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Community food assistance, informal social networks, and the labor of care

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Abstract

In 2016, the Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB) launched the Stabilizing Lives project to develop programs and policies that could better address clients’ needs as well as including clientele as part of the planning process. The ACFB partnered with a research team at the University of Georgia to conduct a participatory research project aimed at developing deeper insights into the factors contributing to both instability and stability in the lives of pantry clientele. This article describes the outcomes this research, offering both a substantive contribution to scholarship on food insecurity and emergency food systems and a methodological innovation through a staged mixed-method participatory research project. Through use of a culture-centered approach, this project created discursive spaces within which to outline emergency food models that support informal networks of care. We used a range of methods, including photo elicitation, concept mapping, individual interviews, and focus groups, to facilitate conversation among agency staff, volunteers, and clientele about the effectiveness of current program models and potential new ideas. Specifically, we suggest that through such practices, food pantries and local agencies may help inform new program models that contribute to household stability, and push back against the sometimes alienating and atomizing paradigm found in current emergency food programs.

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Acknowledgements

The Atlanta Community Food Bank provided generous funding and logistical support for this research. The authors are grateful to Vista Gilliam and Sarah Otto-Wang, Staff at the Atlanta Community Food Bank, for their invaluable assistance and perspective during this research. We also recognize the hard work of our student research assistants: Hillary Jourdan, Aspen Kemmerlin, Grace Barrett, and Jacy Donaldson.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geography Department, University of Georgia, 210 Field Street, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Hilda Kurtz & Jerry Shannon

  2. Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication, University of Georgia, 405 College Station Road, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Abigail Borron

  3. Atlanta Community Food Bank, 732 Joseph E. Lowery Blvd., N.W., Atlanta, GA, 30318, USA

    Alexis Weaver

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  1. Hilda Kurtz
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  2. Abigail Borron
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  4. Alexis Weaver
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Correspondence to Hilda Kurtz.

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Kurtz, H., Borron, A., Shannon, J. et al. Community food assistance, informal social networks, and the labor of care. Agric Hum Values 36, 495–505 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-019-09943-0

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