Food Aid Organization Research Articles

Resiliency against food insecurity among the Black population in Scarborough during the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundOne of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is the increased level of food insecurity, especially during the first wave. Food insecurity is an indication of poverty and results in serious health and social effects. Even though several studies have been conducted to assess the impact of COVID-19, there is a paucity of information on the role of individual community members and local organizations in addressing food insecurity in the province of Ontario, Canada. Consequently, the objective of this study is to examine the role of individuals and community organizations in addressing food insecurity challenges among the Black population in Scarborough in the Greater Toronto Area.MethodsThis qualitative study recruited 20 Black participants from the TAIBU Community Health Center (CHC) located in Scarborough. Furthermore, the study recruited eight nurses and two Black doctors in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) but only one affiliated with TAIBU. In-depth interviews were used to gather information for analysis. The study used manual coding and NVivo software to analyze the qualitative data.ResultsThe study found that there was a reported incidence of food insecurity among the population but new local food aid organizations sprang up to assist the existing ones in tackling food insecurity. However, the study found that the operations of food aid organizations are not sustainable.ConclusionsDespite the reported cases of food insecurity, local community organizations and individual community members volunteered to support people to boost their resiliency to food insecurity. The findings of the study highlight the role of community organizations in addressing food insecurity during crises including pandemics. Based on the health effects of food insecurity, the study recommends that both federal and provincial governments prioritize food insecurity as a major public health issue.

The Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived and social citizenship: Case study research in Belgium, Lithuania and Portugal

Persisting high poverty and social exclusion rates remain a key challenge of European welfare states. The socio-economic consequences following the COVID-19 crisis are challenging the protection of social citizenship and social rights of the most vulnerable. We examine the role of the European Union (EU) in supporting the most vulnerable citizens by focusing on the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD). Our key question is, if and in which ways the EU strengthens social citizenship and social rights through FEAD. We base our analysis on a document analysis of the Regulation, Member States’ operational programmes and results of a survey with food aid organizations in Belgium, Lithuania and Portugal. Our findings suggest that FEAD represents a contradictory case of European action in the field of social citizenship and social rights. On the one hand, FEAD is a highly targeted social policy instrument. On the other hand, food aid, as the main provided instrument, is based on charity and not on social rights. Accompanying social inclusion measures could support beneficiaries in the take-up of social rights, but these measures lack clear rules for implementation and monitoring. We conclude that FEAD seems to contribute to the institutionalization of charitable food aid within national welfare systems.

The Pathways study: a cohort study of new food-aid users in rural, semi urban, and urban areas of Quebec, Canada

BackgroundWhile considerable research has been conducted on household food insecurity (HFI), little research has examined the effects of food donation programs on users’ living conditions. The Pathways study was established to investigate the long-term effects of food donation programs on food insecurity as well as other critical outcomes, such as diet, health, and social support. Herein, we describe the design of the Pathways Study and the participants’ characteristics at baseline.MethodsThe Pathways study is a prospective cohort study of 1001 food-aid users in Quebec (Canada). We recruited newly registered users of food donation programs from 106 community-based food-aid organizations that partnered with the study. Baseline data were collected through face-to-face interviews from September 2018 to January 2020, with planned follow-up interviews at 12 and 24 months after enrollment. Household food insecurity, diet, food competencies, food shopping behaviors, perceived food environment, health status, social support and isolation, sociodemographic characteristics, housing conditions, negative life events, and the impacts of COVID-19 were assessed with validated questionnaires.ResultsThe cohort included 1001 participants living in rural (n = 181), semi-urban (n = 250), and urban areas (n = 570). Overall, household food insecurity was reported as severe among 46.2% and moderate in 36.9% of participants. Severe household food insecurity was more prevalent in rural (51.4%) and urban (47.8%) areas compared to semi-urban (39%) areas. Overall, 76.1% of participants reported an annual income below C$20,000. Half (52%) had low education levels (high school or lower), 22.0% lived in single-parent households, and 52.1% lived alone. Most (62.9%) experienced at least one major financial crisis in the preceding year.ConclusionsResults show that newly registered users of food donation programs often have low-income and severe food insecurity, with major differences across geographical locations. The Pathways study is the first study designed to follow, over a 2-year period, a cohort of newly registered users of food donation programs and to quantify their trajectories of service use. Findings from the Pathways study might help adapt the community response to the strategies used by food-insecure households to feed themselves.

