julie Brimblecombe
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Shopping Mall ◽  
Traffic Light ◽  
Food Retail ◽  
Implementation Challenges ◽  
Implementing Change ◽  
Large Complex ◽  
Retail Food

Abstract Australia's largest university, Monash, is a complex food system, with >70 000 students, 17000 staff, 50 food outlets, a supermarket and >100 vending machines. Analysis of this food system in 2016 identified poor availability of healthy food and prompted the university to implement a local healthy eating framework, the Victorian Government's Healthy Choices Guidelines (HCGs). Australians consume a diet low in plant foods and high in discretionary foods: 67% of adults are overweight or obese. Our food environment is large, complex and competitive and akin to a shopping mall or small town and our findings are broadly applicable to these settings. In 2016 Monash commenced implementation of HCGs which classify foods using a traffic light system: Green (best choice), Amber (choose carefully) and Red (limit). To create health enabling environments, the guidelines recommend ≥50% Green and <20% Red foods. Three key strategies are explored: 1) Retail food healthiness assessments, 2) Vending changes and 3) Retail food healthiness labelling. Multiple implementation challenges arose in food retail. In 2016, we conducted retail food healthiness assessments using HCGs. These assessments indicated the Monash food retail environment was 19% Green, 26% Amber and 55% Red. HCG vending was successfully implemented in 2017 using a commercial tender process. Healthy retail labelling was implemented with 32 retailers in 2018; the cost and complexities associated with menu assessments, retailer education and labelling fidelity present enormous challenges. Local frameworks do not scale up in large, complex, competitive retail systems. Success with vending contracts indicates change to food retail may occur with contract clauses. Implementing change in established food retail is problematic. Implementation challenges in large, complex, competitive retail settings require further exploration. Contract clauses show promise for implementing and sustaining change in complex food systems. Key messages Large, complex, competitive retail settings present challenges for food system change. Leasing clauses show promise for changes to large, complex, competitive, retail food systems.

scholarly journals College Student Perceptions and Utilization of Food and Nutrition Resources on Campus: Study Protocol

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 1740-1740
Author(s):  
Leslie Redmond ◽  
Amanda Walch
Keyword(s):  
Student Success ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
Healthy Diet ◽  
Barriers And Facilitators ◽  
Nutrition Services ◽  
Target Sample Size ◽  
Food And Nutrition

Abstract Objectives Food and nutrition are important to college student success and well being, yet little work has been done to characterize food and nutrition environments on college campuses regarding how students utilize food and nutrition resources, barriers and facilitators to accessing and consuming a healthy diet, and what students value in a campus food system, such as sustainability. The objective of this pilot study is to characterize the food and nutrition environment on the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) campus, specifically by: Measuring the prevalence of food insecurity on the UAA campus Determining barriers and facilitators to accessing and consuming a healthy diet on campus Analyzing the relationship between food insecurity and indicators of student success and health Assessing the importance of sustainable campus food systems to UAA students Methods Phase 1: Focus Groups. Students utilizing a free meal service at UAA (the Daily Den) will be recruited to participate in one of two focus groups (target sample size n = 20) to explore how students use the food and nutrition services on campus, barriers and facilitators they experience in accessing and consuming a healthy diet, and what they value in a campus food system. Grounded theory will be used to determine common themes and guide the development of survey questions. Phase 2: Survey. A survey will be administered to a convenience sample of Daily Den clients (target sample size n = 60) to collect information on demographics, indicators of student success (i.e., GPA), indicators of health (i.e., BMI), the US Household Food Security Survey, and questions determined from Phase 1. Survey data will be analyzed to determine the prevalence of food insecurity on campus, the barriers/facilitators to accessing and consuming a healthy diet, and how each may be associated with indicators of student success and health. Importance of sustainable food systems to students will also be assessed. Results N/A (study protocol) Conclusions Understanding how college students perceive and utilize food and nutrition services available to them on campus will provide valuable insight into addressing food insecurity and sustainability on college campuses. Results from this study will be used to inform the future of food and nutrition services at UAA. Funding Sources None.

scholarly journals Acquisition, mobility, and food insecurity: Integrated food systems opportunities across urbanicity levels highlighted by COVID-19

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Yeeli Mui ◽  
Gabby Headrick ◽  
Samina Raja ◽  
Anne Palmer ◽  
Johnathon P. Ehsani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Food Distribution ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Food Acquisition ◽  
Cross Sectional

