02-01-2013, 11:10 AM
How to Run a Food Pantry
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Introduction
Food insecurity and hunger are very real problems in the United States. Though the U.S. has long
been among the richest nations in the world, our national poverty rate has never dropped below
10%. Of those individuals and families living above the poverty line, many can easily be plunged
into a financial crisis by a lost job, a medical emergency, a broken down car, a stolen purse, or
other unexpected expense or loss of income. In all, up to 70% of Americans are vulnerable to
food insecurity or hunger; and at any given moment, 30 to 40 million of us are either hungry or
only acquiring sufficient food by shortchanging another critical need.
Hunger hurts, it damages mental and physical health, it lowers performance in school and at
work, and the strain it causes can tear families apart. Hunger contributes to many social ills, from
domestic violence to drug use to theft - you may have once heard someone self-righteously claim
that they would never steal anything, only to have someone else counter with “...but what if your
family was hungry?”, causing the original speaker to sheepishly admit that in that instance they
might indeed resort to doing something desperate. Reducing the prevalence of hunger can cause a
ripple of positive changes throughout a community.
Whether they are called food pantries, shelves, closets, kitchens, or something completely
different, the thousands of charities that provide non-governmental food aid to the needy play a
critical role in our nation’s fight against hunger and poverty. This guide exists to help them in
their work.
What does ending hunger mean?
The work of food-related charities is based on the knowledge that hunger currently exists in our
society, and needs to be addressed now, regardless of the potential (or lack thereof) for a systemic
solution to the problem in the future. For our purposes, ending hunger in a given area means this:
“Whenever anyone in the area experiences a time of needing food assistance, they can
readily access timely, adequate, appropriate assistance sufficient to see them safely
through that time of need.”
It is difficult to predict the exact amount of non-governmental food aid that must be distributed in
a given area to achieve our goal, but to make an approximation, use the following formula:
Need = (number of people living at or below the poverty line) x 234 lbs. of food aid per year
So, in an area with 1,000 people living at or below the poverty line, it would take roughly
234,000 lbs. of non-governmental food aid distributed each year to meet the need. The number of
people living at or below the poverty line in your area may be found at the U.S. Census Bureau
website (www.census.gov).
The intimidating size of many of the numbers produced by the above formula may give you some
idea of why hunger is such a persistent problem. The good news is that most communities
already have the ability to meet the need - if they use their resources efficiently. The next chapter
will address the single biggest piece of that puzzle.
Finding Food
Charity food distribution programs are remarkably adaptable - some have buildings and paid
staff, some have one but not the other, and some thrive without either. The need for food,
however, is inexorable, and the limits of an organization’s food supply often define the scope of
its operations.
There are four primary sources of food for charity organizations:
Food Drives
Soliciting individual donations (often in the form of canned goods) is a traditional standby of
charity food programs. Unfortunately, most items donated to food drives are/were purchased
from a store at full retail price, placing the cost of sustainably securing enough food to meet the
need well beyond the means of most communities. Food drives also tend to be a poor source of
important perishable foods, like fresh fruits and vegetables.
Food Rescue
Some charities build relationships with local businesses, like restaurants, who then donate their
edible leftovers. This food tends to have a very short shelf life, making it most suitable for
programs that can immediately turn around and serve it to their clients, like soup kitchens and
shelters.
While food saved through food rescue is generally free in and of itself, the logistics of regularly
picking up and properly handling product (maintaining it at safe temperatures, etc.) from many
sources at odd hours tends to make large-scale food rescue impractical for most organizations.
Purchasing
Many charities raise money with which to purchase food. This has several advantages:
1. Purchasing can lead to economies of scale, as buying in bulk is often less expensive.
2. The charity’s supporters, having made their donations in an easily documentable
fashion, can receive tax benefits, which reduces the cost to the community.
3. The charity has more control over what food it receives, and when.
However, even at bulk food prices, purchasing by itself will not usually yield enough food to
meet the need in a community on a sustainable basis.
Food Banks
Food banking is rather like food rescue, but on a much larger scale. Food Banks (and America’s
Second Harvest, their national association) are nonprofit organizations that deal primarily with
food manufacturers and distributors, gleaning product in quantities that would overwhelm most
individual charities. Food Banks then offer the goods they have rescued to local hunger related
charities, charging only a small per-pound shared maintenance fee.
From the perspective of a food pantry or other charity, using a Food Bank is a lot like purchasing,
with the key differences being that a Food Bank’s inventory changes more quickly than that of a
grocery store, and that Food Bank food costs considerably less.
Financial donations used towards acquiring Food Bank food are eligible for the same tax benefits
as those made towards purchasing food commercially, and some states offer additional Food
Bank related tax benefits. (See Appendix 3 for details.)
Conclusion
To develop a food supply adequate to meet the need in their communities in a cost-effective
manner, most charities should acquire at least 3/4 of their food through their local Food Bank,
with the remainder coming from either small-scale food rescue or the targeted purchasing (either
directly or through food drives) of specific items frequently requested by clients which the Food
Bank does not regularly offer.