The War in Ukraine and Food Security in Eastern Europe

This dispatch outlines some of the immediate consequences and long-term challenges posed by the Ukraine war on food security and production systems in Eastern Europe. We draw particular attention to the food aid and provisioning realities around many million (and increasing) numbers of Ukrainian refugees, and the current lack of systemic, government-coordinated responses to the humanitarian crisis. Further, we outline the distinct forms of agriculture characterizing Eastern Europe, notably, the short supply chains and farming networks that are socially and environmentally unique and valuable, and are a result of the persistence of smaller, family-led farms. However, these farms and farmers are facing increasingly difficult times as a result of inflation, rising fuel prices, rationing, climate stress, export bans, and now large numbers of refugees arriving to some already very poor rural areas. We highlight the need for these multiple stresses to be discussed together, for their consequences on food production in the short and long term, especially as the effects of the war extend beyond the region. These stresses include, in the immediate, a lack (and a lack of reliability on) of state aid and infrastructures for refugee hosts and food aid organizations and, in the longer term, persisting EU-policy and market pushes toward intensification that will greatly challenge the smallholder system in Eastern Europe.

LMurky moralities: performing markets in a charitable food aid organization

ABSTRACT This paper explores how competing moralities are brought together in the performance of a market for charitable food aid. Markets, rather than functioning as neutral technologies for bringing together supply and demand, are thoroughly moral phenomena. In markets, calculative devices are crucial for realizing exchange, by facilitating mutual agreement on price and quality. However, such practices of calculation can violate moralities of charity. This paper examines what happens when market practices and moralities are introduced in charitable settings. This is done through an in-depth case study of a food aid organization in the Netherlands that is organized as a supermarket, and part of a broader trend in re-organizing the provision of emergency food aid through the introduction of practices and technologies that shape a market. The case study shows how the socio-technical arrangements which organize market exchange, such as price labels and budget cards, are entangled with neoliberal moralities encouraging financial responsibility. At the same time, the findings show that moralities assowith charity are also present, which can lead to contestations over ‘good’ market performances. Such shifting moral judgements require participants to navigate conflicting moralities to be recognized as deserving recipients of aid.

The Nutritional Content of Rescued Food Conveyed by a Food Aid Organization

Background: The number of food-insecure families in the European Union has increased, resulting in an increasing number of households depending on food assistance programs. The aim in this study was to evaluate the nutrient content of food rescued by a food aid organization that rescues and redistributes fresh or freshly cooked food to low-income households. Methods: To determine the nutritional content of food hampers provided by our case study organization, we weighed all items of food hampers in three weighing rounds over a period of four months. The Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) was applied to measure households’ food insecurity. Results: Our results show that, at our case study food aid organization, food donations substantially contribute to energy, macro, and micronutrient dietary recommendation intake (DRI). Conclusions: When evaluating how these nutrients contribute to alleviating food insecurity of the beneficiary households, we found that the perception of food insecurity is independent of the amount of nutrients served. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study measuring the nutritional content of fresh or freshly cooked rescued food conveyed by a food aid organization.

Food support provision in COVID-19 times: a mixed method study based in Greater Manchester

COVID-19 has brought to light the severity of economic inequalities by testing the capacity of the poorest families to make ends meet. Food insecurity has in fact soared all over the UK, with many people forced to rely on food support providers to not go hungry. This paper uses a unique dataset on 55 food support organizations active in Greater Manchester during the first COVID-19 wave, and 41 semi-structured interviews with food aid spokespersons and stakeholders, to shed light on what they overcame, the complications and drawbacks of the food emergency response plan put in place. The results indicate that food aid organizations that remained open were surprisingly effective despite the growth in user demand and the decrease in volunteers. However, the necessity to maintain a timely supply food at all costs came with important drawbacks. The lockdown measures that followed COVID-19 not only affected the financial stability and management of the organizations, and the availability of food, but undermined the ways in which food support providers used to operate. Owing to physical distancing measures and to the increasing numbers of users, more or less intangible forms of support such as financial advice, empathic listening and human warmth were partially lost, probably when they were needed more than ever.

The Contribution of Up-Cycled Food Waste to a Balanced Diet of Low-Income Households

This paper focuses on the contribution of an upcycling food organization to a balanced diet, which rescues and redistributes fresh or freshly cooked food to low-income households. To determine the nutritional balance of food hampers provided by our case study organization, according to the Portuguese food guidelines, we have weighed all items of food hampers in three weighing rounds over a period of four months. The results suggest that upcycled foods can contribute to a more balanced diet in terms of “Potato, Cereal and Cereal Products”, “Vegetables”, “Meat, Fish, Seafood and Eggs” and “Fruits”, both according to the Portuguese Food Wheel and compared to that of the general Portuguese population. The novelty of this study is the evaluation of the contribution to the balanced diet of the population in a vulnerable situation, of perishable foods such as freshly cooked, in traditional restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and hotels, or is naturally fresh (fruit and vegetables food aid services) up-cycled by a food aid organization.

