Pantry clients and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education practitioners' perspectives on factors influencing healthy eating policy, system and environmental interventions in food pantries

Owusua Yamoah; Jillian Schulte; Lindsay Osborn; Callie Ogland-Hand; Ana Claudia Zubieta; Darcy A Freedman

doi:10.1017/jns.2023.64

Pantry clients and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education practitioners' perspectives on factors influencing healthy eating policy, system and environmental interventions in food pantries

J Nutr Sci. 2023 Jul 19:12:e81. doi: 10.1017/jns.2023.64. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Owusua Yamoah^{1

2}, Jillian Schulte^{1

3}, Lindsay Osborn^{1

2}, Callie Ogland-Hand^{1

2}, Ana Claudia Zubieta⁴, Darcy A Freedman^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Mary Ann Swetland Center for Environmental Health, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
² Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
³ Department of Anthropology, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
⁴ College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), OSU Extension, 381B Campbell Hall, 1787 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.

Abstract

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education identified food pantries as a targeted setting for policy, system, and environmental (PSE) interventions to promote healthy eating among households who rely on pantries to supplement their food needs. The present study sought to identify factors influencing capacity and readiness to implement healthy eating PSE interventions in food pantries. Qualitative interviews were conducted via zoom with twenty-six community residents with experience receiving SNAP benefits and twelve SNAP-Ed staff in rural and urban counties in Ohio to identify themes and indicators related to community/organisational capacity and readiness to implement healthy eating PSE interventions in food pantries. Themes and related indicators generated based on inductive and deductive coding of interview transcripts were prioritised and weighted by eleven community nutrition experts during a virtual consensus conference. Five themes emerged; expert-derived weights (scaled low, 0 to high, 1) reflect the perceived importance of each to implementation of healthy eating PSE interventions in food pantries: food pantry capacity and logistics [0⋅252], networks and relationships [0⋅228], community nutrition practitioner capacity [0⋅212], food pantry user characteristics [0⋅156], and stigma and stereotypes [0⋅1⋅52]. Overall, seventeen indicators were identified reflecting these themes. Successful and sustained PSE interventions at food pantries will require a tailored approach that considers food pantries' capacity, needs and opportunities within the community, and capacity of community nutrition practitioners. The themes and indicators identified provide guidance for responsive PSE approaches in food pantries that meet communities where they are.

Keywords: Assessment; COREQ, the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research; Food pantry; Healthy eating; IRB, Institutional Review Board; NPP, Nutrition Pantry Program; OSU, Ohio State University; PSE, policy, system and environmental; Policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) interventions; READI, Readiness Assessment and Decision Instrument; RUCA, Rural–Urban Commuting Area; Readiness; SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; SNAP-Ed, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education program; WIC, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Diet, Healthy*
Food Assistance*
Food Supply
Humans
Nutritional Status
Poverty