Food Pantries and the Populations They Serve: Strange Bedfellows or Strategic Partners?

Abstract

Although it is often assumed that food pantries are managed by middle-class directors whose social background differs significantly from that of their target populations, no systematic empirical evidence concerning this issue exists to date. Moreover, scholarship has yet to explore the extent to which the presumably distinctive social positions of pantry directors and clients might result in the stigmatization of poverty, social welfare programs, and the poor by agency directors. Drawing on insights from attribution theory, this study seeks to shed light on demographic and attitudinal differences between pantry directors and food-needy persons. The study begins by comparing the demographic characteristics of food pantry directors in a two-state region of the South (Alabama-Mississippi) with those of the food-needy population in the region. It then moves on to contrast attitudinal disparities between these directors and food-needy persons related to such issues as the causes of poverty, the effects of social welfare programs, and the character of those who utilize food assistance programs. Noteworthy differences in race, education, and religiosity emerge when comparing directors with the populations they serve; however, directors did not differ markedly from their potential clients in key social attitudes. When asked specifically about food pantry clients, directors responded with a mix of sympathy and suspicion. While a substantial portion of directors attribute poverty to structural causes, a significant number also characterize clients seeking food assistance as possibly having unsavory motivations for doing so. The study concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings.