Office of Extension and Outreach, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1301 W. Gregory Dr, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
Department of Community, Systems and Mental Health Nursing, Rush University College of Nursing, 600 S. Paulina St, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2023 Jul 7;23(1):1307. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-16215-4.
The charitable food system distributes free food to clients across the U.S., but many nutrition and health-focused efforts encounter barriers to success, which were exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of the current study was to understand barriers and facilitators to distributing nutritious, fresh foods in food pantries across Illinois during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Forty-nine pantry representatives participated in focus groups in October 2021. A codebook was created based on relevant literature, stakeholder interests, and an initial review of the recordings. Transcripts of each group were coded and analyzed using a basic interpretive approach.
Pantries distribution of fresh foods was impacted by community partners, food bank policies and practices, and the quality of the donated fresh foods. Physical constraints of pantries limit fresh food storage capacity. The COVID-19 pandemic magnified stressors in the charitable food system which highlighted how community partners might improve fresh food distribution.
Focus groups with food pantry representatives across Illinois provided key insights that can inform future efforts to facilitate fresh food distribution in the charitable food system. Future studies should evaluate the effects of the suggested initiatives and changes at the food pantry, food bank, and policy levels.
慈善食品系统向美国各地的客户免费分发食物，但许多以营养和健康为重点的工作都遇到了成功的障碍，而这些障碍在 COVID-19 大流行期间更加严重。本研究的目的是了解在 COVID-19 大流行期间伊利诺伊州食品储藏室分发营养、新鲜食品的障碍和促进因素。
49 名食品储藏室代表于 2021 年 10 月参加了焦点小组。根据相关文献、利益相关者的利益以及对录音的初步审查，创建了一个代码本。使用基本解释方法对每个小组的记录进行编码和分析。
社区合作伙伴、食品银行的政策和做法以及捐赠新鲜食品的质量影响了食品储藏室新鲜食品的分发。食品储藏室的物理限制限制了新鲜食品的储存能力。COVID-19 大流行放大了慈善食品系统中的压力因素，突出了社区合作伙伴如何改善新鲜食品的分发。
伊利诺伊州各地食品储藏室代表的焦点小组提供了关键的见解，可以为未来在慈善食品系统中促进新鲜食品分发的努力提供信息。未来的研究应评估在食品储藏室、食品银行和政策层面上建议的举措和变革的效果。
