Progress 05/01/23 to 04/30/24
Outputs
Target Audience:We have presented results from both the stigma and tracking studies to several groups of Food Bank and Food Pantry managers. These results were disseminated through in person presentations on site, as well as through Zoom calls. In addition, we presented some of our preliminary findings at a conference of food pantry staff from the greater Rochester area. Academic presentations were made at the AAEA professional meetings, and the results of the stigma study were published in the journal Agricultural Economics. Changes/Problems:The only real challenge has been enrolling pantries in the SNAP study. This was particularly slow at first. After our initial data, it was much easier to convince new pantries to join (the intervention appears to be effective in the small dataset we have to date). Thus, timing of the grant is the main challenge. I believe we are on track to be able to complete data collection by August 2024. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The data collection in food pantries is labor intensive. This has engaged several MS and one PhD student. These students are receiving first hand experience in conducting field experimental studies as well as experience with the US food assistance infrastructure. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Besides publication in academic journals, we have focused primarily on disseminating our work through presentations to food bank and food pantry managers. This includes meetings with institutions around upstate New York, as well as industry association presentations to large groups of food pantry staff. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to submit both papers on food pantry access in space and time. We are targeting submission of the spatial focused paper by the end of the summer. We are targeting submission of the time focused paper by the end of the fall. In addition, we plan to complete data collection on the SNAP enrollment study by the end of the summer. This should allow us to analyze the data and begin to prepare a manuscript by the end of the fall. I anticipate we will submit this paper around next summer.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We have two papers addressing goal 1 that are nearly ready for submission to an academic journal. The analyses for these papers are intensive using cell phone tracking data covering a large part of New York State. We have finalized the analysis of this data and should be able to submit the first of these by the end of summer 2024. The second will require significantly more time in write up but should be able to be submitted within 2024. In addition, we have collected nearly half of the data required for the study supporting goal 3. This data was collected in collaboration with FoodLink, the food bank for greater Rochester area. In addition, we have recruited an additional 6 pantries that we believe will allow us to complete data collection by the end of summer 2024.
Publications
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Progress 05/01/22 to 04/30/23
Outputs
Target Audience:In the year 2022, wethe first study resulting from this grant was accepted for publication in the jounral Agricultural Economics. This workdemonstratesthat food insecure individuals display a bias in quality assessment of pantry food, that this bias is larger among those who do not attend pantries, and that the bias can be overcome by use of attractive pictures of food or use of brand names. In connection with this we have met with several food bank staff in the state of New York (mostly in Souther Tier, and Rochester areas) and discussed these results and their implications. We have developed a one page discussion of the results that has been distributed through these food bank networks, and are planning soon to make this available to Feeding America staff. In addition, a paper on related work (though not developed from this funding) was published in November leading to many press inquiries. In some of these discussions with press we alluded to these stigma results. Changes/Problems:There have been no major changes in plans over the course of this year. The only potential changes I anticipate may be in timing if securing locations for the final interventions takes longer than we currently anticipate. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Research assistance for thework on spatial and temporal access to pantries has been provided by a PhD student who will be including one of the resulting papers in her dissertation. This has been an important opportunity to provide mentoring in professional writing, scientific conduct and eventually presentation and publication. In addition, we have worked with an MS student on the SNAP/pantry intervention project. The MS student helped to design and analyze the survey, and to design the intervention. Subsequently this student has had some personal issues that may preclude their continuing on the project. However, this offered an opportunity for them to learn more about survey and experimental design. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our initial engagement with food bank administrators has been through in-person presentations at their facilities. This initial step was undertaken to refine the presentation of our results to ensure their usefulness in context. These presentationswere very well received and have resulted in several follow on discussions about implementing the marketing our results suggest. Early in 2023 (following publication) we have discussed these results extensively with the press, and intend to distribute our findings through the Feeding America network. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the coming year, we plan to: 1. Complete the write up of two papers detailing the welfare economics of spatial access issues, and the welfare economics of temporal access issues. These are already under way and should be completed within the year and prepared for submission to journals. 2. Execute our in pantry intervention to determine if framing the initial steps to enroll in SNAP in a simple way can impact enrollment. We hope to finish plans and secure sites by June, and then execute the intervention over the summer with final data collection in the early Fall. Unanticipated delays in this schedule could push us to apply for a no-cost extension. 3. We will be presenting our early findings at the AAEA summer meetings in Washington, DC this summer. 4. We will distribute our extension oriented materials to the Feeding America network.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective1. Using cell phone tracking data for the Southern Tier of New York, we have developed simulation models to measure the welfare cost of travel for pantry use. Consulting with the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, we identified census tracts that suffer from particularly high food insecurity. We then track the travel patterns of cell phones from these areas over a two month period and calculate the minimum additional cost (in terms of travel expense and time)over the course of an average week to attend the pantry. Using sophisticated geospatial programming, we have calculated the sensitivity of this cost to the (i) closing of existing pantries, (ii) opening of new pantries optimized for use, and (iii) adding of opening hours to existing pantries. Importantly, we find the opening hours -- the temporal allocation of pantries--to be the biggest barrier to access using this method. These results have been finalized and we are now working to generate two manuscripts based upon the results. One will address the temporal allocation of pantries and the other the spatial allocation. Objective 3. We designed and administered a brief survey, sampling participants who qualify for SNAP, designed to understand why those who qualify may not enroll. Our results, together with our read of the literature suggests there are a substantial contingent that do not enroll because the process appears to be too complicated and time consuming. We have designed an intervention for pantries based upon this that seeks to frame the first steps of enrollment in simple terms. This is based on some behavioral theories that inducing the first step in a process can generate behavioral momentum. We have a tentative agreement with Foodlink (the food bank covering Rochester) to conduct this intervention randomized at the individual level in Rochester area food pantries in the coming year.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Byrne, Anne T., Christopher B. Barrett and David R. Just. But it Came from a Food Pantry: Product Stigma and Quality Perceptions of Food Pantry Offerings. Agricultural Economics. Published online January 8, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12755
