New Brunswick’s Emergency Food System Pantry Profile

Ana Bonilla Martinez, Daniela Ortega, Reshma Parikh, Katarina Piasevoli,

and Abigail Thompson

Ralph W. Voorhees Public Service Fellows

2015

Introduction• Collaborative project of the Ralph W. Voorhees Public Service Fellows and Feeding New

Brunswick Network

• Objective is to learn about New Brunswick’s emergency food system and about: food availability, storage, distribution, organizational structure, challenges, non-food services, and collaboration

• Students • interviewed 14/19 food pantries

• interviewed and toured MCFOODS and the Community Food Bank of New Jersey • volunteered with 4 pantries • reviewed the literature on emergency food systems • researched government assistance programs that provide emergency food • explored innovative food pantries in the US

U.S. Emergency Food System• The emergency food system is comprised of food pantries, soup kitchens, and food banks • There has been increased reliance on this system since the early 1980s

o federal programs helped move excess food to food pantries

o demand increased within communities

▪ non-working and working poor

▪ Great Recession

• With the system’s expansion, people are rethinking how it works • What changes can improve food security?

• In what ways can technology help?

• How can the client experience be improved?

• What contributes to food pantry use or lack of it?

(Ohls & Saleem-Ismail, 2002; Martin et al., 2013).

Food Pantry Innovations Client Choice

! Increases client autonomy

! May reduce wasted food

! Point system encourages healthier choices

! Choice approaches include

○ supermarket style

○ table

○ inventory list

○ window

Technology

! Count number of people served

! Track food

! Prepare reports

! Clients select foods from home or pantry ! Recommend referral services

! Digital choice pantry: St. John Bread and Life Food Pantry in New York

○ touchscreen sign in

○ point system

○ client choice

○ access to educational material i.e. cooking, social services

The Study and Research Findings

• Overview of New Brunswick’s emergency feeding system

• Organizational structure

• Where and how pantries get food

• Types of foods pantries receive

• Foods pantries typically distribute

• Challenges

• Non-food services

• Ideas for the future

New Brunswick

• ~57,000 residents

• 50% identify as Hispanic/Latino

• 56% speak a language other than English at home

• ~40% are foreign born

• Median household income is $39,901

• 34% of residents are below the poverty level (Census, 2010)

New Brunswick’s Food Pantries• Religious institutions, non-profits service

providers, schools, and the Housing Authority host 19 food pantries • 6 “Large” food pantries

o TEFAP, SFPP and purchase

o CFBNJ, MCFOODS, food/cash donations

• 6 “Small” food pantries o MCFOODS & occasional donations

• 5 School food pantries o MCFOODS & occasional donations

• 2 Soup kitchens o Food pantry is not their primary focus o MCFOODS, CFBNJ and direct donations

Large Pantry Small Pantry School Pantry

Soup Kitchens

Emanuel Lutheran

Bayard Street Presbyterian

Church

Greater Brunswick

Charter

Ebenezer Baptist

Suydam Street Reformed Church

Deliverance Prayer Revival

Temple

Paul Robeson Elijah’s Promise

Salvation Army NB Housing Authority

Roosevelt

Christ Church Tabernacle Baptist Lord Stirling

St. Vincent de Paul

St. Alban’s Church New Brunswick Middle School

Five Loaves PRAB

Organizational Structure Coordinators, Volunteers, Clients, & Outreach

Pantry Operations• Pantry staff pick-up, unload, sort, store, and distribute food

• Pantries with TEFAP and SFPP have additional work • Coordinators

• At least 6 pantries have volunteer coordinators • At least 7 pantries have paid coordinators

• NB Housing Authority, PRAB, School Based Services, and the New Brunswick Charter School • Volunteers run and staff most pantries

• Run/help with core pantry activities, translation and food pickup or distribution/delivery • Training volunteers

• On-the-job training • CFBNJ training

• Challenges • Inconsistency with occasional and student volunteers • Clients as volunteers • Succession planning

Outreach

• A few pantries use the internet to share information

• Some clients do not have smart phones and rely on pre-paid phones for communication

• Some pantries are interested in physical local signage

4 websites include information for

pantry use such as the date & times

Five Loaves Food Pantry describes its

services and hours on a bilingual page

Who Uses Pantries • Depends on pantry requirements, hours, and location

• Client characteristics o Working poor and those who are unemployed

o Homeless

o Households with and without children

o Walk, use public transit, and drive to pantries

• Many clients speak Spanish and some pantry volunteers do not

o Bilingual adult volunteers

o New Brunswick High School Students

o Children of clients

o Most staff who interact with clients speak Spanish (PRAB and School Based Pantries)

• Pantry usage records depend on food sources which dictate how much information pantries collect and report to CFBNJ

• Some residents who are food insecure do not use pantries

Who Does and Does Not Use Pantries

Where and How New Brunswick’s

Pantries Get Food

Federal Food ProgramsThe Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)

