Food Pantries: Users Characteristics and Perceptions

Data indicate a growing reliance on supplemental food assistance in Cape Girardeau, Missouri with a notable increase in food pantry users at the Salvation Army since 2009 (Salvation Army, 2012). This study examined the characteristics and perceptions of food pantry users at the Salvation Army in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. A 14 question survey was adapted by the researcher from research questions that were used to facilitate focus groups in a similar type of study conducted in Minnesota (Verpy, Smith, Reicks, 2003). The data showed that 52.9% of participants used the food pantry 3 or more times per year and the majority (69.1%) received 1-25% of their groceries from the food pantry. Participants indicated that after receiving groceries from the food pantry that they still needed to buy meat, dairy, and fruits. It was found that 18-25 year olds were the group of food pantry users that used the food pantry the least amount of times per year and participants with some college education used the food pantry most often. The results indicated that the majority of the food pantry users agreed or strongly agreed that the food they received from the food pantry was healthy for them. The data showed that 30.9% of participants sometimes received food they did not know how to prepare and almost one-fourth (22.1%) of the food pantry users sometimes received food they do not have equipment to prepare. The food pantry participants would benefit from recipe cards on how to prepare the food they receive and donations of simple kitchen items to prepare the food they receive. Future studies should expand and include other food pantries within Cape Girardeau County to assess their food pantry users' characteristics and perceptions.