The Pathway Study: Commonalities Across New Food Bank Users in Rural, Suburban and Urban Areas

Abstract Background Few studies investigate long-term effects of food donation programs on food insecurity, diet, social integration or health. We describe household food insecurity (HFI), health, social integration and sociodemographic characteristics of 1003 new food banks users in rural, suburban and urban areas in Quebec, Canada. Methods Adults requesting food aid for the first time in the past 6 months were recruited in 117 food aid organizations (32 in rural, 35 in suburban, 50 in urban areas) using a nested sampling technique. Baseline data were collected from Sept 2018 to Jan 2020 in computer-assisted face-to-face interviews. Participants will be followed biennially. HFI was assessed with the 18-item Household Food Security Survey Module. Perceived physical and mental health scores were assessed with the SF12V2 module. Psychological distress and social integration were assessed with the Kessler scale K6+ and a modified version of MSPSS Scale. Differences across groups were tested with Chi square, ANOVA and post-hoc tests. Results Most participants reported high levels of materiel deprivation, with some variability across settings. Severe HFI was more prevalent in rural (51%) and urban (47%) areas than in suburbs (38%). More urban participants reported <20000 CAN$/yr (79% vs 74% in suburbs and 69% in rural) although low education level was more prevalent in rural areas (82% reported <12th grade education vs. 67% in suburban and 64% in urban areas). Psychological distress was higher in the suburbs (28%) compared to urban (21%) or rural areas (22%). No differences were detected across settings in social integration or physical or mental health scores. Conclusions New users of food banks report markedly high levels of material, social and health-related deprivation. In-depth analyses will permit more meaningful interpretation of these differences. The Pathways Study will permit better understanding of the life experience of persons requesting food assistance. Key messages People demanding food aid for the first time reported high levels of materiel deprivation, with some variability across settings. Severe housefold insecurity is around 50% among new food aid demanders in rural and urban settings.

“Customer is king”: Staging consumer culture in a food aid organization

This paper intervenes in critical debates on the role of charitable food aid in meeting the material, social, emotional, and cultural needs of the people who depend on this aid. It offers a detailed case study of a social grocery in Belgium that attempts to circumvent the power inequalities and negative social and emotional impacts of charitable giving through staging consumer culture, and treating clients as customers. This is accomplished with supporting performances of consumption norms around product choice, the act of paying, and the selection of appropriate foods – which improves the ability of participants to meet their personal needs as well as the broader standards of consumer society that they are otherwise excluded from. These other ways of doing food aid are theorized through the lens of consumer culture, to explain what is at stake in performing the norms of market exchange in a consumer society.

Struggling for food in a time of crisis: Responsibility and paradox.

Struggling for food in a time of crisis: responsibility and paradox. Responsibility is a useful lens through which to examine the current state of food poverty in the UK in the context of the Covid‐19 crisis, noting that this concept contains several paradoxes. Currently, responsibility involves the voluntary sector, the food industry and the state, a situation which the author has been exploring for the last five years in an ethnographic study of food poverty and food aid in the UK. Food aid organizations, especially food banks, have mushroomed during the period of austerity. This reveals the first paradox: namely, that the existence of food banks conveys the message that ‘something is being done’, but in actuality this is very far from being sufficient to meet the needs of either the ‘old’ or ‘new’ food insecure. The second paradox is that at the onset of the crisis, a government which had been responsible for inflicting austerity on the country for 10 years, dramatically reversed some of its policies. However, predictably, this did not change the situation vis‐à‐vis food insecurity. The third paradox is that the frequent rhetoric invoking the two world wars has not resulted in lessons being learned – notably, the creation of a ministry to deal with food and rationing, as in the Second World War. The final paradox relates to Brexit and its likely deleterious effects on food security, particularly if no ‘deal’ is achieved with the European Union, as seems likely. The voluntary food aid sector, try as it may, cannot possibly assume responsibility for the long‐standing and now hugely increased problems of food insecurity. That belongs to the state.

Food insecurity in relation to obesity in peri-urban Cape Town, South Africa: Implications for diet-related non-communicable disease

In urban informal areas of South Africa, obesity and hunger represent two sides of food insecurity. Despite this, public health and clinical obesity interventions focus on nutrition education, implying dietary choice and thereby overlooking food insecurity. The objective of this paper is to explore peri-urban residents' perspectives of changing food environments, framed by the Food Aid Organization (FAO) definition of food security and demonstrating the interconnectedness of dimensions of food security. We conducted three-part in-depth interviews with 21 participants and nine focus group discussions with a total of 57 participants, consisting primarily of women aged 20–84, in a peri-urban township and informal settlement outside of Cape Town, South Africa. Participants' encounters in clinical settings framed choice as a driver of diet-related non-communicable disease (NCD). Yet participants lacked economic access to food, particularly at the end of the month. Diets consisted of fewer green leafy vegetables relative to their diets in rural areas, despite affirming a preference for these foods. They described consuming more meat, which was also perceived as unhealthy. Based on self-report, residents within this peri-urban area of South Africa were food insecure: they lacked access to food at specific times of the month, they were unable to consume foods they preferred, and they felt that their diets were neither nutritious nor enabled an active and healthy life. When viewed in terms of multiple facets of food security, participants’ concurrent experiences of hunger and obesity were unsurprising. Health interventions related to diet should incorporate an understanding of food security as shaped by the interactions of access, availability, utilization and stability.

