Food pantries select healthier foods after nutrition information is available on their food bank’s ordering platform

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Katie Martin ◽  
Ran Xu ◽  
Marlene B Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Brown Rice ◽  
Interrupted Time Series ◽  
Baseline Period ◽  
Food Bank ◽  
Low Fat ◽  
Regional Food ◽  
Food Pantries ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Canned Fruit

Abstract Objective: In the USA, community-based food pantries provide free groceries to people struggling with food insecurity. Many pantries obtain food from regional food banks using an online shopping platform. A food bank introduced a visible nutrition rank (i.e. green, yellow or red) onto its platform. The hypothesis was that pantry orders would increase for the healthiest options (green) and decrease for the least healthy options (red). Design: Interrupted time series (ITS) analysis of a natural experiment. Monthly data included nutrition ranks of available inventory and itemised records of all products ordered during the 15-month baseline period and 14-month intervention. Setting: A New England food bank. Participants: The twenty-five largest food pantries in the network based on pounds of food ordered. Results: Descriptive analyses of 63 922 pantry ordering records before and after the visible ranks identified an increase in the proportion of green items ordered (39·3–45·4 %) and a decrease in the proportion of red items ordered (10·5–5·1 %). ITS analyses controlling for monthly changes in inventory available and pantry variables indicated that average monthly orders of green items increased by 1286 pounds (P < 0·001) and red orders decreased by 631 pounds (P = 0·045). Among the largest changes were increases in orders of fresh produce, brown rice, low-fat dairy and low-fat meats and decreases in orders of sugary juice drinks, canned fruit with added sugar, higher fat dairy and higher fat meats. Conclusions: This promising practice can support system-wide efforts to promote healthier foods within the food banking network.

scholarly journals Food bank drive-through distribution during COVID-19: A reflective essay

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Brittney Cavaliere ◽  
Carson Drew ◽  
Katie Martin
Keyword(s):  
Food Insecurity ◽  
New England ◽  
Free Food ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Food Banks ◽  
Food Bank ◽  
Food Pantry ◽  
Regional Food ◽  
Food Needs ◽  
To Receive

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprece­dented surge in food insecurity and demand for free food. In response, Foodshare, the regional food bank serving Greater Hartford, Connecticut, created a drive-through distribution program to meet the immediate food needs of residents. Our team at Foodshare’s Institute for Hunger Research & Solutions conducted two surveys of people receiving food at the drive-through distribution to help inform Foodshare’s programming and response to the pandemic. Results show that 70% of households receiving food had never gone to a food pantry or other program to receive free food prior to COVID-19, and 67% said they come at least once a week. Additionally, 86% of guests are not going elsewhere to receive free food and only 37% know of other places to get free food. The majority of people receiving food at the drive-through distribution were people of color, who are those most affected by COVID-19 from both health and financial perspectives. From April to August 2020, Foodshare served an average of 1,500 households each day and more than 150,000 cars total at the drive-through distribution alone. Despite serving an immediate need for food, the drive-through model presents challenges, particu­larly during the New England winter with snow and freezing temperatures, and is an expensive endeavor. Foodshare and other food banks will need to pivot again from short-term pandemic assistance to longer-term approaches to create dignified, convenient, and sustainable access to healthy food for additional people struggling with food insecurity. Food banks can also leverage their extensive platforms of volunteers and donors to advocate for policy changes that will ensure eco­nomic stability and food security.

Regional tourism at the farmers’ market: consumers’ preferences for local food products

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Garner ◽  
Cesar Ayala
Keyword(s):  
Geographic Area ◽  
Farmers Markets ◽  
Farmers Market ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Regional Food ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Regional Brand ◽  
Consumer Habits ◽  
Food Identity ◽  
Number Of Customers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine farmers’ market consumer behavior through a regional food and culinary tourism lens to see the ways these festive and atmospheric markets can be used to develop a regional brand or identity surrounding food production. Design/methodology/approach This study was based on a survey of 270 participants in a farmers’ market in the USA. A combination of descriptive and statistical analyses was used to analyze consumer habits and spending. Findings The findings in this study suggest that while most of the customers live in a town where the market is located, a significant number of customers come from other locations, with some traveling significant distances, to participate in this market, particularly for the Saturday market. Many of the customers come to purchase organic and local foods. Research limitations/implications This work is limited, in that it is a case study at one farmers’ market in the USA, and the work is exploratory in nature. Practical implications This work has implications for market managers seeking to increase their consumer base. Markets that want to increase their reach would do well to promote their events to a wider geographic area. The results presented here showed that consumers are willing to drive upward of 40 miles to attend a high-quality market. Originality/value This work expands our conceptualization of farmers’ markets by suggesting that these markets have the potential to form the backbone of a region is food identity through the creation of a food destination.

Key Factors for School-Based Food Pantries: Perspectives From Food Bank and School Pantry Personnel

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 350-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasia Snelling ◽  
Maya Maroto ◽  
Alison Jacknowitz ◽  
Elaine Waxman
Keyword(s):  
Food Bank ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
School Based ◽  
Food Pantries

Lilioceris lilii (lily leaf beetle).