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Progress 05/01/21 to 04/30/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Results from the survey assessing the existence and extent of bias in the assessment of the quality of food pantry food were written up and finalized. These have been presented widely including the following: Seminar, Online Agricultural and Resource Economics Seminar, September 2021 (large national audience of agricultural economists). Seminar, Centre of Behavioral and Experimental Social Science, University of East Anglia. October 2021. Southern Economics Association Annual Meetings, Houston, TX, November 21, 2021. The paper has been postedas part of the Applied Economics and Policy Working Paper Series in September 2021, where it has been downloaded 140 times: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/315740?ln=en The paper has been invited for revision at Agricultural Economics, a peer reviewed journal. In addition, based upon this work we have developed a one page lay summary designed for food pantry managers. We have used this in discussing the results with the Food Bank of the Southern Tier and their constituent pantries. It has been well received thus far. Upon publication of the manuscript, we plan wider circulation of the one page lay summary. Changes/Problems:We had previously reported rearrangingthe timeline for the three studies to accommodate for COVID restrictions. The one additional change we made was to employ an existing cell phone tracking dataset, rather than to collect our own. We did this for two reasons. First, this allows us a much larger sample to work with including many who may not use the food pantry, but still allows us to isolate results to those residing in regions where food insecurity is relatively high. Second, the disruption from COVID affected travel patterns and thus our sample may have resulted in something not generally useable for advice and management under more normal circumstances. The data we have allows us to compare pre-COVID travel with travel under COVID, and perhaps result in further analysis of how food insecurity was affected by the pandemic. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?At this point results have been disseminated among pantry managers only within the target region of the Southern Tier of New York. This was communicated through the Food Bank of the Southern Tier network, including a brief lay summary of our results to date and how it could be used to inform management. We await publication of the results for a full scale effort to disseminate to a lay audience. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1: Identify and measure travel costs and patterns among rural food pantry users for pantry network optimization. We plan to write up this set of results of our analysis showing substantial mismatch of pantry hours and the availability of food insecure people. We are hoping to develop and submit a manuscript over the course of the next year. This work should also translate well into extension efforts with food banks and pantries. In addition, we are continuing our analysis and hope to complete an analysis both of spatial mismatches with rural populations as well as a characterization of how current pantry operations differ from what might be considered optimal from an economic welfare perspective. We anticipate completing this analysis within the next reporting period and beginning to write up the results. Objective 2: Test for the presence and mutability of stigma effects in rural food pantry use. We hope to complete publication of our study results regarding stigma and disseminate summaries of these results widely across food banking networks. We hope to promote this work in the popular press as well. Objective 3: Identify and test low-cost or free in-pantry interventions to enroll eligible rural households in federal assistance programs In the coming year we will complete analysis of our initial survey. From this analysis we will determine the final design of the proposed field experiment to encourage SNAP enrollment among food pantry clients. In the coming year we plan to plan the experiment, come to agreements with pantries for implementation, and have the design approved by Cornell's Institutional Review Board. Depending on the challenges faced in making logistical arrangements and securing IRB approval, we may be able to begin this intervention prior to the close of next reporting period.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: Identify and measure travel costs and patterns among rural food pantry users for pantry network optimization. Grant funds were used to purchase cell phone tracking data covering the entire state of New York for 2019 and 2020. Given our focus on the eight counties that make up the Southern Tier of New York, we worked to identify census tracts where there are higher concentrations of food insecurity within these eight counties. In addition we identified a set of census tracts that are underserved by private food assistance. To do this we used a combination of census information, records from the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, and in consultation with managers at the Food Bank. We then identified cell phones in the data that appear to reside in these census tracts. This has allowed us to study travel patterns and determine the minimum travel cost throughout an average week for the owners of each of these cell phones. By using the coordinates and operating hours for each pantry, we have been able to examine the potential benefits from increasing operating hours. Our initial results suggest substantial benefits for an increase of 2-3 hours per week, with much smaller benefits thereafter. We plan to write up this set of results for publication. We are preparing to use the data to simulate optimal pantry locations and operating hours. Objective 2: Test for the presence and mutability of stigma effects in rural food pantry use. We have written and presented a paper resulting from two prior surveys examining product associated stigma at food pantries in three different venues. This work is under a second round of submission at Agricultural Economics. In addition, we have developed a lay summary of the work that we plan to disseminate among food bank and pantry managers widely after the manuscript is eventually published. Objective 3: Identify and test low-cost or free in-pantry interventions to enroll eligible rural households in federal assistance programs In order to prepare for the planned field experiment examining the potential to encourage SNAP enrollment among food pantry clients, we have conducted a nationwide survey to gather information about the most common barriers. In this year we developed the survey and discussed the survey instrument with private food assistance providers. The survey was administered online via Qualtrics panel. The data collection has just now completed, and we are beginning analysis.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Byrne, Anne T., David R. Just and Christopher B. Barrett. "But it came from a food pantry: Product stigma and quality perceptions of food pantry offerings." Applied Economics and Policy Working Paper No. 2021-14, Cornell S.C. Johnson College of Business, Cornell University, September 29, 2021.
