Bon Appétit! A Process Evaluation of a Campus-Based Food Bank
The University of Ottawa Bon Appétit! food bank was established to protect students against food insecurity and hunger. The current study seeks to determine program outcomes through a review of services, initiatives, and activities offered to students. Surveys and semistructured interviews were used to collect information from the 3 levels of involvement: service recipients, program volunteers, and program coordinators. Results revealed adequate program satisfaction at all levels. However, insufficient communication of policy-related issues, poor dissemination of roles and responsibilities, and minimal documentation of best practices were also among the results found. Structural issues are discussed and recommendations are provided.
Diet Quality of Clients of a Soup Kitchen
This study discerned the impact of a meal donation on the total diet quality of clients of a soup kitchen. A total of 110 adults were selected randomly from a soup kitchen in Central Texas. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, food frequency questionnaire and a list of meal donations. Diet quality and food servings of the original diet, meal donation and total dietary intake were estimated via both the HEI-2010 and 2015 U.S. Dietary Guidelines. The soup kitchen provided a daily meal, which included fruit, cheese, egg, and bagel, but did not contain any vegetables or meat. Mean diet quality for their original diet was modest (HEI-2010 = 55.25). The extra meal donated by the soup kitchen increased the diet quality of the total diet by 10%, and added fat-soluble vitamins and essential minerals. Health professionals should support these soup kitchens, by volunteering and providing advice to the directors about the importance of offering a variety of healthy foods.
Household Food Insecurity and Hunger Among Families Using Food Banks
Over the past two decades, the demand for charitable food assistance has steadily grown, and a massive ad hoc system of food banks has become established in Canada. To assess the food insecurity and nutritional vulnerability of one subgroup of food bank users, interviews were conducted with a sample of 153 women in families using emergency food relief programs in Metropolitan Toronto. Ninety percent reported household incomes which were less than two-thirds of the ‘poverty line’, and 94% reported some degree of food insecurity over the previous 12 months. Seventy percent reported some level of absolute food deprivation, despite using food banks. The findings highlight the limited capacity of ad hoc, charitable food assistance programs to respond to problems of household food insecurity which arise in the context of severe and chronic poverty.RésuméAu cours des deux dernières décennies, la demande d’aide alimentaire auprès des organismes caritatifs n’a cessé d’augmenter et un important système de banques alimentaires s’est mis en place au Canada. Pour évaluer la précarité et la vulnérabilité alimentaires d’un sous-groupe d’usagers des banques alimentaires, on a interviewé un échantillon de 153 femmes dans des familles faisant appel aux programmes d’aide alimentaire d’urgence dans la région métropolitaine de Toronto. Quatre-vingt dix pour cent d’entre elles ont déclaré disposer d’un revenu représentant moins de deux tiers du revenu correspondant au « seuil de pauvreté », et 94 % d’entre elles ont déclaré avoir craint manquer de nourriture au cours des 12 mois précédents. Soixante dix pour cent ont déclaré un certain manque absolu de nourriture malgré leur recours aux banques alimentaires. Les résultats soulignent les capacités limitées des programmes d’aide alimentaire caritatifs pour répondre aux problèmes d’insécurité alimentaire vécue dans les foyers souffrant de pauvreté extrême et chronique.