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Kenis
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Leaf Beetle ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Control Methods ◽  
Cut Flowers ◽  
Lilioceris Lilii ◽  
Lily Leaf Beetle ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Canadian Provinces ◽  
The Uk

Abstract L. lilii is a Eurasian chrysomelid beetle that was first found in Quebec, Canada, in 1943, from where it has spread to several Canadian Provinces, and Vermont and Maine in the USA. It was also reported in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1992, and it is now found in several New England States. It is also alien and invasive in the UK and, probably, in Northern Europe. The beetle most probably spreads with the sale and movement of potted lilies, flowering bulbs or cut flowers. In countries where it is invasive, it is a serious pest of cultivated lilies and fritillaries. Without control methods, leaves and flowers are totally defoliated by larvae. In North America, it also represents a threat to native lilies.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Research Hotspot of Drug Treatment of Tuberculosis: A Bibliometric Based on the Top 50 Cited Literatures

2022 ◽  
Vol 2022 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Ying Xiong ◽  
Jingwen Wei ◽  
Yujia Cai ◽  
Yang Zhang ◽  
Li Feng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Treatment ◽  
New England ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
World Health ◽  
Future Research ◽  
First Line ◽  
Resistant Tuberculosis ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Study Type

Objective. The objective of the current study was to analyze the research hotspot of drug treatment for tuberculosis via top literatures. Materials and Methods. A retrospective analysis was performed on June 7th, 2021. Literatures were searched on the Web of Science Core Collection to identify the top 50 cited literatures related to drug treatment of tuberculosis. The characteristics of the literatures were identified. The outcomes included authorship, journal, study type, year of publication, and institution. Cooccurrence network analysis and visualization were conducted using the VOS viewer (Version 1.6.16; Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands). Results. The top 50 cited literatures were cited 308 to 2689 times and were published between 1982 and 2014. The most studied drugs were the first-line drugs such as isoniazid and rifampicin ( n = 22 ), and drug-resistant tuberculosis was most frequently reported ( n = 16 ). They were published in 18 journals, and the New England Journal of Medicine published the most literatures ( n = 18 ), followed by the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine ( n = 7 ), and the Lancet ( n = 6 ). The authors were from 13 countries, and the authors from the USA published most of the literatures ( n = 30 ), while authors from other countries published less than five literatures. The CDC in the USA ( n = 4 ), the World Health Organization (WHO) ( n = 3 ), and the American Philosophical Society ( n = 3 ) were the leading institutions, and only two authors published at least two top-cited literatures as first authors. Conclusions. This study provides insights into the development and most important literatures on drug therapy for tuberculosis and evidence for future research on tuberculosis treatment.

scholarly journals Interrupted time Series Design to Evaluate ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM Coding Changes on Trends in Colorado Emergency Department visits Related to Traumatic Brain Injury

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Alexis De Crescenzo ◽  
Barbara Alison Gabella ◽  
Jewell Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Emergency Department ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Interrupted Time Series ◽  
Emergency Department Visits ◽  
P Value ◽  
Icd 10 ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract Background. The transition in 2015 to the Tenth Revision of the International Classification of Disease, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) in the USA led public health professionals to propose a surveillance definition of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that uses ICD-10-CM codes. The proposed definition excludes “unspecified injury of the head,” previously included in the ICD-9-CM TBI definition. The purpose of this study was to evaluate this change in surveillance methods on monthly rates of TBI-related emergency department visits in Colorado from 2012 to 2017.Results. The monthly rate of TBI-related emergency department visits in the transition month to ICD-10-CM (October 2015) decreased 41 visits per 100,000 population (p-value <0.0001), compared to September 2015, and remained low through December 2017, due to the exclusion of “unspecified injury of head” (ICD-10-CM code S09.90) in the proposed TBI definition. Conclusion. This study highlights a challenge in creating a standardized set of TBI ICD-10-CM codes for public health surveillance that provides comparable yet clinically relevant estimates over time. The findings inform estimation of TBI magnitude based on ICD coded data and decisions about allocating TBI resources based on an estimated TBI magnitude.

The trials and tribulations of JTH Inc.

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-108
Author(s):  
Mayank Jaiswal ◽  
Robert Maxwell
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
International Competition ◽  
Dynamic Nature ◽  
Resource Based View ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Academic Level ◽  
The Usa

Theoretical basis The theoretical linkages are with dynamic nature of PESTEL analysis, Porter’s five forces, resource-based view of the firm and characteristics of an entrepreneur. Research methodology The names of the institutions and individuals involved have been disguised. However, the material facts of the case are authentic. Case overview/synopsis This case discusses strategy in the context of a crisis situation in a small business. JTH Inc. was a computer subcontract manufacturing (SCM) firm serving the New England region of the USA. The influx of international competition (mainly from China) due to recession led to significant challenges for JTH and the SCM industry. JTH was struggling and the situation was further complicated by the founder’s (Robert Maxwell) personal and emotional situation. Robert had to decide whether to keep the business running, close it down, merge with/be acquired by a competitor, innovate the business model or do something else. Complexity academic level This case is designed to target undergraduate students of Strategic Management; it may also include Entrepreneurship students. It should most probably be taught in the first half of the course after concepts such as PESTEL, Porter and resource-based view of the firm have been taught.