! TEFAP (1981) is a federal commodity food program that provides 70 different kinds of food ! Recipients live in households with income below 185% of the federal poverty line and fill

out a signature sheet each time they receive food ! The USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service administers TEFAP; the NJ Department of Agriculture

administers it in NJ with the help of 6 EFOs and LDAs that follow strict guidelines Community Supplemental Food Program ! Provides commodity boxed food for low-income adults 60 years or older (USDA, 2015)

! Products include nonfat dry/fluid milk, juice, farina, oats, cereal, rice, pasta, peanut butter, dried beans, canned meat/poultry/fish, canned fruits and vegetables

! The NJ Department of Health and Senior Services oversees the program

Cabili, 2013

State Food Purchase Program (SFPP)

! SFPP (2007) provides funds for the purchase of healthy, nutritious foods for low-income NJ residents

! An average of 8.5 million pounds of food were purchased between 2009-2015 ! The New Jersey Department of Agriculture administers the program through contracts with 6

EFOs that distribute to local agencies

! New Brunswick receives SFPP products from the Community FoodBank of New Jersey ! Recipients show proof that they and each person in their household live in NJ

Food Banks Serving New Brunswick Pantries

Where Pantries Get Food

• 6 receive TEFAP, SFPP from CFBNJ

• All receive food from MCFOODS

• 7 purchase food from CFBNJ, Co-op list, or big box stores

• 8 receive direct donations • ood drives

• Donations from businesses

• Cash donations

Facilities and Food Storage

• Storage space affects o how much food

o what kinds of food

o donation acceptance

o whether pantries can expand

• Nearly all want more space now and for future expansion

o Lack space for

▪ dry food

▪ refrigeration or freezer

• School pantries are the most limited

Pantry storage

▪ 9 at least have 1 household refrigerator ▪ 3 have only a household refrigerator ▪ Large pantries have 3 or more

refrigeration units

Types of Food Pantries Receive

Perishable and Non-Perishable Products Non-perishable Products Perishable Products (CFBNJ or MCFOODS)

Canned Fruits/Vegetables

Protein Grains Other Refrigerated Frozen

Vegetables Canned meat

Pasta Sauce Fresh Vegetables Chicken & Turkey

Fruit Canned fish

Canned pasta

Jelly Fruit Red Meat & Pork

Applesauce Peanut butter

Cereal Milk (shelf-stable)

Milk & Eggs Fish

Cranberry Jelly Soup Rice Yogurt & Cheese Frozen vegetables

Beans Prepared foods Frozen Blueberries, Frozen Cherries

Challenges to Perishable Products

• Some mismatches between the type of produce received and the type of produce people take • Some pantries offer taste tests to encourage people to try foods that are new to them

• Some of the produce is very ripe • Pantries only take produce they can distribute quickly • Pantry hours may not coincide with CFBNJ/MCFOODS produce distribution days • Pantries discard some produce because it is overly ripe

• Few pantries have enough freezer space to hold frozen products which they receive sporadically depending on their food supply sources

Food Distributed at a Typical Pick-up

Non-client Choice! Many pantries follow nutritional guidelines and include a variety of products in the bags

! A few pantries adjust for dietary restrictions (health or religious)

! St. Vincent de Paul menus bags at the beginning of the month which is determined by food donations, federal and state food allotments, and purchases

What’s in the Bags?Christ Church (once a month)

September 2015

1 box cereal 1 box pasta 1 pkg rice 1 odd ball or snack 1 can/pouch vegetables 1 can fruit 1 can tuna fish (until gone), then 1 jar peanut butter 1 can spaghetti & meatballs 1 box milk 1 can beans 1 pkg mac & cheese bread/cherries frozen or dried 1-2 people get eggs or small pork product 4+ people get large chicken quarters/whole chicken

St. Vincent de Paul (once a week) November 7, 2015

1 box cereal 1 box pasta 1 pkg rice 1 snack (granola bars) 1 pouch/can of corn 1 can applesauce 1 jar peanut butter 1 pouch of tomato sauce 1 jar jelly 1 jar nutella bread until gone choice of fresh products until gone: soup, salsa, hummus, fruit, & more

Client Choice

• Paul Robeson School Pantry

• Greater Brunswick Charter School

• Bayard Street Presbyterian

• Five Loaves o Adopted from Crisis Ministry pantry o Point allocation o Nutritional guidelines

Hesitation to use Client Choice

! Lack space to store food and allow people to shop

! Would need to expand hours and increase number of volunteers

! Ability to maintain a diverse supply of food through the month and equitable distribution

Food and Health • Most directors think about the connection between food and health

o Diabetes, high blood pressure, gluten

• They face challenges in providing healthier groceries o They are dependent on the food they receive from the food banks, what they can buy through CFBNJ

and what they receive through donations

o It is hard to store fresh ripe and frozen produce and they often have to distribute it quickly

