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New Brunswick’s Emergency Food System Pantry Profile
Ana Bonilla Martinez, Daniela Ortega, Reshma Parikh, Katarina Piasevoli,
and Abigail Thompson
Ralph W. Voorhees Public Service Fellows
2015
Introduction• Collaborative project of the Ralph W. Voorhees Public Service Fellows and Feeding New
Brunswick Network
• Objective is to learn about New Brunswick’s emergency food system and about: food availability, storage, distribution, organizational structure, challenges, non-food services, and collaboration
• Students • interviewed 14/19 food pantries
• interviewed and toured MCFOODS and the Community Food Bank of New Jersey • volunteered with 4 pantries • reviewed the literature on emergency food systems • researched government assistance programs that provide emergency food • explored innovative food pantries in the US
U.S. Emergency Food System• The emergency food system is comprised of food pantries, soup kitchens, and food banks • There has been increased reliance on this system since the early 1980s
o federal programs helped move excess food to food pantries
o demand increased within communities
▪ non-working and working poor
▪ Great Recession
• With the system’s expansion, people are rethinking how it works • What changes can improve food security?
• In what ways can technology help?
• How can the client experience be improved?
• What contributes to food pantry use or lack of it?
(Ohls & Saleem-Ismail, 2002; Martin et al., 2013).
Food Pantry Innovations Client Choice
! Increases client autonomy
! May reduce wasted food
! Point system encourages healthier choices
! Choice approaches include
○ supermarket style
○ table
○ inventory list
○ window
Technology
! Count number of people served
! Track food
! Prepare reports
! Clients select foods from home or pantry ! Recommend referral services
! Digital choice pantry: St. John Bread and Life Food Pantry in New York
○ touchscreen sign in
○ point system
○ client choice
○ access to educational material i.e. cooking, social services
The Study and Research Findings
• Overview of New Brunswick’s emergency feeding system
• Organizational structure
• Where and how pantries get food
• Types of foods pantries receive
• Foods pantries typically distribute
• Challenges
• Non-food services
• Ideas for the future
New Brunswick
• ~57,000 residents
• 50% identify as Hispanic/Latino
• 56% speak a language other than English at home
• ~40% are foreign born
• Median household income is $39,901
• 34% of residents are below the poverty level (Census, 2010)
New Brunswick’s Food Pantries• Religious institutions, non-profits service
providers, schools, and the Housing Authority host 19 food pantries • 6 “Large” food pantries
o TEFAP, SFPP and purchase
o CFBNJ, MCFOODS, food/cash donations
• 6 “Small” food pantries o MCFOODS & occasional donations
• 5 School food pantries o MCFOODS & occasional donations
• 2 Soup kitchens o Food pantry is not their primary focus o MCFOODS, CFBNJ and direct donations
Large Pantry Small Pantry School Pantry
Soup Kitchens
Emanuel Lutheran
Bayard Street Presbyterian
Church
Greater Brunswick
Charter
Ebenezer Baptist
Suydam Street Reformed Church
Deliverance Prayer Revival
Temple
Paul Robeson Elijah’s Promise
Salvation Army NB Housing Authority
Roosevelt
Christ Church Tabernacle Baptist Lord Stirling
St. Vincent de Paul
St. Alban’s Church New Brunswick Middle School
Five Loaves PRAB
Organizational Structure Coordinators, Volunteers, Clients, & Outreach
Pantry Operations• Pantry staff pick-up, unload, sort, store, and distribute food
• Pantries with TEFAP and SFPP have additional work • Coordinators
• At least 6 pantries have volunteer coordinators • At least 7 pantries have paid coordinators
• NB Housing Authority, PRAB, School Based Services, and the New Brunswick Charter School • Volunteers run and staff most pantries
• Run/help with core pantry activities, translation and food pickup or distribution/delivery • Training volunteers
• On-the-job training • CFBNJ training
• Challenges • Inconsistency with occasional and student volunteers • Clients as volunteers • Succession planning
Outreach
• A few pantries use the internet to share information
• Some clients do not have smart phones and rely on pre-paid phones for communication
• Some pantries are interested in physical local signage
4 websites include information for
pantry use such as the date & times
Five Loaves Food Pantry describes its
services and hours on a bilingual page
Who Uses Pantries • Depends on pantry requirements, hours, and location
• Client characteristics o Working poor and those who are unemployed
o Homeless
o Households with and without children
o Walk, use public transit, and drive to pantries
• Many clients speak Spanish and some pantry volunteers do not
o Bilingual adult volunteers
o New Brunswick High School Students
o Children of clients
o Most staff who interact with clients speak Spanish (PRAB and School Based Pantries)
