Food Banking in the Deep South:
Profiles of Clients and Directors
Patricia A. Duffy
Marina Irimia-Vladu
Joseph J. Molnar
Auburn University
Suzie Cashwell, Western Kentucky University
John Bartkowski, Mississippi State University
1
Source: St. Cecelia Catholic Church, Iselin, New Jersey
2
Source: New Path Outreach, Tipp City, OH
3
Study Objectives
 Profile
of Food Pantry Directors, Alabama
and Mississippi
 Profile of Food Pantry Clients, East
Alabama area
4
Some Questions of Interest
 Do
food pantry clients feel stigmatized by
use of food pantry?
 Why are people using food pantries?
 Are food pantries a short-term or a longterm form of aid?
 Are directors sympathetic or judgmental?
 Are food pantries preferred to food stamps
by the people who use them?
5
Data Sources
 2002
mail survey sent to 500 food pantry
directors in Alabama and Mississippi.
From each state 250 food pantries were
randomly selected. 235 usable surveys
returned, 50 undeliverable.
 1999 face to face interviews with food
pantry clients in East Alabama. 10 clients
from each of 6 metro-area and 6 nonmetro area pantries selected. 96
completed surveys.
6
Director Profile Questions

Are they secular or religious in nature?
 What types of local community agencies
are affiliated with food banks in the
Alabama-Mississippi area?
 What are their organizational
characteristics and what populations do
they serve?
7
Director Profile Questions
 What
types of people lead such
agencies?
 Are food agency directors predominantly
white or African American, male or
female?
 How educated are they?
 What is their household income?
8
Director Profile Questions
 What
social welfare attitudes are
manifested by food agency directors?
 What do pantry directors think about
their clients?
9
Pantry Profiles
75% church sponsored or
religious-linked organizations
10
Service Area
22%
15%
Rural
Mid-Sized
MSA
63%
11
Director Profiles
64% female
36% male
12
Director Profiles
63% Caucasian
37% African American
13
Director Profiles
21%
44%
High School or
less
Some College
College Grad
35%
EDUCATION
14
Director Profiles
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Never
Occasionally
A few times a month
Once per week or
more
CHURCH ATTENDANCE
15
Director Profiles
27%
31%
Below $30,000
$30,000-$60,000
Above $60,000
42%
Household Income
16
Photo Source: Montgomery Area Food Bank
17
Director Profiles—Attitudes
Directors were asked a series of questions
dealing with their attitudes about poverty in
general and food pantry clients in
particular.
18
Directors’ Attitudes about Poverty.
Strongly Agree Unsure Disagree Strongly
No
Agree
Disagree Response
pct
pct
pct
pct
pct
pct
1 Poverty is caused by prejudice and
discrimination against minority and
individuals
3
12
14
42
25
4
2 Poverty is caused by the failure of
society to provide good schools for
many Americans
4
20
15
44
15
3
3
23
9
42
20
3
4 Poverty is caused by loose morals
and drunkenness.
2
9
6
41
40
2
5 Generally speaking, we are spending
too little money on welfare.
8
19
24
35
12
2
3 Poverty is caused by lack of ability
and talent among poor people.
N=235
19
Directors’ Attitudes About Food Pantry Use
Strongly
Agree
Agree Unsure Disagree Strongly
No
Disagree Response
pct
pct
pct
pct
pct
pct
1 There are too many people
using food pantries that
should be working.
12
21
17
37
12
2
2 Many people getting food
are not honest about their
needs.
12
37
18
28
3
3
9
43
11
29
6
2
4 People who use food
pantries are just having bad
luck.
0
18
17
45
16
4
5 Most people who use food
pantries and who are able to
work are trying to find jobs.
9
51
18
18
3
3
6 Food pantry use is caused by
low wages in some
businesses and industries.
12
55
15
2
5
3 Food pantry use is often
caused by the sickness and
physical handicaps of poor
people.
N=235
12
20
Overview
The typical food pantry director is
a well-educated white woman with
a medium household income. She
does not have strong opinions about
the causes of poverty, does not think
we spend too little on welfare, and
may harbor some suspicions about
the honesty of some clients.
21
Food Pantry Clients
 Who
are they?
 Why do they use a pantry?
 Are they satisfied with pantry services?
