How much food should an individual be able to receive at a food pantry? It drives me bananas that this question is controversial. Everyone deserves to eat, but answers usually focus on the deservingness or need of the shopper rather than their humanity.
Everyone deserves as much food as they need to thrive. However, most food pantries can’t realistically offer this.
There are very real and reasonable constraints to the amount of food pantries can provide their community that have nothing to do with the worthiness of their clientele. It’s quite a challenge to find the balance between nourishing your neighbors and maintaining a reliable food supply.
There’s no easy answer, but here are some factors for pantries to consider when setting their limits on food:
- How often can shoppers visit? Ideally, they should be able to get enough food to last them until their next eligible visit. If your pantry allows shoppers once a week, aim for 7 days’ worth of food. If your pantry only allows visits once a month, aim for a much higher amount. One of my past pantries allowed our guests to shop for canned goods once a month, but could receive fresh produce, meat, dairy, and bread weekly. It ensured we kept our fresh products moving and also helped us stockpile higher demand items (like canned fruits and meats). Carefully consider the type of food your pantry has and how to ensure you have a healthy flow of FIFO.
- How do your community members get to your pantry? If your shoppers mostly walk or ride the bus, they’re going to be able to carry significantly less food than if they have a personal vehicle. If they can’t get much at once, let them come more often.
- What foods does your pantry have in abundance, and what are you chronically short of? Most pantries I’ve worked with always had too much bread, so consider increasing your limits. If you rarely get certain items, it makes sense to distribute them in lower quantities. But be careful not to hoard- because food sitting on your pantry shelves doesn’t help anyone experiencing hunger.
- Evaluate your hesitations for providing your shoppers with more food. Are they only based on your knowledge of your food supply, or are there other factors influencing your decision? It’s very rare that we don’t have value-based assumptions coloring how we distribute food, and it’s incredibly important to notice when they impact your work (and the food security of the people you serve).
What to do when a pantry runs out of food?
- Establish relationships with other local pantries. I’ve seen some pantries do a brilliant job of exchanging food and/or shoppers when one has too much or little of something. My first food access role managed three different pantries where I was able to shuffle food between them when one ran short or another had too much. Or instead of sharing food, refer shoppers to other pantries so they can still get food (but consider how accessible this is for people on foot, using public transportation, or with disabilities.)
- Keep an emergency supply that you only access when there’s nothing left. Train your volunteers not to touch it just when options are running low, but only when you have nothing else to offer. One of my pantries kept about 20 boxes packed with a selection of dry goods we could provide when we ran out of food (or when someone needed food outside of distribution hours). This does require having the space to store food, which is not available to all pantries.
- Grocery store gift cards. This is aspirational, but if you have extra funds, distributing a $20 gift card to your local grocery store can help someone get by a couple more days. “But what if they buy whatever they want?” Who cares? Our job as food pantry staff is to help people get the resources they need to survive, not manage how they use them. If you don’t want people to have that level of choice, you should serve hot food instead.
The opinions expressed here are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer.
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