Yes / This paper uses data from a city with a multi-ethnic, multi-faith population to better understand faith-based food aid. It aims to understand what constitutes faith-based responses to food insecurity; compare the prevalence and nature of faith-based food aid across different religions; and explore how community food aid meets the needs of a multi-ethnic, multi-faith population. Methodology The study involved two phases of primary research. In phase one, desk-based research and dialogue with stakeholders in local food security programmes was used to identify faith- based responses to food insecurity. Phase two consisted of 18 semi-structured interviews involving faith-based and secular charitable food aid organizations. Findings The paper illustrates the internal heterogeneity of faith-based food aid. Faith-based food aid is highly prevalent and the vast majority is Christian. Doctrine is a key motivation among Christian organizations for their provision of food. The fact that the clients at faith-based, particularly Christian, food aid did not reflect the local religious demographic is a cause for concern in light of the entry-barriers identified. This concern is heightened by the co-option of faith-based organizations by the state as part of the ‘Big Society’ agenda. Originality This is the first academic study in the UK to look at the faith-based arrangements of Christian and Muslim food aid providers, to set out what it means to provide faith-based food aid in the UK and to explore how faith-based food aid interacts with people of other religions and no religion.

The diploma thesis on the topic of Food Aid and Food Banks in the Fight Against Poverty in the Czech Republic endeavours to look into the issue of poverty and presents food aid and food banks in the Czech Republic as a possible tool in the fight against it. The aim of this work is to present the activities of the food banks in the Czech Republic, to describe their structure, to point out the significance of food aid, the importance of cooperation between the food banks and organizations that fight hunger and poverty, to give information about the European Union FEAD project and finally to present the management of a food bank. The first part of the work describes the basic issues, deals with poverty, concepts of poverty and measuring poverty, since these are directly linked to food aid and are connected with the idea of food banks. It zooms in on the concepts associated with poverty, such as material deprivation and social exclusion, and points to the fact that it is necessary to see poverty in the broader context and to focus on other dimensions of poverty, such as health, education, access to services and security. The second part of the work specifically deals with food aid and the food bank project. It focuses on the right to food as the right of all people to full observance of human rights in the area of food and nutrition, it defines human rights with a focus on social rights, including the legislative regulation of the right to food in international documents. This section also introduces the types and forms of food aid and global organizations fighting against hunger and poverty. The work deals with European food aid in more detail, it presents the activities of the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived, and also the Operational Programme of Food and Material Assistance in the Czech Republic. Special attention is given to food banks, their mission and goals, it focuses on the activities of the food banks in the Czech Republic, describes their structure, management and highlights the significance of food aid and the importance of cooperation between the food banks and organizations that fight hunger and poverty. This thesis brings comprehensive information on the issue of food aid and the food banks project in the fight against poverty and can contribute to an understanding of the importance of such assistance.

U.S. food banks emerged thirty years ago as part of a temporary, charitable food assistance safety net to address government welfare shortfalls. Over time their size and scope expanded significantly alongside growing food insecurity. As government entitlement programs continue to erode, the ensuing institutionalization of food banks secured their future. Yet scholars such as sociologist Janet Poppendieck argued over twenty years ago that these charitable programs inadvertently prevent the government from reassuming responsibility by providing the public the illusion of a solution despite their inability to adequately meet the need. This research argues that food bank advocacy can be used to reduce hunger and address its root cause—poverty. A case study analysis of the advocacy programs of the San Francisco-Marin and Alameda County Community Food Banks describes how their advocacy work, in practice, addresses both Poppendieck’s and contemporary food bank critiques. This analysis illustrates how both case study organizations built their advocacy programs on a foundation of public food program outreach—redirecting their clients to government programs—but now affect change through divergent approaches. San Francisco employs a top-down government system reform and technical assistance model. Alameda’s bottom-up social justice model reaches past food programs to broader anti-poverty advocacy. In the process, both food banks have positioned themselves as models for their peers and as bridges connecting food assistance scholarship to public policy and practice.

Food banks have become an institutionalized response to helping individuals and families gain access to food as wages have stagnated, employment becomes more precarious, and social entitlements have dramatically declined over the years. Food banks were supposed to be a temporary stop gap measure in response to the recession of 1980. Thirty-three years later, food banks have proliferated across Canada in assisting a growing population in need of their services. I present an analysis of how food bank suppliers use the concept of hunger in a fundraising campaign called Canstruction® to understand how it relates to people’s perception of this social problem in our society. This qualitative research study uses discourse analysis to unpack the solicitation discourse used at Canstruction® events held in Waterloo and Toronto, Ontario in 2014. I have collected data from three different groups: persons who designed and installed their artwork at the Canstruction® Toronto event; persons who volunteer at a food bank; and people who have food insecurity experience. The findings indicate a differentiated understanding of hunger within the solicitation discourse for each research group: Canstruction® participants, food bank volunteers, and persons with food insecurity experience. The Canstruction® participants’ absorption of the solicitation discourse produced a limited understanding about hunger in our society. The food bank volunteer group agreed with the solicitation discourse but their images of hunger illustrated deeper criticisms of the event and food bank system. The participant group with food insecurity experience expressed the greatest amount of criticism against the food bank’s solicitation discourse and their images of hunger reflected their psycho-social experience of living in poverty. Also, an overwhelming majority of research participants with food insecurity wanted a food bank system that was more responsive to their needs and that honoured human dignity. My study on the social construction of hunger portrayed by food banks highlights how this knowledge is reinforced, reproduced and challenged through a food drive that creates packaged food items into artwork and from images described by research participants. These insights have the potential to shift the discourse away from the branding of hunger as a matter of charity and move towards discussing its fundamental causes: poverty and social inequality. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

