FOOD PANTRY USE AMONG LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS IN ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

This study was conducted to understand why some low-income people use pantries and others do not. Telephone and face-to-face interviews were conducted with 400 adults living in households with an income below 1 85% of the poverty level. Households were selected from a preliminary screening of 25,000 households in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania and i ncluded 174 current pantry users and 226 nonusers. Consistent with pri or research. most households using food pantries report difficulty ade quately feeding their families, and pantry use appears to be evolving into a chronic issue rather than one of short-term emergency. New pant ry users are likely to remain pantry users for roughly 2 years. Pantry use is highest among African-American households, single-headed house holds with children, and households with low levels of education. Regr ession analysis indicates, however, that pantry use is higher among th ese groups only because these households are generally the poorest. Wh en variables for income and assets are entered into the regression equ ation, the only variable significantly related to the probability of u sing a pantry is whether or not the household owns a car. This latter finding underscores the importance of neighborhood-based pantries and localized food-distribution systems.