Trends in Food Pantry Use Since Welfare Reform: Evidence from the Kansas City Metropolitan Area

Abstract

This study uses a unique database to examine the trend in the use of food pantries in the Kansas City metropolitan area from 1997 to 2000. We find a slight increase in the use of food pantry services over this period, less than one percent annually. This is a much smaller increase than has been reported in other studies, but consistent with recent research that uses a series of national cross-sectional household surveys to document changes in food pantry use (Tiehen 2002). In addition to examining trends in food pantry use, this study assesses the effect that accounting for providers who cease operations has on estimates of the change in food pantry use derived from a cross-sectional sample of emergency food providers. We conclude that in the absence of information from exiting agencies, the estimated growth rate can be gravely overstated, at least in terms of the number of services provided.