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Sixty-two percent of food pantries are run by faith-based organizations. Urban food bank consumers from 74 households were surveyed in a pilot study to better understand the kitchen resources (e.g., supplies used to store, prepare, and cook food), and other barriers that may prevent food bank consumers from eating the food they received from a food bank. Findings from this research reveal that a notable percentage of food pantry consumers do not have essential home kitchen resources such as a freezer, sharp knives, can opener, electricity in the kitchen, running water in the kitchen, plates, or bowls. Nearly one third of respondents indicated they had received food from a food pantry that no one in their household ate for a variety of reasons. Uneaten food was most commonly given to friends and family members. For Christian social workers, NASW's ethical mandates to assist people in meeting their basic human needs are accentuated by biblical teachings that call Christians to alleviate the suffering of people who are hungry and poor. This research adds to the limited existing evidence on strategies social workers can use when designing food pantry delivery programs.
Present in 12.7 % of all U.S. households and over 16% of households with children, food insecurity (defined as the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food), disproportionately impacts African American, Hispanic, and singleparent households (USDA, 2015). Given this ongoing deprivation, new ways of examining food insecurity should be considered. This paper reviews the use of food pantries as an intervention to assist individuals struggling with food insecurity and investigates potential barriers that may obstruct the goal of reducing hunger and food insecurity among food pantry consumers, such as not having adequate home kitchen resources (i.e., running water, can opener, bowls). Given that nearly two-thirds of all food pantries are run by faith-based organizations Christian social workers may find these results useful in designing food pantry services (Weinfield et al., 2014).
Literature Review
Food Insecurity
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines households that are food secure as those that "have access at all times to sufficient, safe and nutritious food" (United States Department of Agriculture, 2014). Conversely, households are considered food insecure if they experience three...