Little academic research has been conducted examining access to transportation by those in need. The small amount of research that has been done focuses primarily on mobility issues of the elderly and the disabled, despite findings that income level is an important determinant in access to transportation. The few studies that have examined access to transportation in relation to income simply cite the difficulties that those in poverty face when attempting to access vital resources as problematic, yet very few focus specifically on this issue. This thesis examines how free food recipients commute to and from local pantries, and whether public transportation in the Orlando metropolitan area adequately services food bank resources utilized by low income individuals. Physical location data as well as survey questionnaires were used to determine commuting patterns as well as the overall availability and utilization of transit options of Orlando‟s low income population. Findings from this study show that even though nearly 50% of respondents do not own a car, public transportation remains a last option, making the Orlando area heavily dependent on cars, even for those with no direct access to one. Despite low public transit ridership, it was found that the majority of food pantries in Orange County are adequately serviced by LYNX, while pantries in Seminole County suffer from a severe lack of services.

No description available.

Today’s world is characterised by considerable inconsistency. In some parts of the world people are living in starvation and malnutrition, while in some other parts of the same world, about 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted every year. We do not know enough about what contributes to food waste. However, there seems to be an emergent pattern of behaviour around sharing food. This hermeneutic phenomenological research will explore how food sharing might reduce food waste in a cultural and community-based society like Saudi Arabia through the lived experiences of restaurants and food bank employees. Research data were collected through a face-to-face semi-structured interview method from 15 participants from selected restaurants and food bank in Riyadh. Using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as the theoretical lens, a conceptual framework was proposed to elicit underlying behavioural and cultural factors impeding food waste reduction and the inefficiency of food sharing. Using Paul Colaizzi’s approach, the collected interview data were reviewed, analysed, and seventeen themes were elicited for further discussion. The findings suggest that culture through an affluent way of life and the show-off lifestyle of hosts continue to contribute to more food wastage. The strictly business nature of restaurants operation leads to edible food fit for human consumption ending up in the garbage. The revised conceptual framework provides insight into the factors hindering food waste reduction and food sharing. With supporting regulations and policies, food leftovers can either be distributed to people in need or put to an alternative use.

No description available.

Contexte : Au Canada, de nombreuses personnes issues de la migration sont confrontés à l’insécurité alimentaire (IA), une problématique préjudiciable à la qualité de l’alimentation. Un nombre croissant d’organismes de dépannage alimentaire incluent des programmes visant l’amélioration des compétences alimentaires. Toutefois, la relation entre l’IA et la qualité de l’alimentation des migrants demandeurs d’aide alimentaire et la potentielle modification d’effet par les compétences alimentaires ont été peu étudiés. Objectif : Examiner l’association entre le niveau d’IA, les compétences alimentaires et la qualité de l’alimentation chez les demandeurs d’aide alimentaire issus de la migration. Méthode : Les données sont extraites d’un sous-échantillon de la cohorte PARCOURS, constitué de nouveaux utilisateurs de banques alimentaires migrants au Québec (n=224) au recrutement. Les variables d’intérêt ont été mesurées à l’aide de questions adaptées de l’Enquête sur la santé de collectivités canadiennes. Des analyses linéaires multiples basées sur des familles de modèles ont été menées pour chaque indicateur de qualité de l’alimentation soient la consommation de fruits et légumes (FL) et la variété. Résultats : Au sein de l’échantillon, le score de variété moyen était de 16/20 et la consommation médiane de FL était de 3 fois par jour. Une fois ajusté, le niveau d’IA n’était associé ni à la consommation de FL ni à la variété de l’alimentation. Aucune modification d’effet par les compétences alimentaires a été observée. Conclusion : Chez les migrants demandeurs d’aide alimentaire, leur niveau d’IA n'est pas associé à la qualité de leur alimentation peu importe leurs compétences alimentaires. / Background: Many people with a migrant background in Canada face food insecurity (FI), an issue with detrimental outcomes on diet quality. A growing number of food assistance services, which remain the principal intervention supporting Canadians living in food-insecure households, now include programs aiming to improve food skills. However, little is known about the relationship between FI and diet quality of migrants using food assistance services as well as the potential effect modification of food skills on this association. Objective: To examine the association between FI levels, food skills, and diet quality among migrant food assistance beneficiaries. Method: Data were drawn from a subsample of the PATHWAY study at baseline, including new food bank users with an immigrant background in Quebec (n=224). Variables of interest were measured using questions adapted from the Canadian Community Health Survey. Multiple linear regressions were performed for each food quality indicator, namely fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption and diet variety, based on predefined families of models. Results: Among participants, the median frequency of FV consumption was three times per day, and the mean score for variety reached 16/20. When adjusted, FI levels were not associated with either FV consumption or diet variety among food assistance users with a migrant background. No effect modification by food skills was observed. Conclusion: Among migrants seeking food aid, their FI level is not associated with the quality of their diet, regardless of their dietary skills.

The objective of this thesis is to identify changes in the area of food banks in the Czech Republic which were made after the amendment to the Act on Food and Tobacco Products had entered into effect.The practical part includes a survey performed at the level of 14 food banks which are members of the Czech Federation of Food Banks. In the next section of the practical part, changes effected in the Food Bank of the South Bohemian Region after the amendment entered into effect were identified. Main changes and measures which had to be adopted are explained for the food redistribu-tion process.