The Lived Experience of Food Pantry Users in Minnesota: Qualitative Findings from a Statewide Survey

ABSTRACT

In 2017, a community-University of Minnesota collaborative conducted a statewide survey of food pantry clients. Of the 188 food pantries surveyed, 4321 individual client surveys were returned, from which 2,251 open-ended responses were analyzed. Respondents shared gratitude for the food pantry in meeting their needs for food and support. Many described accessing healthy food that was needed to address health needs. Respondents described life circumstances and hardships that led to food pantry use. The supportive environment provided by food pantries positions them to address the needs of clients, including those with complex health needs.

KEYWORDS:

• Food pantries
• hunger relief
• qualitative

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences [UL1TR000114]; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute [1R01HL136640].