• Pantry usage records depend on food sources which dictate how much information pantries collect and report to CFBNJ
• Some residents who are food insecure do not use pantries
Who Does and Does Not Use Pantries
Where and How New Brunswick’s
Pantries Get Food
Federal Food ProgramsThe Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)
! TEFAP (1981) is a federal commodity food program that provides 70 different kinds of food ! Recipients live in households with income below 185% of the federal poverty line and fill
out a signature sheet each time they receive food ! The USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service administers TEFAP; the NJ Department of Agriculture
administers it in NJ with the help of 6 EFOs and LDAs that follow strict guidelines Community Supplemental Food Program ! Provides commodity boxed food for low-income adults 60 years or older (USDA, 2015)
! Products include nonfat dry/fluid milk, juice, farina, oats, cereal, rice, pasta, peanut butter, dried beans, canned meat/poultry/fish, canned fruits and vegetables
! The NJ Department of Health and Senior Services oversees the program
Cabili, 2013
State Food Purchase Program (SFPP)
! SFPP (2007) provides funds for the purchase of healthy, nutritious foods for low-income NJ residents
! An average of 8.5 million pounds of food were purchased between 2009-2015 ! The New Jersey Department of Agriculture administers the program through contracts with 6
EFOs that distribute to local agencies
! New Brunswick receives SFPP products from the Community FoodBank of New Jersey ! Recipients show proof that they and each person in their household live in NJ
Food Banks Serving New Brunswick Pantries
Where Pantries Get Food
• 6 receive TEFAP, SFPP from CFBNJ
• All receive food from MCFOODS
• 7 purchase food from CFBNJ, Co-op list, or big box stores
• 8 receive direct donations • ood drives
• Donations from businesses
• Cash donations
Facilities and Food Storage
• Storage space affects o how much food
o what kinds of food
o donation acceptance
o whether pantries can expand
• Nearly all want more space now and for future expansion
o Lack space for
▪ dry food
▪ refrigeration or freezer
• School pantries are the most limited
Pantry storage
▪ 9 at least have 1 household refrigerator ▪ 3 have only a household refrigerator ▪ Large pantries have 3 or more
refrigeration units
Types of Food Pantries Receive
Perishable and Non-Perishable Products Non-perishable Products Perishable Products (CFBNJ or MCFOODS)
Canned Fruits/Vegetables
Protein Grains Other Refrigerated Frozen
Vegetables Canned meat
Pasta Sauce Fresh Vegetables Chicken & Turkey
Fruit Canned fish
Canned pasta
Jelly Fruit Red Meat & Pork
Applesauce Peanut butter
Cereal Milk (shelf-stable)
Milk & Eggs Fish
Cranberry Jelly Soup Rice Yogurt & Cheese Frozen vegetables
Beans Prepared foods Frozen Blueberries, Frozen Cherries
Challenges to Perishable Products
• Some mismatches between the type of produce received and the type of produce people take • Some pantries offer taste tests to encourage people to try foods that are new to them
• Some of the produce is very ripe • Pantries only take produce they can distribute quickly • Pantry hours may not coincide with CFBNJ/MCFOODS produce distribution days • Pantries discard some produce because it is overly ripe
• Few pantries have enough freezer space to hold frozen products which they receive sporadically depending on their food supply sources
Food Distributed at a Typical Pick-up
Non-client Choice! Many pantries follow nutritional guidelines and include a variety of products in the bags
! A few pantries adjust for dietary restrictions (health or religious)
! St. Vincent de Paul menus bags at the beginning of the month which is determined by food donations, federal and state food allotments, and purchases
What’s in the Bags?Christ Church (once a month)
September 2015
1 box cereal 1 box pasta 1 pkg rice 1 odd ball or snack 1 can/pouch vegetables 1 can fruit 1 can tuna fish (until gone), then 1 jar peanut butter 1 can spaghetti & meatballs 1 box milk 1 can beans 1 pkg mac & cheese bread/cherries frozen or dried 1-2 people get eggs or small pork product 4+ people get large chicken quarters/whole chicken
St. Vincent de Paul (once a week) November 7, 2015
1 box cereal 1 box pasta 1 pkg rice 1 snack (granola bars) 1 pouch/can of corn 1 can applesauce 1 jar peanut butter 1 pouch of tomato sauce 1 jar jelly 1 jar nutella bread until gone choice of fresh products until gone: soup, salsa, hummus, fruit, & more
Client Choice
• Paul Robeson School Pantry
• Greater Brunswick Charter School
• Bayard Street Presbyterian
• Five Loaves o Adopted from Crisis Ministry pantry o Point allocation o Nutritional guidelines
Hesitation to use Client Choice
! Lack space to store food and allow people to shop
! Would need to expand hours and increase number of volunteers
! Ability to maintain a diverse supply of food through the month and equitable distribution