 What government programs do they use?
 What hardships do they face?
 Are rural and metro-area clients different?
22
The Study Area
Agencies of the East Alabama Food Bank are
found in Lee, Macon, Chambers, Tallapoosa,
Bullock, Randolph, and Russell Counties, with
the greatest concentration of member agencies
in Lee County. The urbanized portion of Lee
County, where the East Alabama Food Bank is
located, has two neighboring cities (Auburn and
Opelika) with combined populations of over 50
thousand people. Ten out of twelve pantries
were associated with churches or religious
groups.
23
Interviews
Six metro area (Auburn-Opelika) and six
non-metro area pantries were selected
via probability in proportion to size.
We selected 10 clients from each agency
for face to face interviews. We were able
to complete 96 interviews. The remainder
were no-shows or refusals. Most interviews
were conducted at the pantry site.
24
Differences in Clients
Very few responses were statistically
different across metro, non-metro
clients. In the paper, responses
for each sub-group are reported, as
well as the overall response pattern.
25
East Alabama Clients Are:
 Women
(89%)
 Poor (85% have family incomes below
$20,000)
 Of diverse ages
 Often poorly educated (43% did not finish
high school)
 Frequently African American (61%)
 Likely to be single parents (59%)
26
37% of directors reported being African American,
compared to 61% of EAFB clients interviewed.
Photo Source: America's Second Harvest
27
Employment Characteristics







35 % disabled
8% retired
19% working full-time
8% working part time
13% homemakers
14% unemployed
2% students
28
Hardships
Within the past 12 months have you
had to choose between paying rent or
mortgage and buying food?
Sometimes
Often
Never
pct
32
6
62
Within the past 12 months, have you
had to choose between paying for
utilities and buying food?
Sometimes
Often
Never
38
11
51
Within the past 12 months, have you
had to choose between paying for
medicine and buying food?
Sometimes
Often
Never
23
6
71
29
Food Hardships
pct
I worried whether food would run Never true
out before I got money to buy
Sometimes true
more.
Often true
31
58
11
Do you ever run out of money to Never
Sometimes
purchase food?
Often
21
45
34
Do you have enough of the kinds Yes
of food you want to eat?
Yes, but not always the
kinds we want
Sometimes not enough
Often not enough
25
55
14
6
30
Food Hardships
In the last 12 months:
pct
Did you ever go to someone’s
home for a meal because you
were out of food?
Never
Sometimes
Often
63
31
6
Did you ever send your child to
someone’s home for a meal
because you were out of food?
Never
Sometimes
Often
80
17
3
Did you ever cut the size of your Never
meals or skip meals because there Sometimes
wasn’t enough money for food?
Often
54
33
13
Did you not eat for a whole day
because there wasn’t enough
money for food?
Never
Sometimes
Often
80
15
5
Did you ever cut the size of the
children’s meals because there
wasn’t enough money for food?
Never
Sometimes
89
11
Did any of the children ever skip a Never
meal because there wasn’t enough Sometimes
money for food?
98
2
Never
Did your child/children ever not
eat for a whole day because there
wasn’t enough money for food?
100
31
Government Programs
pct
Food Stamps
35
TANF
4
Free or reduced-cost meals for the
elderly
6
Reduced-cost meals at school
41
Free or reduced-cost food at a day care
or Head Start program
8
Food through the WIC program
20
SSI benefits
43
Medicare
32
Medicaid
47
32
Food Stamps
Only 35% of respondents used food
stamps. Follow-up questions explored
why 65% of respondents did not use
stamps. We also asked food stamp
recipients about their stamps.
33
Exploring Non-Use of Stamps
 11
respondents had stamps stopped in
previous year; 4 had income increases, 1
chose to stop, the rest gave no reason.
 21 respondents had applied for stamps;
half had been rejected, the rest were
waiting to hear.
 A few respondents reported that applying
for stamps was not worth the trouble.
34
Experiences with Stamps
 19
of the 33 food stamp recipients had
used stamps for more than 2 years.
 About half received less than $100 per
month.
 Most said the food stamps did not last all
month.
 17 of the 33 reported having their benefits
cut in previous year (1998-1999).
35
Food Pantry Use
pct
How often can you receive food
at the pantry?
