Month: September 2023

“I might not see you again,” one client solemnly informed me the other day at our food pantry.

This sounds foreboding, but it’s a statement I hear somewhat regularly, and is cause for celebration. This shopper was telling me about his new job and how he hoped once he got his first paycheck, he might not need our food pantry services any longer.

One of the main concerns that people often voice about food pantries and emergency food assistance is that providing aid disincentivizes hard work. There’s an assumption that receiving any help facilitates laziness and exploitation (based on the faulty belief that poverty is a personal choice rather than systemic failure).

In my experience, this couldn’t be further from the truth.  My clients proudly tell me how long they managed to go without visiting a food pantry, whether it was weeks or months. They share with excitement when a household member gets a raise or a new job that empowers them to visit less or stop coming altogether. I hear gratitude for our services, but real enthusiasm in their voices at the prospect of no longer utilizing our help.

Food assistance has never been, and will never be, a disincentive to work.

Although the cost of food is ridiculously high, the other costs of living like healthcare and housing mandate that people have a source of income even when food is easily available. Providing food assistance does not encourage anyone to be lazy.

Why does this idea persist?

One of my regular clients works nights in the warehouse for a certain online global retailer, and they often come to the pantry after their shift and take a nap while waiting in line before we open. Sleeping at 9am in front of the food pantry may look lazy to some, which is why it’s so important we check all our biases at the door.

Food pantries tend to have awkward hours, based on the availability of volunteers rather than the times people experiencing hunger need access to food. Because volunteers are predominantly retirees, this may mean pantry hours are better suited to serving people who are un- or underemployed than full-time workers. My own pantry is open weekdays from 10am-2pm, which are legitimately difficult hours for someone working a full-time job, especially when you consider the long line that sometimes has clients waiting for up to an hour. Because of this scheduling challenge, pantries may self-select a clientele that is not working full time or a traditional work schedule, which can reinforce community biases that our services enable laziness.

Why Food Assistance Doesn’t Disincentivize Work:

Our food pantry will never have all the essentials for someone to comfortably feed themselves without doing their own shopping.

Pantries rarely have things like spices to make a meal taste good, and we’re chronically low on staples such as cooking oil, salt, and coffee. There are very few opportunities for a food pantry to completely free its’ clients from buying any food. Almost all food pantry clients must spend some money on food to make their diet palatable and healthy.

Even if our food pantry had exceptionally good food options, the high cost of living in our area demands other sources of income.

The Portland-Metro area has astronomically high housing costs, which means even people with full-time jobs may not be able to afford food after they’ve paid their rent and utility bills.

After food, the number one request for resources we get is for housing assistance. And tragically, options are limited. There’s often little I can do for a worried family besides making sure that they have as much food as I can give them. There is no scenario where I give them so much food that they can reduce their hours or quit their job.

If you, my reader, make enough money to cover your basic needs, why do you keep trying to do better?

My guess is you have goals, both monetary and professional, that you hope to achieve, and you know they require hard work, time, and dedication. Why does society think people who use food assistance are any different from you?  

Many of the assumptions we carry about people experiencing hunger are based on the premise that people living in poverty are fundamentally different- in their goals, their version of success, and the pathways they take to get there. While it’s important to appreciate the diversity of visions within our community, this concept of fundamental differences is used to justify the idea that our own success stems from hard work rather than systemic advantages.

Understanding and eradicating hunger starts with recognizing that people experiencing hunger want all the same things anyone does- safe, comfortable housing, delicious, nutritious meals, a healthy work-life balance, and the opportunity to treat themselves every once in a while. Calling out the myth that food assistance facilitates laziness helps us advance the real work to ending hunger- ensuring everyone has access to the same advantages and wins.

The opinions expressed here are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer.

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Hunger is an emotional subject. Any human who feels compassion and empathy should feel discomfort at the idea of another person going hungry. Unfortunately, the passion it carries also results in the development of policies fueled by this emotion rather than data and evidence.

American society has internalized assumptions about who is hungry and who deserves assistance, and too often these biases result in weak or ineffective policies that respond to feelings rather than reality. We see this prioritization of emotion over data at all levels, from local to federal policy.

Food pantries implement limits on food items so that no one can take too much, based on the assumption that people are greedy, selfish, and don’t know their own needs best. SNAP benefits have work requirements, reflecting the idea that people living in poverty are lazy and won’t work unless forced to. Anti-hunger resources for seniors and children far outweigh those for working adults, based on the idea that some populations have the power to extricate themselves from hunger while others are helpless against it.

These policies tell us far more about our own assumptions than they address the reality of the problem.

Although food banks and anti-hunger organizations are growing increasingly sophisticated in their advocacy efforts and focus on the root causes of hunger, and can utilize data to back it up, not all organizations have the capacity or access to the same level of expertise.

Food pantries often lack staff or volunteers with experience working with data, which means even if they collect relevant information, they may not fully understand what it means or how to use it to advance their efforts.

This is a huge opportunity lost, because as the implementers of on-the-ground anti-hunger efforts, food pantries have some of the greatest opportunities to influence how well their community eats.

As recipients of both federal and state funding and other donated resources, food pantries are obligated to collect a certain amount of information from the people they serve, including age, declarations that they meet income eligibility requirements, as well as recording how much food they distribute. Additional information collected varies based on country or state, coalition membership, and the pantry’s own interest in data.

Here are three things food pantries can prove immediately with the data they already collect:

Hunger rates are predictable.

Every year, our pantry sees a significant increase in clients from September through December. Without fail, the summer slump ends the moment school starts, peaks in November before Thanksgiving, and finally begins to slow down mid-January. Anti-hunger organizations should not be surprised to see these fluctuations throughout the year, and should plan accordingly. Rising inflation clearly correlates this year with increasing food insecurity. We have no excuse to be surprised by the increasing need, yet too many organizations are shocked and overwhelmed at the demand every holiday season.

This graph shows my pantry’s total client visits since April, 2022 (when we reopened as a grocery-style model). The jump in March, 2023, is due to the expiration of pandemic-era SNAP benefits. Using past trends, this graph makes predictions for the numbers we’ll receive this winter. (I’ll keep you updated on how accurately this plays out!)

Food pantry clients work.

Most food pantry households have at least one member who is employed. Although our society is eager to assume that people utilizing welfare seek to exploit the system, the employment status of pantry clients proves otherwise. Food pantry clients are eager for work, but they regularly struggle to access well-paying jobs (as non-food pantry clients also must recognize). Surveys and anecdotal evidence can quickly disprove the myth that people use food pantries to avoid employment.

People don’t take food they don’t need.

Everyone knows what foods they need to thrive. Recognizing this, there is increasing popularity in the grocery-style food pantry model, which allows clients to select the items they want rather than receive a prepacked selection. The implementation of this system has demonstrated that shoppers know what foods they will and will not use. Clients rarely take everything that is offered because they don’t want to take what they won’t use, contrary to popular assumptions. Assessing what foods people take and in what amounts provides ample evidence that clients know their own needs best and are not taking food they won’t eat.

This is only a short list of the assumptions that food pantries can dispel through data. With a commitment to evidence and interest in continuing education on the part of leadership, food pantries can use the information they already have to create effective, powerful policies that empower their shoppers rather than play out their biases.

The only way that we can effectively reduce hunger in our communities is through the development of policies that are based on reality rather than the assumptions in our gut.

The opinions expressed here are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer.

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