Food and Health • Most directors think about the connection between food and health
o Diabetes, high blood pressure, gluten
• They face challenges in providing healthier groceries o They are dependent on the food they receive from the food banks, what they can buy through CFBNJ
and what they receive through donations
o It is hard to store fresh ripe and frozen produce and they often have to distribute it quickly
• Client preference o Clients may not know or want “healthy” foods like whole wheat pasta o Pantries offer tastings to teach people about new foods
Clients Return! Canilla Rice ! Vienna sausage ! Mazola corn oil ! Black Beans (Fresh/dry) ! Red Beans (Fresh/dry) ! Any type of cereals ! Maseca (to make corn
tortilla) ! Flour Tortilla Mix ! Cake mixes ! Corn Meal (Goya) ! Goya Recaito ! Goya Sofrito ! Goya Adobo ! Spaghetti and Sauce ! Goya Sazon ! Knorr Sazon
! Yams, cranberry sauce, and pumpkins in cans
! Grits ! Brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, tri-colored
pasta ! Dates ! Sparkling water ! Frozen blueberries ! Unfamiliar soups (cream of broccoli) ! Ethnic foods such as Thai Rice ! Garbanzo beans ! Instant mashed potatoes ! Condiments such as spicy mayonnaise and
certain salad dressings ! Yogurt
! Garlic Powder ! Garlic Minced ! Garlic Paste ! Cup of Noodles ! Soda Crackers ! Canned Refried Black or
Red Beans ! Applesauce Cups ! Spam Ham ! Oatmeal (avena) ! Any Spanish Coffee ! Oil and Vinegar ! Canned corn ! Canned carrots/peas ! Maggi Soups ! Mac n Cheese
Clients Want
Emergency Food System Challenges
Challenges• Product Availability
• Regular availability of culturally appropriate healthy food • Dietary needs and preferences
• i.e. vegetarian, vegan, religion, diabetes, gluten free, high blood pressure • Consistent product availability including staple foods
• dried pinto beans, black beans, rice, cereal, and pasta • MCFOODS: meat and frozen vegetables
• Some pantries purchase from CFBNJ or big box stores to supplement donations • Rationing • Spoiled/expired foods • Facility limitations
• Storage and capacity complicate the problems of availability and rationing • Many steps into some pantries which makes it hard to move heavy food and tough for some clients • Not all pantries are located where people who need food live
Non-food Services
Source: Holy Shirt Thrift Shop, New Brunswick, NJ: Facebook
Non-food Services and Items • 12 pantries offer non-food services
o 8 pantries are affiliated with service providers o 4 pantries affiliated with religious institutions offer other services
▪ Of these 12, 4 offer rent or utility assistance
• 7 Pantries offer clothing donations • 7 Pantries receive diaper donations
o 5 occasionally have them o 2 participate in a new diaper program with CFBNJ
• 9 Pantries distribute hygiene products o From direct donations, MCFOODS, or from shopping list at CFBNJ
• Case management & social workers o Christ Church and Five Loaves have interns from the Rutgers School of Social Work o All school food pantries have case management
Ideas for the Future
Ideas for the Future
Increasing Uniformity
• Create an FNBN logo for window decals and signs to show pantry locations
• Identify the food in common pantry bags and work with nutritionists at Rutgers and chefs, maybe at Elijah’s Promise, to create appealing healthy meals and cooking demonstrations
• Create FNBN best practices for food donations • Some pantries would like to share a vehicle
Collaboration With Residents
➔ Work with residents to document
how they use pantry foods and to share their recipes
➔ Ask them about their favorite items
➔ Make a cookbook
Ideas for the Future
General Improvements
• Think of ways to engage clients in pantry governance
• Introduce reusable bags
• Identify grants or resources to make physical improvements to the pantries
CFBNJ Involvement
Some pantries buy from the CFBNJ Co-op list and would like a better variety of nutritionally
dense foods
Some pantries would like more consistent service at CFBNJ
AcknowledgementsJennifer Apostol, MCFOODS Miklos Bognar, PRAB
Ana Calderon, Friends of Greater Brunswick Charter School
Anthony Capece, Elijah’s Promise
Julienne R. Cherry, Community FoodBank of New Jersey Sarah Dixon, New Brunswick Community Farmers Market
Vanessa L. Dunzik, Emanuel Lutheran Food Pantry
Carole Forsythe, Christ Church Episcopal Food Pantry
Gwen Greenberg, Christ Church Food Pantry
Nellie Hampton, Deliverance Prayer Revival Tabernacle Karen A. Hartman, Rutgers University Libraries
Keith Jones, City of New Brunswick, New Brunswick Community Food Alliance
Walter Mulyk, Society of St. Vincent De Paul
Margaret Papai, Bayard Street Presbyterian Church Louie Rolon, Ebenezer Baptist Church
Hayzel Soto, Paul Robeson Food Pantry
Katherine Velez, NB School Based Youth Services Roosevelt School & Lord
Stirling
Catherine Verduci, Five Loaves Food Pantry at Second Reformed Church
Many thanks to Deborah Plotnik for helping to schedule interviews