Barriers of Local Organizations for Providing Free Food Support in the Priority Neighborhood, Toronto: What We Need Further

Introduction: The provincial and federal governments provided emergency funding to local community organizations for free food support to people affected by COVID-19. The study's goals were to explore the barriers of the people and the organizations while receiving and providing free food support and what further was needed to give the people food support in the priority neighborhood. Methods: Nine representatives of the local community organizations and 15 volunteers participated in the community conversation or the extensive group discussion. They shared their experiences about barriers and what we further needed to provide food support for the priority neighborhood like Taylor Massey. Two note-takers obtained data from the community conversation. This is a qualitative study. It used a thematic approach to analyze the data and interpretation. Results: Information lacking about free food, language barriers, the social stigma associated with free food support, and fear of COVID-19 were the barriers of community people to receiving food support. On the other hand, the community organizations lacked information about who needed real food support, lacked enough transportation support to distribute the food, enough empty spaces to store food, and enough numbers of committed and trained volunteers to help with the food distribution. Also, the community organizations had limited funding to meet people's food needs. The local community organizations needed an assessment to understand the available resources so that local organizations could use the resources for an effective food program. Furthermore, the organizations required coordination and extended food funding to affected families. In addition, the local organizations needed to work with community gardens, community kitchens, and food banks to support and meet the community's demands. Conclusion: People and local organizations had information and communication, social, structural and systemic, and financial barriers while receiving and providing food in the priority neighborhood. The study indicated what were needed to make the food support program effective.

Microbiological Hazard Analysis of Cooked Foods Donated to Foodbank (II)

This study was conducted to estimate the safety level of non-cooking and cooking processed foods to propose the sanitary management of foods donated to foodbanks. The time and temperature were measured and the microbial levels of aerobic plate counts (APC), coliforms, E. coli, Salmonella spp., S. aureus, B. cereus, and E. coli O157:H7 were analyzed on ten food items donated to seven foodbanks. The amount of cooked foods donated to each foodbank was about 10 to 40 servings. All foodbanks hired a supervisor and had at least one refrigerator/freezer and one temperature-controlled vehicle, but only four foodbanks had the separate offices to manage the foodbank operation. The flow of donated foods was gone through the steps; production, meal service and holding at donator, collection by foodbank, transport (or holding after transport) and distribution to recipients. After production, the levels of APC of both non-cooking and cooking processed foods were complied with the standards by Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development, and were not increased till distribution. Only the level of coliforms in dried squid & cucumber salad (1.5x10(3) CFU/g) was not met the standards. E. coli and other pathogens were not detected in all tested samples. The microbial levels of delivery vessels and work tables were satisfactory, but the APC levels of two of four tested serving tables (6.9x10(3) and 5.3x10(3) CFU/100cm2) and the coliforms level of one (1.1x10(3) CFU/100cm2) were over the standards. The air-borne microflora level in serving room was estimated as satisfactory. It took about 3.0 to 6.5 hours from after-production to distribution and the temperatures of donated foods were exposed mostly to temperature danger zone, which had a high potential of microbial growth. These results imply that a checklist to monitor time and temperature in each step should be provided and the employees involving foodbank operation should be properly educated to ensure the safety of donated foods.

Microbial Risk Analysis of Cooked Foods Donated to Foodbank(I) / 대한지역사회영양학회지

To ensure the microbiological safety of food items prepared after cooking process, this study was aimed to identify the hazards related with cooked foods donated to foodbanks through quantitative microbial analysis. Five foodbanks located in Incheon and Gyeonggi area among government-dominant foodbanks were surveyed from February to June, 2007. Manager, recipient, donator, type and quantity of donated food, and facility and equipment were examined for the general characteristics of foodbank. The time and temperature of food and environment were measured at steps from after-production to before-distribution, and the microbial analysis was performed mainly with indicator organism and major pathogens. The amount of cooked foods donated to each foodbank was about 20 to 30 servings and consisted of 80% of total donated foods. Only three foodbanks had separate offices for foodbank operation and four institutions had at least one temperature-controlled vehicle. The flow of donated foods was gone through the steps; production, meal service and holding at donator, collection by foodbank, transport (or holding after transport) and distribution to recipients. It took about 3.8 to 6.5 hours at room temperature from after-production to beforedistribution. Only aerobic plate counts (APC) and coliforms were found in microbial analysis. The APC after production were relatively high in 8.2 x 10(5), 7.4 x 10(5), 6.9 x 10(5) and 4.2 x 10(5) CFU/g while 2.8 x 10(6), 9.4 x 10(5), 1.0 x 10(6) and 5.4 x 10(5) CFU/g before distribution in mixed Pimpinella brachycarpa, mixed chard, mixed amaranth and mixed spinach, respectively. The levels of coliforms in mixed chard and mixed spinach were complied with the standards of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Management. The level of APC in boiled pork was increased from < 1.0 x 10 CFU/g to 4.0 x 10(2) CFU/g. One of delivery vessels was shown 6.2 x 10(3)CFU/100 cm2 in APC, which was over the standards for environment. One of serving tables also showed the high level of 1.2 x 10(3) CFU/100 cm2 in APC and 6.6 x 10(2) CFU/100 cm2 in coliforms. These results suggest the sanitary management of holding at donator and the time-temperature control are key factors to ensure the safety of cooked foods donated to foodbank.

Investigation of the Conditions and Evaluation of the Benefits of the Foodbank Program from the Recipients' Perspective / 대한지역사회영양학회지

The purposes of this study were to: (a) investigate the characteristics of recipients' of the non-government foodbank program, (b) examine the health and dietary related conditions of them, and (c) evaluate the benefits and effectiveness of the foodbank program from the recipients' perspective. A total of 21 groups (n = 755) and 75 individual recipients participated in the survey. The main results of the study were as follows; (a) Generally, the individual recipients were 74-year-old female, livelihood protectee, and those who received government assistance or funds from private donators as their source of livelihood. (b) The ages of group recipients varied widely, and they also received government assistance or funds from private donators as their source of livelihood. (c) Most of the donated foods were bakery and confectionery items, rice, and milk and other dairy products. (d) Benefits such as the decrease in the recipients' food expenses and an enhancement of their nutritional statuses were identified.

An Analysis of Food Donators' Attitudes to the Foodbank Program in Korea / 대한지역사회영양학회지

The foodbank program is one of the social welfare programs that collects donated food and grocery products from the nation's food and grocery industry and distributes them to people who are in need. The purposes of this study were to: (a) investigate the food donators' perceptions of the foodbank program, (b) analyze the attitude toward the program by businesses, (c) compare the opinions on whether to donate or not, and (d) examine the frequency and category of the donated food. This research was conducted on three donator groups, such as contract foodservice management companies, franchising restaurant companies, and food manufacturing and grocery companies. A total of 63 donators participated in this survey. The main results of the investigation on the operating conditions were as follows; (a) From the donators' perspective, 73.0% and 71.0% of the respondents recognized the definition and purpose of this program, respectively. (b) Only 33.3% of respondents recognized the tax benefits of donating. (c) Contract foodservice management companies, and food manufacturing and grocery companies recognized the program more than franchising restaurant companies, and food manufacturing and grocery companies donated more than any of the others. (d) Most of the donated foods were bakery and confectionery, rice, and milk and dairy products.