Weekly
Monthly
Less Often
Not told
Other
19
33
16
19
13
How often do you get food from Once a week
the food pantry?
Once a month
Every now and then
9
27
64
How long have you been
Less than 1 month
receiving food (or food
1-3 months
assistance) from this food pantry? 4-6 months
7-9 months
10-12 months
More than 12 months
7
16
12
4
17
44
Do you think you will have to
come to this pantry to get food
three months from now?
Yes
I hope not
No
Have you received food from
Yes
more than one food pantry in the No
last 12 months?
57
23
20
27
73
36
Food Pantry Satisfaction
pct
How satisfied are you with the quality Very satisfied
of food provided by the food pantry? Satisfied
Somewhat satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
48
35
14
2
1
Very satisfied
How satisfied are you with the
amount of food provided by the food Satisfied
Somewhat satisfied
pantry?
Dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
40
40
15
4
1
How satisfied are you with the variety Very satisfied
Satisfied
of food that is available to you?
Somewhat satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
36
43
19
1
1
37
Food Pantry Satisfaction
Is it hard for you to find
transportation to get to the site?
Sometimes
Always
Other
Never
22
5
3
70
When you come to the pantry, are
you treated with respect?
Some of the time
Most of the time
All of the time
1
4
95
I feel like I am being judged because
of my situation every time I go to the
food pantry.
Strongly agree
Agree
Undecided
Disagree
Strongly disagree
1
5
6
54
34
If you could get as much food at a
food pantry as you get with food
stamps, would you prefer to use the
food pantry?
Food Stamps
Food Pantry
59
41
38
Significant Metro/Non-Metro
Differences

About the same percentage (28%) of metro
and non-metro respondents work for wages,
but the non-metro respondents are more
likely to work full time.
 Non-metro respondents were more likely to
get SSI (52% versus 34%).
 Non-metro respondents report being able to
get food at the pantry more often.
 Metro area respondents more likely to run
out of food.
39
Significant Metro/Non-Metro
Differences

Non-metro respondents more likely to have
used pantry more than one-year (61% versus
28%).
 Non-metro area has larger group of older
clients.
 Non-metro respondents more likely to
“strongly disagree” that they feel judged.
 Non-metro respondents would prefer food
pantry to food stamps (51% compared to
29% of metro respondents.)
40
Long-Term Clients
 What
factors raise the likelihood of being a
long-term client?
 Logit model
 Dependent variable, 1 if used pantry a
year or longer, 0 otherwise.
41
Model Results
Variable
Constant
Run out of food often
Dummy for low education (less than
GED or high school diploma)
Family size
Rural
Single parent
Race-white
-1.058
0.48
Standard
error
0.703
0.522
Marginal
Effect
-0.258
0.117
0.515
0.035
1.783**
-0.226
-1.539**
0.477
0.124
0.518
0.493
0.559
0.125
0.008
0.435**
-0.055
-0.376**
Coefficient
Standard error
0.169
0.127
0.116
0.030
0.126
0.120
0.136
** Significant at .01 level
Rural, African-Americans are more
likely to be long-term clients.
42
Conclusions
 Churches
are highly involved in food
pantry activities in Alabama and
Mississippi
 Although directors may harbor some
suspicions about clients, the clients in East
Alabama felt they were treated with
respect.
 Clients tend to be low-income women,
raising children as a single parent.
43
Conclusions
 Directors
tend to be well-educated, highly
church-involved women of medium
household income.
 Disabilities, poor education, and other
problems may prevent some clients from
achieving food security without assistance.
 Only 35 percent of clients used food
stamps.
44
The Policy Picture
Food pantries in many areas are already
strained to meet demand. If demand
growth continues, especially with another
economic downturn, the private sector
probably will be unable to bridge the hunger
gap. Expansion of the TEFAP program (federal
program providing food to food banks) might
help, but if the government role expands,
food pantries could lose their flexibility.
45
The Policy Picture
In our study, we were unable to find out
why so few food pantry clients (35 percent)
were using food stamps. We did find that
some had applied and been refused, and
others said they were not eligible. Others
did not give a reason for not applying.
The growth of food banking leaves open the
question of whether our government policies
are providing a sufficient safety net.
46