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ARS Home » Plains Area » Grand Forks, North Dakota » Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center » Healthy Body Weight Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #264033
Title: Reaching North Dakota’s food insecure

Author
item COLBY, SARAH - East Carolina University
item PAULSON, MARSHA - Great Plains Food Bank
item JOHNSON, LUANN - University Of North Dakota
item WALL-BASSETT, ELIZABETH - East Carolina University

Submitted to: Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/7/2010
Publication Date: 3/30/2010
Citation: Colby, S.E., Paulson, M., Johnson, L.K., Wall-Bassett, E. 2010. Reaching North Dakota’s food insecure. Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition. 5(1):129-135.

Interpretive Summary: The demand for emergency food assistance in North Dakota has been growing faster than available resources. To improve the food assistance network in North Dakota and to best develop effective interventions to reduce food insecurity, knowledge of the needs of the providers and clients was needed. A questionnaire was distributed to all existing emergency food providers within the North Dakota charitable feeding network to assess existing levels of service and to indentify the potential for increased capacity among current and potential food assistance providers. A post card survey was developed and distributed to more than 1800 client households to identify the needs and barriers to persons accessing emergency food assistance. Clients identified the top three barriers to using emergency feeding programs as personal embarrassment, transportation challenges and that the amount of food received did not meet their family’s needs. Providers were strained by increased demand and limited resources. These surveys identified several key ways to help strengthen the food assistance network and develop effective interventions to reduce food insecurity in North Dakota.

Technical Abstract: For 1 in 12 North Dakotans the charitable feeding network is the difference between having food on the table and going hungry. The goal of this research was to determine needs, barriers to, and facilitators of optimal access to North Dakota’s charitable feeding programs. Focus groups and interviews with providers and clients were conducted to develop surveys. Surveys were distributed to clients by community liaisons and food assistance providers. Surveys were distributed to partners via mail. Results of the survey indicated that considerable areas were underserved. Clients reported barriers to accessing foods to be embarrassment, transportation, and insufficient amount of food provided. Providers reported increasing demands, insufficient resources, the desires to expand their roles as providers, and wanting to collaborate with existing federal food and nutrition assistance programs.