Food Security and Customer Satisfaction among Food Pantry Clients in the Greater Lowell Area Antje Brisbin, Krista Bobola, Kathleen McCabe, Shawn Patterson, Nancy Sok, Christine Soundara, and Leland K. Ackerson, ScD Department of Community Health and Sustainability
Background: The Mobile Pantry program (MP) of the Merrimack Valley Food Bank in Lowell, Massachusetts works to make sure that their clients have a sufficient amount of appropriate foods delivered for a nutritious diet. The purpose of this project was to assess the effectiveness of MP services and explore opportunities for providing more healthful foods. Methods: The project was a descriptive cross-sectional study surveying MP clients, who are homebound, low-income elderly and/or disabled individuals residing in Greater Lowell. The survey took place between October 10 and November 16, 2011. Participation was anonymous and voluntary. Results: The primary client from each of 77 households out of 309 responded to the questionnaire. Most of the respondents were white, female, and over age 65. Most respondents agreed strongly that with MP’s aid they ate more fruits, vegetables, and healthy foods; ate a balanced diet; were more physically and socially active; and generally felt healthier. Most respondents also stated that they would skip more meals and spend less on other necessities if they did not have help from MP. The majority of respondents felt able to perform all of the food preparation tasks and use all of the kitchen appliances/tools about which they were asked, with the exception of following a complicated recipe. Conclusion: MP may be essential for the health, nutritional well-being, and food security of the low-income elderly and/or disabled in the Greater Lowell community. Both respondents’ willingness to try new foods and their applicable meal preparation capabilities indicate an opportunity for MP to provide more healthful options. The results of this study may be utilized to improve MP services and food variety.
Background According to the World Health Organization (WHO), food security includes “both physical and economic access to food that meets people’s dietary needs as well as their food preferences.”1 WHO defines food security as being based on three aspects: food availability; food access; and food use. Food availability is the amount of food that is available on a consistent basis. Food access describes the resources that are available to allow people to access nutritious foods for a balanced and healthy diet. Food use is based on knowledge of nutrition and care of food items, along with having sufficient amounts of water and sanitation. An estimated 49.1 million Americans (16.4%) are food insecure and do not have access to sufficient amounts of food due to lack of finances and other resources.2 The Status Report on Hunger in Massachusetts 2010 indicates that 615,000 14 UMLJUR
people in the Commonwealth are struggling to put food on the table every day – an 11 percent increase in food insecurity over the previous year – and over 8.3 percent of households (206,172) in Massachusetts struggle with “food insecurity,” a measurement that captures the degree to which an individual or family cannot obtain adequate nutritious food for a healthy life.3 The number of food insecure people continues to increase, which creates a demand for food distribution programs.4 The Mobile Pantry program (MP) sponsored by the Merrimack Valley Food Bank in Lowell, Massachusetts is one of these programs. At the time of the survey, MP was serving 366 clients – both homebound low-income elderly and disabled individuals, and their dependent children. It is important that MP clients be food secure, meaning: that they have a sufficient amount of food to ration throughout the month until their next food delivery; that appropriate foods are deliv-