'Nothing is going to change three months from now': A mixed methods characterization of food bank use in Greater Vancouver
| Autor: | Scott A. Lear, Eleanor Holmes, Darlene Seto, Jennifer L. Black, Amber A. Heckelman, Adeleke Fowokan, Hannah Wittman |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
Adult
Male Economic growth Canada Health (social science) Time Factors Service delivery framework Context (language use) Food Supply 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine History and Philosophy of Science Surveys and Questionnaires 11. Sustainability Affordable housing Humans 030212 general & internal medicine Poverty Community food security Aged 2. Zero hunger 030505 public health digestive oral and skin physiology 1. No poverty Capacity building Subsistence agriculture Focus Groups Middle Aged Chronic poverty 3. Good health Food Housing Female Business Food Assistance 0305 other medical science Food quality |
| Zdroj: | Social sciencemedicine (1982). 200 |
| ISSN: | 1873-5347 |
| Popis: | North American food bank use has risen dramatically since the 1980s, and over 850,000 Canadians were estimated to have visited a food bank monthly in 2015. Food banks serve multiple roles in communities, ranging from ‘emergency responses’ to individualized and short-term experiences of hunger, to ‘chronic’ supports as part of long-term subsistence strategies. This study used a mixed-methods design to examine the spectrum of food bank user experiences in a large urban context, as part of a community-based project aiming to envision a redesign of the food bank to contribute to broader community food security outcomes. Survey (n = 77) and focus group (n = 27) results suggested that participants widely viewed food banks as a long-term food-access strategy. Inadequate financial resources, steep increases in housing and food costs, and long-term health challenges emerged as the most prominent factors influencing food bank use. Participants commonly reported unmet food needs despite food bank use, limited agency over factors influencing access to sufficient food, and anticipated requiring food bank services in future. These findings contest global constructions of food banks as “emergency” food providers and support growing evidence that food banks are an insufficient response to chronic poverty, lack of affordable housing and insufficient social assistance rates underlying experiences of food insecurity. Participants envisioned changes to the food bank system to increase community food security including improved food quality and quantity (short-term), changes to service delivery and increased connections with health services (capacity building), and a greater role in poverty reduction advocacy (system redesign). |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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