Pantries and Policy Implementation: Using Nonprofit Priorities to Understand Variation in Emergency Food Assistance

Public and nonprofit actors have long partnered to carry out emergency food assistance, particularly through the use of nonprofit food pantries. Although nonprofit pantries fulfill an important function in policy implementation, they differ with respect to specific mission and organizational priorities. To what extent do organizational priorities explain variation in emergency food? Our analyses examine this question using survey data from 95 nonprofit food pantries associated with a Midwestern Foodbank, administrative records, and census tract-level data. Findings indicate that the priorities of nonprofit pantries help explain variation in food assistance provided by pantries, even after taking into consideration measures of need, accessibility, capacity, and processes. Our results imply that policymakers may be better equipped to meet community food needs by knowing more about the organizational priorities of nonprofit service providers.