Abstract Objective: Investigate acquisition and mobility experiences of food-insecure individuals across urbanicity levels (i.e., urban, suburban, rural) in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design: Cross-sectional study using a nationally representative online panel to measure where food-insecure individuals acquired food, food acquisition barriers, and mobility to food sources, which were evaluated across urbanicity levels using chi-squared tests and 95% CIs. Setting: United States Participants: 2,011 adults (18 years or older) Results: Food insecurity impacted 62.3% of adults in urban areas, 40.5% in rural areas, and 36.7% in suburban areas (p<0.001). Food acquisition barriers that were significantly more prevalent among food-insecure adults in urban areas were a change in employment status (34.2%; 95% CI = 27.2%, 41.1%; p<0.0001) and limited availability of food in retailers (38.8%; 95% CI = 31.7%, 45.9%; p<0.001). In rural areas, food-insecure adults primarily acquired food for the household from supercenters (61.5%; 95% CI = 50.4%, 72.5%; p<0.05), while locally sourced foods were less common among food-insecure adults in rural areas (6.9%; 95% CI = 0.01%, 13.0%) compared to urban areas (19.8%; 95% CI = 14.3%, 25.4%; p<0.01). Transportation as a barrier did not vary significantly by urbanicity, but food-insecure adults across urbanicity levels reported utilizing a range of transportations modes to acquire food. Conclusions: A planning approach that links urban and rural areas could address food insecurity by enhancing the integration of food production, transportation, and food distribution, building toward a more resilient and equitable food system for all Americans.

scholarly journals Cultivating Alliances: The Local Organic Food Co-ops Network

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Sumner ◽  
Cassie Wever
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Organic Food ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Alternative Food Systems ◽  
Mission Drift ◽  
Mouvements Sociaux ◽  
Sustainable Food System

Although social movements can lose their way in neoliberal times, building alliances can help them to leverage their strengths and overcome their weaknesses, thus avoiding co-optation and “mission drift.” One example of this strategy can be found within the co-operative movement: the Local Organic Food Co-ops Network in Ontario. A pilot study of six co-operatives in this organization reveals that they cultivate alliances in four ways: among member co-ops, through the creation of the network, with other types of organizations, and with other social movements. These alliances strengthen the co-operative movement, help to make the politics of alternative food systems work, influence the economy toward co-operation, and open up possibilities for establishing and maintaining a more sustainable food system. RÉSUMÉ Les mouvements sociaux, bien qu’ils puissent s’égarer à l’ère du néolibéralisme, peuvent établir des alliances afin de profiter de leurs atouts et surmonter leurs faiblesses, évitant ainsi la cooptation ou les déviations. On retrouve un exemple de cette stratégie d’alliance dans le cadre du mouvement coopératif en Ontario : The Local Organic Food Co-ops Network. Une étude pilote de six coopératives faisant partie de cette organisation révèle que celles-ci créent des alliances de quatre manières différentes : entre coopératives membres, grâce à la création du réseau même, avec d’autres types d’organisation et avec d’autres mouvements sociaux. Ces alliances renforcent le mouvement coopératif, aident à faire fonctionner les systèmes d’alimentation alternative, encouragent la collaboration économique et contribuent à établir et maintenir un système d’alimentation plus durable.

scholarly journals At the crossroads: new paradigms of food security, public health nutrition and school food

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 1020-1027 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah M Ashe ◽  
Roberta Sonnino
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Food Policy ◽  
Public Health Nutrition ◽  
School Food ◽  
Poor Countries ◽  
New Research

AbstractPublic health nutrition sits at the nexus of a global crisis in food, environmental and health systems that has generated – along with numerous other problems – an urgent and changing problem of food insecurity. The ‘new’ food insecurity, however, is different from the old: it is bimodal, encompassing issues of both under- and over-consumption, hunger and obesity, quantity and quality; it has assumed a decidedly urban dimension; and it implicates rich and poor countries alike. The complexity of the expressions of this challenge requires new approaches to public health nutrition and food policy that privilege systemic, structural and environmental factors over individual and mechanistic ones. In this context, the current paper argues that school food systems rise with buoyant potential as promising intervention sites: they are poised to address both modes of the food security crisis; integrate systemic, structural and environmental with behavioural approaches; and comprise far-reaching, system-wide efforts that influence the wider functioning of the food system. Based on a discussion of Bogotá and other pioneering policies that explicitly aim to create a broader food system with long-term foundations for good public health and food security, the paper suggests a new research and action agenda that gives special attention to school food in urban contexts.

Disruptive innovation and operationalization in local and sustainable food systems: Examining the University of Toronto-Local Food Plus partnership

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-139
Author(s):  
Lori Stahlbrand
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Food System ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Disruptive Innovation ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
The University

This paper traces the partnership between the University of Toronto and the non-profit Local Food Plus (LFP) to bring local sustainable food to its St. George campus. At its launch, the partnership represented the largest purchase of local sustainable food at a Canadian university, as well as LFP’s first foray into supporting institutional procurement of local sustainable food. LFP was founded in 2005 with a vision to foster sustainable local food economies. To this end, LFP developed a certification system and a marketing program that matched certified farmers and processors to buyers. LFP emphasized large-scale purchases by public institutions. Using information from in-depth semi-structured key informant interviews, this paper argues that the LFP project was a disruptive innovation that posed a challenge to many dimensions of the established food system. The LFP case study reveals structural obstacles to operationalizing a local and sustainable food system. These include a lack of mid-sized infrastructure serving local farmers, the domination of a rebate system of purchasing controlled by an oligopolistic foodservice sector, and embedded government support of export agriculture. This case study is an example of praxis, as the author was the founder of LFP, as well as an academic researcher and analyst.

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