Larison LeeAnna, Byker Shanks Carmen, Webber Eliza, Routh Brianna, Ahmed Selena
Health and Human Development, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA.
Center for American Indian and Rural Health Equity, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA.
Curr Dev Nutr. 2021 Sep 16;5(10):nzab115. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzab115. eCollection 2021 Oct.
The onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic increased demand for emergency food assistance and has caused operational shifts in the emergency food system.
This research explored how the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the food supply of 2 food pantries.
A case study approach was applied to collect data during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Food supply data were collected weekly at 2 food pantries in southwest Montana for 17 wk in 2020. Surveys and interviews were conducted with food pantry clients and staff, respectively. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were applied to analyze quantitative data. Food supply data were analyzed using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015, NOVA system, and Unprocessed Pantry Project (UP3) Framework. Thematic analysis was applied to qualitative data.
The food boxes collected between the 2 food pantries (= 43) had a mean (± SD) total HEI-2015 score of 76.41 ± 7.37 out of a possible score of 100. According to both the NOVA and the UP3 Framework, 23.4% of the total food distributed was ultra-processed food. Of the food distributed, 50.0% and 48.3% was fresh, unprocessed food according to NOVA and UP3 Frameworks, respectively. From staff interviews, 3 themes arose that describe the food pantry operations that experienced change during the COVID-19 pandemic, including food procurement, distribution preparation, and food distribution. Nine supporting subthemes describing the causes and consequences of the operational themes were identified. Staff perceived that the nutrient quality of the food boxes increased from food distributed previously to the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas over one-third (39.4%) of food pantry clients who responded to surveys preferred the food box model.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused enormous operational challenges within food pantries. Food pantries overcame these challenges by swiftly and effectively altering operations so as to continue to distribute nutritious food boxes to pantry clients.
2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行的爆发增加了对紧急粮食援助的需求，并导致了紧急粮食系统的运营转变。
本研究探讨了COVID-19大流行初期如何影响两个食品救济站的食品供应。
采用案例研究方法在COVID-19大流行初期收集数据。2020年，在蒙大拿州西南部的两个食品救济站每周收集17周的食品供应数据。分别对食品救济站的客户和工作人员进行了调查和访谈。应用描述性统计和推断性统计分析定量数据。使用2015年健康饮食指数（HEI）、新诺瓦系统和未加工食品救济站项目（UP3）框架分析食品供应数据。对定性数据进行主题分析。
两个食品救济站收集的食品盒（(n = 43)）在可能得分为100分的情况下，HEI-2015总分平均（±标准差）为76.41±7.37分。根据新诺瓦和UP3框架，所分发食品总量的23.4%为超加工食品。根据新诺瓦和UP3框架，所分发的食品中，分别有50.0%和48.3%是新鲜的未加工食品。通过工作人员访谈，出现了三个主题，描述了在COVID-19大流行期间经历变化的食品救济站运营情况，包括食品采购、分发准备和食品分发。确定了九个支持性子主题，描述了运营主题的原因和后果。工作人员认为，与COVID-19大流行之前分发的食品相比，食品盒的营养质量有所提高，而在接受调查的食品救济站客户中，超过三分之一（39.4%）的人更喜欢食品盒模式。
COVID-19大流行给食品救济站带来了巨大的运营挑战。食品救济站通过迅速有效地改变运营方式克服了这些挑战，以便继续向救济站客户分发营养食品盒。
