Month: March 2026

Fostering Growth in Food Pantries

I started working at my first food pantry in 2014, and have now managed four different ones. Each pantry in the time I was there doubled their clientele, and two saw a quadrupling in client numbers over 2-3 years.

While I like to believe that the increase in the early days of my career was because I helped these pantries build a reputation for respectful, compassionate, and abundant service, the 2020s increases in pantry visits reflect national trends. Food insecurity numbers remain high, and food justice experts anticipate that they will stay so as we face inflation, an oil crisis, and economic insecurity.

This means that food pantries will likely see increasing visits from new and returning clients. Although many pantries have little control over what or how much food they receive, that doesn’t mean that they still can’t prepare for higher visitor numbers. There are lots of other steps we can take to facilitate the shopping experience as our community needs evolve.

It’s important to remember that efficiency is not the goal of emergency food assistance programs- it’s the comfort, dignity, and accessibility of food assistance. Efficiency is not a component of food justice.

Preparing for growth:

  • What are the limitations for serving more shoppers at once? Is it just the quantity of food, or is it also the check-in system, or number of shopping carts, or a narrow doorway or a bottleneck at the meat freezer? What changes can you make to increase the number of people who can navigate your space at the same time?

It’s easy to convince ourselves that we can’t change our facilities, but there are often little adjustments that can make big differences. Spread out your tables or coolers so there’s more room to go around them, or offer the same food options in multiple locations.

  • What is your volunteer capacity? It’s important to consider what pace and responsibilities your volunteers can handle, and not just how many you have. You probably have a volunteer or two who refuses to rush no matter what, which means they may not be an ideal volunteer for managing check-in on a busy day.

Are your volunteers energized and excited about a busy day, or are their attitudes lackluster? Perhaps now is the time to start recruiting and training higher-energy volunteers able to manage busier shopping days. This often starts with the energy and enthusiasm that staff bring to their roles, which brings me to my next point…

  • How can you support staff? I know most food pantries don’t have the resources to offer significant raises, but it’s important you recognize that more shoppers means more work. I once had a manager who absolutely refused to acknowledge that our staff was working harder since we were still working the same number of hours, even though we were serving twice as many households in the same amount of time. Guess how many of us still work there?

This field is already prone to burnout, so think ahead about what you can do to keep staff feeling positive and supported. Can you offer extra PTO, be flexible on work hours, or make a genuine effort to listen to staff suggestions of what they need?

  • Make it easy for new shoppers, or those who haven’t visited in a while. It’s incredibly intimidating to visit a food pantry, and even more so if you can’t figure out what you need to do. List on your website and on signage outside your doors exactly what information you need from shoppers and how the shopping process works. This will help streamline and simplify your new shopper orientation.
  • Coordinate with other local pantries. Prepare resource lists to share with shoppers in case your pantry can’t provide what they need. See if you can alternate dates with other pantries so that there’s always an option in your neighborhood to access food.

Schedule a pizza party or event with staff from other pantries- it’s important to remember they are allies rather than competitors. How can you coordinate to ensure your community members have access to all the nourishment they need?

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

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Addressing Mission Creep in Food Justice

I once worked at a major food bank during a transition that saw the nonprofit gently pivoting away from direct volunteer service towards more advocacy and community organizing. With this change, the food bank faced intense accusations of mission creep from volunteers, donors, and even staff who believed that food banks should focus on distributing food instead of advocacy. Even though our mission statement clearly expressed the intent to fight hunger rather than just distribute food, the change in tactics triggered significant opposition.

Every anti-hunger nonprofit I’ve ever worked for has at some point been accused of “mission creep.”

This is the idea that the organization’s focus or goals are expanding beyond its stated intentions or responsibilities. In my experience, any time a food justice organization reorganizes or evolves their strategy, they will face accusations of mission creep.

The greatest barrier we face to eliminating hunger is our collective assumptions and biases against people experiencing hunger. While the field had evolved significantly in recent decades, there is still significant resistance to prioritizing the dignity, respect, and autonomy of people experiencing hunger (over the distribution of food with the attitude of “be grateful for what you can get”). Mission creep is often weaponized to combat this shift in focus.

While there are organizations who may genuinely stray from their agendas, too often mission creep relates more to opposition of new strategies for fighting hunger.

The fear of being accused of losing focus can be an effective deterrent to innovation. It’s also a key concept that keeps nonprofits stuck addressing symptoms and not root causes. Food pantry leadership, fearful of such accusations, might continue to prioritize distributing food even when data shows convincing opportunities to reduce hunger through other avenues.

How food pantries can handle accusations of mission creep:

  • Consult your mission. You’re not restricted to just handing out food if your mission is to fight or end hunger, if you already have a strong understanding of root causes. It’s up to your Board of Directors to determine how big your scope is, but adding programs like anti-poverty advocacy, education on food justice and sovereignty, and supporting immigrants can all fall under the umbrella of fighting hunger. If your mission statement doesn’t give you enough guidance, you need a new mission statement.
  • Prepare to lose donors or volunteers, and gain others. I’ve met a number of food pantry volunteers who have been volunteering for decades, and feel very strongly that there’s nothing more important than direct service. While that’s an awesome attitude in a volunteer, it can also translate into strong opposition to change. Don’t adjust your long-term goals to accommodate one or two volunteers.

Previous Post: Food Pantries: Helping Shoppers Get Food Home

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

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No New Post this week!

Sorry, readers!

I wish I could do it but we just welcomed a new dog to the household, and he’s not ready to let me sit in the office and write just yet.

(Denver is a one and a half year old German Shepard Coonhound who was found as a stray, and while he’s clearly lived in a home before he has a long way to go before he is trustworthy in civilized company. He’s trying very hard to be a good boy, and we’re excited to welcome him to the family!)

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