Scherer Maya, Cárdenas Luisa, Russo Rienna, Ahn Helen, Chan Celine, Lanza Victoria, Mei Steve, Mehmood Rehan, Yi Stella
The New York Academy of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
Health Promot Pract. 2025 Sep;26(5):969-975. doi: 10.1177/15248399241298800. Epub 2024 Nov 21.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its related economic challenges exacerbated food insecurity across New York State (NYS). Approximately one third of New York City residents reported use of emergency food services in the pandemic's first year and, in 2021, approximately 1 in 10 NYS residents was food insecure, with rates among Hispanic and Black New Yorkers more than double that of White residents. Although these numbers have decreased following the acute phase of the pandemic, disparities by race and ethnicity persist and use of emergency food services remain elevated for New Yorkers born outside of the United States. Despite this, few policies and interventions that aim to improve the charitable and emergency food systems focus on the cultural relevance and appropriateness of foods provided. In 2022, researchers conducted 12 interviews with key stakeholders from organizations and institutions providing food distribution services to culturally diverse New Yorkers to understand barriers and facilitators related to providing culturally appropriate foods and elicit lessons learned and recommendations to inform future programs and policies. Findings from this study indicate that organizations serving diverse communities recognize the importance of providing culturally appropriate food services and make efforts to tailor these services accordingly. However, they face challenges that limit their capacity to offer foods consistent with the dietary needs and preferences of their clients. Additional funding, policies, and support are needed to improve the availability of culturally inclusive food distribution services within the emergency and charitable food systems.
新冠疫情及其相关的经济挑战加剧了纽约州各地的粮食不安全状况。在疫情的第一年，约三分之一的纽约市居民报告使用了应急食品服务，2021年，约十分之一的纽约州居民面临粮食不安全问题，其中西班牙裔和黑人纽约人的比例是白人居民的两倍多。尽管在疫情急性期过后这些数字有所下降，但种族和族裔差异依然存在，对于在美国境外出生的纽约人来说，应急食品服务的使用率仍然很高。尽管如此，旨在改善慈善和应急食品系统的政策和干预措施很少关注所提供食品的文化相关性和适宜性。2022年，研究人员对为文化背景各异的纽约人提供食品分发服务的组织和机构的关键利益相关者进行了12次访谈，以了解与提供文化上适宜的食品相关的障碍和促进因素，并获取经验教训和建议，为未来的项目和政策提供参考。这项研究的结果表明，服务于不同社区的组织认识到提供文化上适宜的食品服务的重要性，并相应地努力调整这些服务。然而，它们面临一些挑战，限制了它们提供符合客户饮食需求和偏好的食品的能力。需要额外的资金、政策和支持，以提高应急和慈善食品系统中具有文化包容性的食品分发服务的可及性。