• Client preference o Clients may not know or want “healthy” foods like whole wheat pasta o Pantries offer tastings to teach people about new foods

Clients Return! Canilla Rice ! Vienna sausage ! Mazola corn oil ! Black Beans (Fresh/dry) ! Red Beans (Fresh/dry) ! Any type of cereals ! Maseca (to make corn

tortilla) ! Flour Tortilla Mix ! Cake mixes ! Corn Meal (Goya) ! Goya Recaito ! Goya Sofrito ! Goya Adobo ! Spaghetti and Sauce ! Goya Sazon ! Knorr Sazon

! Yams, cranberry sauce, and pumpkins in cans

! Grits ! Brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, tri-colored

pasta ! Dates ! Sparkling water ! Frozen blueberries ! Unfamiliar soups (cream of broccoli) ! Ethnic foods such as Thai Rice ! Garbanzo beans ! Instant mashed potatoes ! Condiments such as spicy mayonnaise and

certain salad dressings ! Yogurt

! Garlic Powder ! Garlic Minced ! Garlic Paste ! Cup of Noodles ! Soda Crackers ! Canned Refried Black or

Red Beans ! Applesauce Cups ! Spam Ham ! Oatmeal (avena) ! Any Spanish Coffee ! Oil and Vinegar ! Canned corn ! Canned carrots/peas ! Maggi Soups ! Mac n Cheese

Clients Want

Emergency Food System Challenges

Challenges• Product Availability

• Regular availability of culturally appropriate healthy food • Dietary needs and preferences

• i.e. vegetarian, vegan, religion, diabetes, gluten free, high blood pressure • Consistent product availability including staple foods

• dried pinto beans, black beans, rice, cereal, and pasta • MCFOODS: meat and frozen vegetables

• Some pantries purchase from CFBNJ or big box stores to supplement donations • Rationing • Spoiled/expired foods • Facility limitations

• Storage and capacity complicate the problems of availability and rationing • Many steps into some pantries which makes it hard to move heavy food and tough for some clients • Not all pantries are located where people who need food live

Non-food Services

Source: Holy Shirt Thrift Shop, New Brunswick, NJ: Facebook

Non-food Services and Items • 12 pantries offer non-food services

o 8 pantries are affiliated with service providers o 4 pantries affiliated with religious institutions offer other services

▪ Of these 12, 4 offer rent or utility assistance

• 7 Pantries offer clothing donations • 7 Pantries receive diaper donations

o 5 occasionally have them o 2 participate in a new diaper program with CFBNJ

• 9 Pantries distribute hygiene products o From direct donations, MCFOODS, or from shopping list at CFBNJ

• Case management & social workers o Christ Church and Five Loaves have interns from the Rutgers School of Social Work o All school food pantries have case management

Ideas for the Future

Ideas for the Future

Increasing Uniformity

• Create an FNBN logo for window decals and signs to show pantry locations

• Identify the food in common pantry bags and work with nutritionists at Rutgers and chefs, maybe at Elijah’s Promise, to create appealing healthy meals and cooking demonstrations

• Create FNBN best practices for food donations • Some pantries would like to share a vehicle

Collaboration With Residents

➔ Work with residents to document

how they use pantry foods and to share their recipes

➔ Ask them about their favorite items

➔ Make a cookbook

Ideas for the Future

General Improvements

• Think of ways to engage clients in pantry governance

• Introduce reusable bags

• Identify grants or resources to make physical improvements to the pantries

CFBNJ Involvement

Some pantries buy from the CFBNJ Co-op list and would like a better variety of nutritionally

dense foods

Some pantries would like more consistent service at CFBNJ

AcknowledgementsJennifer Apostol, MCFOODS Miklos Bognar, PRAB

Ana Calderon, Friends of Greater Brunswick Charter School

Anthony Capece, Elijah’s Promise

Julienne R. Cherry, Community FoodBank of New Jersey Sarah Dixon, New Brunswick Community Farmers Market

Vanessa L. Dunzik, Emanuel Lutheran Food Pantry

Carole Forsythe, Christ Church Episcopal Food Pantry

Gwen Greenberg, Christ Church Food Pantry

Nellie Hampton, Deliverance Prayer Revival Tabernacle Karen A. Hartman, Rutgers University Libraries

Keith Jones, City of New Brunswick, New Brunswick Community Food Alliance

Walter Mulyk, Society of St. Vincent De Paul

Margaret Papai, Bayard Street Presbyterian Church Louie Rolon, Ebenezer Baptist Church

Hayzel Soto, Paul Robeson Food Pantry

Katherine Velez, NB School Based Youth Services Roosevelt School & Lord

Stirling

Catherine Verduci, Five Loaves Food Pantry at Second Reformed Church

Many thanks to Deborah Plotnik for helping to schedule interviews