Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Today, nearly 50 million Americans receive emergency food assistance from community-based organizations. In the fact there is evidence that nonprofit food assistance programs compose more than half of all 501(c)(3) public charities in the United States (Paynter and Berner, 2014). Despite the importance of local emergency food programs, relatively little is known about the organizational characteristics or spatial context of emergency food providers. Moreover, little is known about whether access to emergency food programs is related to receipt of food assistance. Using unique survey data of food pantries linked to a panel household survey in metropolitan Detroit conducted in the years following the Great Recession (Michigan Recession and Recovery Study, or MRRS), this paper examines questions about the provision and receipt of emergency food assistance. First, how do food pantries differ by structure and capacity? How are organizational characteristics associated with location and caseload characteristics? When controlling for household characteristics, how is the presence and availability of food pantries associated with receipt of emergency food assistance? Answers to these questions will help fill important gaps in the literature around urban inequality and poverty.

Emergency food assistance programs serve as a key resource for many food insecure persons. The complexity of these programs, however, is not well studied. Despite the prevalence of food pantries, there is relatively little work that seeks to understand how these organizations operate. Our unique survey data of 263 local food pantries in metro Detroit gathered from 2012 to 2013 begins to explore the organizational and contextual setting of emergency food programs. Of significant importance for researchers, we find first that nearly half of all emergency food programs listed in community directories were either not operational at the time of the survey or did not provide emergency food assistance. Second, we find emergency food programs to be quite heterogeneous. For example, we find that ninety-one percent of agencies surveyed provide groceries while only 27.5% have meal programs. Also, 75.8% of agencies provide non-food related benefits such as help with housing or counseling services. Preliminary multivariate findings also suggest that geographic location is closely associated to capacity – with suburban food pantries lagging those in the City of Detroit in size and diversity of programming.

We find that Detroit residents with income below the federal poverty line have nearly 50 percent greater access to food pantries than suburban residents and non-poor households. Despite differences in access, we do not find consistent evidence in our preliminary analyses that spatial proximity to food pantries alone is associated with household food pantry receipt. Overall, this paper provides insight into the current state of emergency food assistance providers and provides a better understanding of their organizational structure and service capacity. These findings will help fill important gaps in the sociological literature around food policy, urban inequality, and poverty.