Barriers of Local Organizations for Providing Free Food Support in the Priority Neighborhood, Toronto: What We Need Further (original) (raw)
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The provincial and federal governments provided emergency funding to local community organizations to reduce food insecurity and improve food accessibility to people affected by COVID-19 by giving free food support. The study explored the challenges of people and the local organizations in receiving and providing free food support and what further was needed to achieve food accessibility and security in the priority neighborhood. Nine representatives of the local community organizations, 15 volunteers, 10 community members (food recipients) participated in the community conversation or the extensive group discussion. They shared their experiences about challenges in food accessibility during COVID-19, and what we further needed to improve the food accessibility in the priority neighborhood. Two note-takers obtained data from the community conversation, and it was a qualitative study and used a thematic approach to analyze the data and interpretation. Lack of information of free food, language issues, the social stigma attached to requesting free food support, and fear of COVID-19 were obstacles for community members seeking free food support. The community organisations, on the other hand, lacked knowledge of those who truly needed food assistance, adequate transportation, enough room to store food, and sufficient numbers of dedicated and qualified volunteers to assist with food distribution. Additionally, there was a lack of funds for community organisations to supply people with food. The local community organizations needed an assessment to understand the available resources so that local organizations could use the resources to improve food accessibility in the community. Furthermore, the organizations required coordination and cooperation each other and extended food funding to affected families. In addition, the local organizations needed to work with community gardens, community kitchens, and food banks to support and meet the community's demands for improving food accessibility.
A Participatory Study of the Health and Social Impact of a Community Food Centre in Ottawa, Canada
Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation, 2020
Food insecurity is a pervasive and persistent issue across Canada, where a growing number of people are accessing food banks. Conventional food banks may offer relief for immediate needs but typically have limited capacity to address longer-term food insecurity. This paper focuses on the Parkdale Food Centre in Ottawa, ON, which provides food assistance alongside a range of programs and initiatives designed to address food insecurity and related needs in its community. This qualitative study aims to examine how participation in the programs at the Parkdale Food Centre influences the physical, mental, and social health of people who access the food centre. Semi-structured interviews and a participatory photovoice project were conducted with people who access the food centre. The results indicate that people who access the food centre perceived a positive influence of the programs on their food, health, and social needs, particularly with respect to improved access to fresh foods, con...
Nutrients
During the COVID-19 pandemic, significantly fewer of New York City’s (NYC’s) 1.1 million public school children participated in emergency grab-and-go meals—heightening the risk of inadequate nutrition security for many of NYC’s most vulnerable residents. This study sought to examine student families’ facilitators and barriers to participation in the grab-and-go meal service and their experiences with pandemic-electronic benefit transfer (P-EBT) funds, a cash benefit distributed when schools were closed. We recruited 126 parents of children in NYC public schools who had participated in the grab-and-go service. Using opened-ended questions, we interviewed 101 parents in 25 1-h online focus groups. We identified four main themes which broadly impacted school meal participation: communication, logistics, meal appeal, and personal circumstances. Key facilitating subthemes included clear communication, ease of accessing sites, and high variety. Key sub-themes negatively impacting particip...
A participatory study of the health and social impact of a food centre in Ottawa, Canada
2020
Food insecurity is a pervasive and persistent issue across Canada, where a growing number of people are accessing food banks. Conventional food banks may offer relief for immediate needs but typically have limited capacity to address longer-term food insecurity. This paper focuses on the Parkdale Food Centre in Ottawa, ON, which provides food assistance alongside a range of programs and initiatives designed to address food insecurity and related needs in its community. This qualitative study aims to examine how participation in the programs at the Parkdale Food Centre influences the physical, mental, and social health of people who access the food centre. Semi-structured interviews and a participatory photovoice project were conducted with people who access the food centre. The results indicate that people who access the food centre perceived a positive influence of the programs on their food, health, and social needs, particularly with respect to improved access to fresh foods, con...