Utilizing the RE-AIM framework to understand adoption of nutrition policies at food pantries across the USA

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1112-1121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meagan J Helmick ◽  
Amy L Yaroch ◽  
Courtney A Parks ◽  
Paul A Estabrooks ◽  
Jennie L Hill
Keyword(s):  
Nutrition Policy ◽  
Food Pantries ◽  
Nutrition Policies ◽  
The Usa

One in five food pantries had a formal nutrition policy, and informal nutrition policies existed for half of the food pantries that responded to the survey.

scholarly journals Probing the past 30-year phenology trend of US deciduous forests

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 4693-4709 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Yue ◽  
N. Unger ◽  
T. F. Keenan ◽  
X. Zhang ◽  
C. S. Vogel
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Deciduous Forests ◽  
Significant Advance ◽  
Spring Phenology ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Usa

Abstract. Phenology is experiencing dramatic changes over deciduous forests in the USA. Estimates of trends in phenology on the continental scale are uncertain, however, with studies failing to agree on both the magnitude and spatial distribution of trends in spring and autumn. This is due to the sparsity of in situ records, uncertainties associated with remote sensing data, and the regional focus of many studies. It has been suggested that reported trends are a result of recent temperature changes, though multiple processes are thought to be involved and the nature of the temperature forcing remains unknown. To date, no study has directly attributed long-term phenological trends to individual forcings across the USA through integrating observations with models. Here, we construct an extensive database of ground measurements of phenological events across the USA, and use it to calibrate and evaluate a suite of phenology models. The models use variations of the accumulative temperature summation, with additional chilling requirements for spring phenology and photoperiod limitation for autumn. Including a chilling requirement or photoperiod limitation does not improve model performance, suggesting that temperature change, especially in spring and autumn, is likely the dominant driver of the observed trend during the past 3 decades. Our results show that phenological trends are not uniform over the contiguous USA, with a significant advance of 0.34 day yr−1 for the spring budburst in the east, a delay of 0.15 day yr−1 for the autumn dormancy onset in the northeast and west, but no evidence of change elsewhere. Relative to the 1980s, the growing season in the 2000s is extended by about 1 week (3–4 %) in the east, New England, and the upper Rocky Mountains forests. Additional sensitivity tests show that intraspecific variations may not influence the predicted phenological trends. These results help reconcile conflicting reports of phenological trends in the literature, and directly attribute observed trends to long-term changes in temperature.

Abstract MP19: Academic-community Partnership To Evaluate The Effectiveness Of The Greater Boston Food Bank’s Healthy Pantry Program

Circulation ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 143 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Jia ◽  
Rachel Caty ◽  
Lauren Fiechtner ◽  
Rachel Zack ◽  
Anne N Thorndike
Keyword(s):  
Community Organization ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Online Training ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Food Bank ◽  
Traffic Light ◽  
Food Purchases ◽  
Food Pantries ◽  
New Strategy ◽  
Effective Program

Background: Food pantries are a significant nutrition source for food-insecure households. Traffic-light labeling is a new strategy in some pantries to help clients and staff identify healthier food choices. Healthy Pantry Program (HPP) is an online training designed by The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) to teach staff of its affiliated pantries how to promote healthier choices by implementing traffic-light labels using Supporting Wellness at Pantries and behavioral nudges, such as placing healthy foods at eye level. Our academic research team partnered with GBFB to evaluate HPP by assessing if food pantries that participated in HPP increased their GBFB purchases of healthier (green and yellow) foods more than matched control pantries. Methods: We conducted an observational study of 107 food pantries in the GBFB network in eastern Massachusetts, including 10 pantries that completed HPP training and 97 control pantries matched by organizational characteristics and baseline food purchases. Five HPP pantries participated during Wave 1 (Oct 2018-Jan 2019), and 5 participated during Wave 2 (May 2019-Aug 2019). Outcomes were changes in percentage of pantries’ monthly green and yellow purchases from GBFB at 6-month (Waves 1 and 2) and 12-month (Wave 1 only) follow-ups compared to baseline purchases (6 months pre-HPP). We used a difference-in-differences analysis to examine whether HPP pantries increased green-yellow food purchases more than control pantries. Results: In Wave 1, HPP pantries had small but nonsignificant increases in green-yellow purchases at 6 and 12 months compared to matched controls (Table). In Wave 2, HPP and control pantries had similar increases in green-yellow purchases at 6 months. Conclusions: An online training implemented by a food bank to improve healthy choices in food pantries did not significantly improve pantries’ purchases of healthier foods. Academic-community organization partnerships to evaluate health promotion initiatives can help guide effective program design and development.

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