Impact of changes in the frequency of food pantry utilization on client food security and well‐being
Tammy Leonard, David Andrews, Sandi L. Pruitt
Abstract
Abstract Food pantries have traditionally focused on meeting emergency food needs. However, for many clients, food assistance is a long‐term need. The frequency with which long‐term clients visit food pantries varies; and in general, visiting frequency has been understudied because the focus has largely been on emergency, rather than long‐term, food assistance impacts. We leveraged a program innovation to identify the impact of visiting frequency on client outcomes. Using fixed‐effect models, we analyzed a panel of 1663 long‐term food pantry users observed monthly from 2017 to 2019. Within‐client increases in visiting frequency were associated with within‐in client improvements in food security and health.