Scalable Concentric Diversification Approach to Food Production for Sustainability in Rural Communities

Over the years, there have been many attempts by renowned bureaucrats, researchers and practitioners to define the term “agricultural diversification” and to enact farm policies that enforce that definition as tradition. These advocates claim thatdiversification, as it were, would provide greater income stability allowing specialized farms to benefit from economies of size.Foreign governments and international food aid organizations would not finance farming activities outside the scope of thisdefinition. However, many critics contend that these definitions are misleading and do not necessarily lead to food security andagro-business sustainability. They argue that if it were so, poverty levels in the world would have reduced by now. Be that as itmay, many foreign countries have a different understanding of the term “diversification”. For instance, The British Departmentfor Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) defines diversification as the entrepreneurial use of farm resources for a nonagricultural purpose for commercial gain. Many critics believe this to be a more appropriate and articulate definition of theconcept as it reduces risk, accommodates responses to changing consumer demands, acknowledges changing governmentpolicies, malleable to external shocks and, more recently, as a consequence of climate change. It is as a result of this backdrop ofwhat makes agricultural diversification a success or failure that the concept of scaleable concentric diversification approach tofood production for sustainability is introduced. The research explores ways in which this intrinsic nuance can be implemented inrural communities for food production, security and sustainability.

Reducing food waste in food manufacturing companies

Putting unsold food at good use is clearly a high-priority option according to the Food Waste Hierarchy, but we still know relatively little about the antecedents, strategies, and processes that make it possible within companies. This paper aims at explaining how food manufacturers can prevent the degradation of generated surplus food into waste. Based on an extensive literature review and 4 exploratory case studies, research questions are formulated about (i) available avenues for managing surplus food, and (ii) internal drivers that make these avenues viable and efficient. In order to adapt, refine and corroborate the conceptual framework, the research conducts 10 descriptive case studies of Italian food manufacturers. Results from the cross-case analysis highlight the multiplicity of reuse and redistribution options, and their viability over the product shelf life. The analysis also shows that a structured surplus food control system and partnerships with food aid organizations are necessary to reduce food waste.

Research Gaps in the Use of Dairy Ingredients in Food Aid Products.

Nutritional interventions to help prevent stunting, particularly in the first 1000 days from conception to 2 years of a child's life, are a major focus of numerous food aid organizations worldwide. Dairy ingredients can play an important role in enhancing the nutritional value and effectiveness of food products used in food aid. This article addresses gaps in research on malnutrition from both a broad perspective and specific to dairy ingredients. Narrative review. From a broad perspective, there is a need for gaining a consensus by the research community and funders of research on best practices for protocol development, outcomes measured, and reporting of study outcomes. Identification of biomarkers and rapid screening methods and consistent application of their use would expedite future research. A better understanding of nutritional requirements for malnourished populations, including the effects of energy deficits and disease on those requirements, is needed. More specific to dairy ingredients, a key research question is: Does dairy protein or the package of nutrients provided by dairy ingredients have a unique impact on growth, and if so, how? Also, data on the optimal levels of dairy ingredients based on the effective cost of treatment are needed, particularly in the treatment and prevention of moderate acute malnutrition and during pregnancy.

Expert system prototype of food aid distribution

The aim of this study was to improve efficiency of the food aid distribution process of international food relief organizations. An overall objective of this study was to develop a prototype expert system for monitoring and evaluating food aid by international disaster relief organizations. The research identifies data related to monitoring and evaluation processes of various international food-aid organizations. It then applies an artificial intelligence-based expert system to develop a prototype for those processes. Existing data related to monitoring and evaluation program cycles were obtained. An expert system shell called CLIPS© (National Aeronautics Space Administration) was used to develop a prototype system named Food Aid Monitor, a rule-based expert system, which uses facts and heuristic rules to provide an adaptive feedback regarding monitoring and evaluating processes at various stages of food aid operation. The Food Aid Monitor was evaluated and validated by three expert panels checking the prototype system for completeness, relevancy, consistency, correctness, precision, and usability. Finally, the panels indicated a belief that the system could have an overall positive impact on the stages of monitoring and evaluating food aid processes of the food relief organizations.