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Progress 05/01/20 to 04/30/21
Outputs
Target Audience:In this past year we presented initial findings from the survey on food pantry stigma to academic audiences, primarily composed of applied economists. Feedback from these audiences has helped revise and refine works that are in preparation for publication. In addition, this work informed testimony and other interactions with New York State policymakers. This included testimony to the New York State Assembly hearing on Food Security, September 9, 2020, in addition to less formal meetings and presentations. Policymakers have been particularly interested in food security issues in the wake of the pandemic. This work has been very timely. Changes/Problems:So far the greatest changes in the research have been driven by the realities of the pandemic restrictions, which have prevented us from doing the face-to face research we had planned. To address this we moved some of these planned face-to-face field experiments to an online experimental survey. We have also pushed the dates of other research activities back in the hopes that restrictions will be lifted in time to perform these as originally intended. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The research provided a substantive experience for the graduate research assistant who used a piece of this work in her dissertation. She received mentorship from both the PI (Just) and Co-PI (Barrett) in survey design, analysis, and authorship and preparation of a manuscript for publication. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?While we have shared these results with our contacts within the state government, we plan within the next year to create training materials that can be circulated to pantry and food bank managers. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the coming period we will focus first on objective 1. We intend to procure cell phone tracking data from a selected region of New York State that can allow us to see travel patterns among those who are likely to be food insecure. Using this data we will develop an algorithmic approach to calculating how pantry location and hours of operation affect use. We have hired a graduate research assistant with a background in operations research who will help with coding, as well an additional graduate research assistant who is skilled in the use of location based data analysis. Late in the next reporting period we hope to implement interventions in food pantries that would allow us to address objective 3 experimentally. This is contingent on being allowed to interact face to face in a pantry setting. If this is not permitted, we may redesign the study, or request a no-cost extension.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We have made substantial progress on objective 2: Test for the presence and mutability of stigma effects in rural food pantry use. Given the pandemic restrictions, it was necessary to reorder the planned activities and redesign experiments for contactless research. This led us to focus on objective 2 for this year as it is the objective that most well lends itself to online survey experiments. In December 2020 we conducted a survey of SNAP eligible households. We received 2051 responses, with participants from each state. Screening for SNAP eligibility lead to an oversampling of rural households (approximately 71% live in a municipality with less than 100,000 residents). This survey asked for participants to give their rating of food quality for a selection of goods with treatments randomly assigned to report on either food sourced from a food pantry or a grocery store. In addition, respondents were either shown photographs of the food they were rating or were just given a category of food. Results from this survey show that on average individual's rate identical foods from the food pantry to be of lower quality than foods from the grocery store. However, this discrepancy disappears when shown photos of the food in question. The effect is less pronounced among those who report prior use of a food pantry. This work shows that promoting food pantries to potential clients using photos of the food could help alleviate some forms of stigma, and perhaps increase pantry use. The research team has also met to plan activities in the coming year to address objectives 1 and 3.
Publications
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Byrne, Anne T. "Consumer Use of Foodbank Services: Questions of Timing and Value." Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 2021.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Byrne, Anne T., David R. Just and Christopher B. Barrett. "But it Came From a Food Pantry: Stigma and Perceptions of Quality of Food Pantry Offerings." Working Paper (To be submitted June 2021).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Byrne, Anne T., David R. Just and Christopher B. Barrett. "But it Came From a Food Pantry: Stigma and Perceptions of Quality of Food Pantry Offerings." Charles H. Dyson, Graduate Student Seminar Series, February 22, 2021.
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