Local Community Support for Tangible Food Aid During COVID-19
Companion Publication of the 2021 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing
The COVID-19 pandemic is a long-haul disaster that has brought forth extreme hardship, in particular food insecurity. Local citizens across the United States created online groups to facilitate mutual aid, a form of community-based disaster relief. In this paper, we are interested in how online mutual aid groups addressed food insecurity through facilitating various community-based initiatives. We interviewed mutual aid group organizers in the United States and found that online groups contributed immediate food relief as well as laid the groundwork for long-term food security. These findings have implications for community resilience in the wake of an ongoing disaster.
Research Square (Research Square), 2022
Introduction: While 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. Methods: The Pathways study is a prospective cohort study of 1,001 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. Results: The cohort included 1,001 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 singleparent households, and 52.1% lived alone. Most (62.9%) experienced at least one major nancial crisis in the preceding year. Conclusions: Results 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 rst study designed to follow, over a two-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. Longitudinal studies that follow participants from when they rst start using food donation programs are needed to describe the trajectories of the use of food donation programs (e.g., occasional resource or regular source of food acquisition) and to evaluate their effect on HFI and other related outcomes. Likewise, studies considering the geographical context of food banks and of their users, as well as the type of programs offered by community organizations in addition to food donation programs should be conducted. The Pathways study was designed to address these knowledge gaps. The rst of its kind, the Pathways study was designed to estimate the long-term impact of food donation programs on HFI and other outcomes such as diet, health, and social support among a cohort of newly registered users of food donation programs,. It also aims to identify conditions that might facilitate the transition from food donation to capacity-building programs. The speci c objectives of the Pathways study are to: (1) identify pathways for the use of food security programs and understand the drivers associated with most common pathways; (2) compare pathways of program use among new users in community organizations offering only food donation programs only (FD) and new users of food donation programs in community organizations that also offer food-related capacity-building programs (FD + CBP); and (3) quantify the relationships between pathways of donation program use and food security, diet, mental and physical health, and social integration. This paper presents the design of the Pathways study and the characteristics of participants at baseline, contrasting both the three different areas (rural semiurban and urban) and the Montreal region versus the other three regions participating in the study. Methods The Pathways study is conducted in the province of Québec, Canada. It was developed in close partnership with public health, provincial, and regional organizations (i.e., Food banks Quebec) that contributed to its design and implementation. The Pathways study is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (grant# omitted for blind review), with additional nancial support from the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services, the Foundation of Greater Montreal, and Mission Inclusion. We received ethical approval from the Research Ethics Board of the Université de Montréal (n. certi cate blinded for peer review).
Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 2018
Approximately 34% of residents from New Haven's six lowest-income neighborhoods are food insecure, significantly higher than the rest of Connecticut and country (both approximately 12%). To understand the availability, accessibility, and utility of emergency food programs, we conducted 34 semi-structured qualitative interviews with 20 food insecure residents and 14 emergency food providers. Many depend on food programs as a long-term strategy of supplementing groceries rather than a temporary solution in emergency situations; providers are struggling to meet this demand. Transportation and time are barriers to accessing food from programs. Policies and food programs should focus on disseminating accurate information, streamlining policies and practices, and supporting and expanding food programs to meet population need.
Agriculture & food security, 2024
Background One 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. Methods This 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. Results The 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. Conclusions Despite 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.
Social Work in Health Care
Food insecurity is an ongoing and persistent problem for many individuals and families in the United States and in New York City. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the scope of the problem and data show that food insecurity rates have increased almost three times over pre-COVID rates. In addition, with unemployment increasing daily and the closure of safety net programs and services, there became a need for creatively attending to the basic needs of individuals and families. SCO Family of Services (SCO), a large human service provider in New York City and Long Island, launched an innovative project with DoorDash during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and successfully got food into the homes of more than 1,900 families. This article discusses the practice innovation, project impact, lessons learned, and social work implications.