Use of Food Pantries is Associated with Household Food Insecurity in Ohio

The coping continuum and acts reciprocity - a qualitative enquiry about household coping with food insecurity in Victoria, Australia

OBJECTIVE

Food insecurity exists when a household has limited or uncertain access to food. This paper explores the strategies employed by households who are already accessing emergency and community food assistance to meet their food needs.

METHOD

Interviews to explore strategies used to mitigate food insecurity of people living in Victoria, Australia, between June 2018 and January 2019. Data were analysed thematically.

RESULTS

Seventy-eight interviews were conducted. Analysis resulted in two themes highlighting the range of coping strategies employed to mitigate the impacts of food insecurity; broadly described as 1) the coping continuum and 2) coping reciprocity.

CONCLUSIONS

Food insecure households employ a range of strategies to secure food. Households that engage with the emergency and community food sector are described as in crisis or struggling, often skipping meals or reducing food consumed, or as coping and managing, characterised by bulking meals and growing food.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH

Coping with food insecurity exists on a continuum from crisis to management and reciprocity. With the prevalence of food insecurity expected to increase, some of these coping strategies will need to be incorporated into the practice of emergency and community food providers to assist households to meet food needs.

Examining food insecurity and areas with unmet food needs during COVID-19: A geospatial, community-specific approach

Food insecurity is a public health issue that has increased in the U.S. since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding how this increase occurs locally is crucial in informing appropriate food insecurity-related responses. Analyzing 2-1-1 call data is one way to examine food insecurity-related needs at a zip code level. The purpose of this work was to: (1) examine overall call trend data to 2-1-1 from March through July 2019 and March through July 2020, (2) examine changes in food need call volume to 2-1-1 during COVID-19 by zip code, and (3) identify areas with unmet food needs during COVID-19 in central Texas. Data for 2-1-1 calls from Travis County zip codes for March through July 2020 were compared to calls for March through July 2019 and categorized by reason for calling. Descriptive statistics and paired t-tests were used to analyze food need calls by zip code and mapped using ArcGIS. Communities with high food call volume and no emergency food assets located within the zip code were categorized as areas with unmet food needs. Results indicated there were more overall calls to 2-1-1 in 2020 (N=37,572) than in 2019 (N=28,623), and significantly more food need calls in 2020 than in 2019 (p<0.01). Eastern Travis County, a racially and ethnically diverse and lower-income area, had the largest increase in food need calls. Two zip codes were identified as having unmet food needs, which informed the strategic placement of emergency food assets. This study illustrates how 2-1-1 data can result in rapid translation of research to policy and program implementation.

Mapping Food Insecurity-Related 2-1-1 Calls in a 10-County Area of Central Texas by Zip Code: Exploring the Role of Geographic Food Access, Urbanicity and Demographic Indicators

Food insecurity is a public health issue that affects 12% of Americans. Individuals living in food insecure households are more likely to suffer from conditions such as undernutrition, obesity and chronic diseases. Food insecurity has been linked to limited geographic access to food; however, past studies have used limited measures of access which do not fully capture the nuances of community context. The purpose of this study was to explore the association between food insecurity and geographic food access by level of urbanicity. 2-1-1 calls made in 2018 in Central Texas were classified as food needs versus non-food needs. Supermarket and convenience stores were mapped using ArcGIS. Geographic food access was operationalized as the presence of supermarkets and convenience stores: within the zip code; only in neighboring zip codes; and not located within or in neighboring zip codes. Descriptive statistics and binomial logistic regression were used to examine associations between geographic access and 2-1-1 food calls, stratified by level of urbanicity. 11% of the 2-1-1 calls made in 2018 (N = 55,405) were regarding food needs. Results showed that peri-urban and rural callers living in zip codes that only had supermarkets in neighboring zip codes had greater odds of calling about food needs compared to those that had supermarkets within the zip code. These findings indicate that geographic food access is associated with food insecurity, but this relationship varies by urbanicity. Thus, the development of food insecurity mitigation programs in peri-urban and rural areas is needed.

Diabetes-Related Health Care Utilization and Dietary Intake Among Food Pantry Clients

Purpose: Consuming a diet appropriate for management of diabetes mellitus (DM) is challenging, particularly for adults with food insecurity (FI). DM-related health care services are thought to support better dietary intake. In this study, we explored associations between DM-related health care utilization and dietary intake among FI adults with DM. Methods: We used cross-sectional, baseline data (collected 2015-2016) from a trial designed to improve glycemic control among adult food pantry clients with DM. We examined intake of vegetables, fruit, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), and desserts using the California Health Interview Survey dietary screener. We then examined adjusted associations between dietary intake and two components of DM-related health care utilization (<12 months vs. ≥12 months ago): self-reported visit to a health care provider for DM management and DM self-management education. Results: Among 523 participants (mean hemoglobin A1c 9.8%; body mass index 34.6 kg/m2; 17.0% uninsured), vegetable intake was more frequent in those reporting recent utilization of health care providers for DM management and DSME-related services (p<0.01), compared with those with less recent use. There was no association between intake frequency of fruit or SSBs and utilization of either DM-related service. Participants more recently utilizing DSME-related services consumed desserts more frequently (p=0.02). Relationships persisted after controlling for DM duration, race/ethnicity, education, health insurance, location, medication adherence, and depression. Conclusions: Among FI patients, DM-related services offered in clinical settings may more effectively increase vegetable consumption than decrease consumption of food and beverage items that can worsen glycemic control. Food pantry settings may provide an opportunity to reinforce dietary messaging.

Food Preferences and Coping Strategies among Diabetic and Nondiabetic Households Served by US Food Pantries

Limited access to healthy food caused by food insecurity makes diabetes mellitus (DM) self-management more challenging. Using data from Hunger in America 2014 (n = 60,122 US food pantry users), we sought to understand food preferences and coping strategy utilization (e.g. choosing between paying for food and medical care) among households seeking assistance from US food pantries with and without DM members. The prevalence of wanting and not obtaining fruits, vegetables, dairy, and protein was high among all households. After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, households with DM members were more likely to want and not obtain fruits, vegetables, and dairy, and were also more likely to use several coping strategies to increase food access, compared to households without DM members. These results highlight the high demand for healthy food items among clients from US food pantries, particularly among households with DM, as well as the extra burden DM may place on food insecure households.