Section 13.1.1

America's Second Harvest became Feeding America in 2008. This study was published prior to that name change in 2001.

13.1.1 - Sources of Food Distributed by Programs

The survey asked how much of the food distributed through the emergency food programs comes from food banks, versus other sources. In particular, agencies were asked to state the percentage of food received from each of the sources shown in Table 13.1.1.

Table 13.1.1
SOURCES OF FOOD DISTRIBUTED BY PROGRAMS
For each program, approximately what percent of the distributed food comes from each of the following source? 1  Pantry Programs Kitchen Programs Shelter Programs
Average Percentage of Food Received from the Following Sources      
Food bank(s) 58.5% 43.1% 35.8%
Church or religious congregations 11.0% 12.8% 6.0%
Local merchant or farmer donations 3.2% 6.4% 1.8%
Local food drives (e.g., Boy Scouts) 6.0% 2.5% 1.7%
Food purchased by agency 10.5% 24.0% 47.2%
Federal food or commodity programs (TEFAP or CSFP) 6.2% 4.9% 1.3%
State food or commodity programs 2.4% 2.6% 1.4%
Other 2  2.2% 3.6% 4.8%
ALL SOURCES 100% 100% 100%
SAMPLE SIZE (N) 12,468 2,853 2,131

Source 
This table was constructed based on usable responses to Question 8 of the agency survey.
 
Notes 
The percentages presented in this table are based only on usable responses, excluding missing, don't know, and refusal responses. All usable responses were weighted as described in Chapter 3 and in the Technical Appendix volume to represent all emergency food programs of the A2H network. The sample sizes (N) also include missing data.

Missing, don't know, and refusal responses combined are 7.6% for pantry programs, 18.0% for kitchen programs, and 29.5% for shelter programs.

1. Each column adds to 100% because agencies were asked to distribute 100% over eight listed sources.

2. This includes individual donations, organization gardens, and donations from other volunteer or civic groups.


 
Food banks are a major source of food. 58.5% of the food the pantries distribute, 43.1% of the food the kitchens serve, and 35.8% of the food the shelters serve are provided by their food banks. Programs also receive food from other sources:

  • 11.0% of the food distributed by the pantries, 12.8% of the food distributed by the kitchens, and 6.0% of the food distributed by the shelters come from churches or religious congregations.
  • 3.2% of the food distributed by the pantries, 6.4% of the food distributed by the kitchens, and 1.8% of the food distributed by the shelters come from local merchants or farmer donations.
  • 6.0% of the food distributed by the pantries, 2.5% of the food distributed by the kitchens, and 1.7% of the food distributed by the shelters come from local food drives.
  • 10.5% of the food distributed by the pantries, 24.0% of the food distributed by the kitchens, and 47.2% of the food distributed by the shelters are purchased by their agencies.
  • 6.2% of the food distributed by the pantries, 4.9% of the food distributed by the kitchens, and 1.3% of the food distributed by the shelters come from federal food or commodity programs, such as TEFAP or CSFP.
  • 2.4% of the food distributed by the pantries, 2.6% of the food distributed by the kitchens, and 1.4% of the food distributed by the shelters come from state food or commodity programs.
  • 2.2% of the food distributed by the pantries, 3.6% of the food distributed by the kitchens, and 4.8% of the food distributed by the shelters come from other sources.