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Emergency food distribution efforts in New Orleans, LA after Hurricane Ida

BACKGROUND: The provision of food aid after a natural disaster is necessary to prevent hunger, particularly in low-resourced and low-income communities. Little is known about the operational challenges associated with ensuring equitable distribution of emergency food resources to communities in need...

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Autores principales: Singleton, Chelsea R., Chaparro, M. Pia, O'Malley, Keelia, Fuster, Melissa, Rose, Donald
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9489999/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36159295
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.968552
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author Singleton, Chelsea R.
Chaparro, M. Pia
O'Malley, Keelia
Fuster, Melissa
Rose, Donald
author_facet Singleton, Chelsea R.
Chaparro, M. Pia
O'Malley, Keelia
Fuster, Melissa
Rose, Donald
author_sort Singleton, Chelsea R.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The provision of food aid after a natural disaster is necessary to prevent hunger, particularly in low-resourced and low-income communities. Little is known about the operational challenges associated with ensuring equitable distribution of emergency food resources to communities in need following a disaster. To address this gap, this study assessed emergency food distribution efforts in New Orleans, LA during the 2 weeks following Hurricane Ida's landfall on August 29, 2021. METHODS: Information on free food distribution events was gathered from online sources. A list of distribution sites was generated that included data on operational logistics (e.g., address, days of operation, hours of operation, etc.), food offerings (e.g., prepared meals, groceries, etc.), and socio-demographic characteristics of the surrounding community. Geospatial mapping and bivariate analyses were used to analyze the site data. RESULTS: Seventy-four distribution sites operated in the 2 weeks after Hurricane Ida. Approximately 47.3% were located in census tracts with >80% Black residents, and 39.2% were in tracts with >30% poverty. A large proportion of sites offered prepared meals (86.2%) and only operated 1 day (36.5%). Tracts with >80% Black residents had more sites that operated only 1 day (p = 0.04). Tracts with >30% poverty had more sites that started distributing food resources 7–15 days after the hurricane (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Most low-income and low-resourced communities in New Orleans had access to emergency food resources; however, several limitations in operations were identified that may have influenced access. Future initiatives to prevent hunger after a natural disaster in New Orleans, and elsewhere, should improve operational logistics for food aid.
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spelling pubmed-94899992022-09-22 Emergency food distribution efforts in New Orleans, LA after Hurricane Ida Singleton, Chelsea R. Chaparro, M. Pia O'Malley, Keelia Fuster, Melissa Rose, Donald Front Public Health Public Health BACKGROUND: The provision of food aid after a natural disaster is necessary to prevent hunger, particularly in low-resourced and low-income communities. Little is known about the operational challenges associated with ensuring equitable distribution of emergency food resources to communities in need following a disaster. To address this gap, this study assessed emergency food distribution efforts in New Orleans, LA during the 2 weeks following Hurricane Ida's landfall on August 29, 2021. METHODS: Information on free food distribution events was gathered from online sources. A list of distribution sites was generated that included data on operational logistics (e.g., address, days of operation, hours of operation, etc.), food offerings (e.g., prepared meals, groceries, etc.), and socio-demographic characteristics of the surrounding community. Geospatial mapping and bivariate analyses were used to analyze the site data. RESULTS: Seventy-four distribution sites operated in the 2 weeks after Hurricane Ida. Approximately 47.3% were located in census tracts with >80% Black residents, and 39.2% were in tracts with >30% poverty. A large proportion of sites offered prepared meals (86.2%) and only operated 1 day (36.5%). Tracts with >80% Black residents had more sites that operated only 1 day (p = 0.04). Tracts with >30% poverty had more sites that started distributing food resources 7–15 days after the hurricane (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Most low-income and low-resourced communities in New Orleans had access to emergency food resources; however, several limitations in operations were identified that may have influenced access. Future initiatives to prevent hunger after a natural disaster in New Orleans, and elsewhere, should improve operational logistics for food aid. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-09-07 /pmc/articles/PMC9489999/ /pubmed/36159295 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.968552 Text en Copyright © 2022 Singleton, Chaparro, O'Malley, Fuster and Rose. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Singleton, Chelsea R.
Chaparro, M. Pia
O'Malley, Keelia
Fuster, Melissa
Rose, Donald
Emergency food distribution efforts in New Orleans, LA after Hurricane Ida
title Emergency food distribution efforts in New Orleans, LA after Hurricane Ida
title_full Emergency food distribution efforts in New Orleans, LA after Hurricane Ida
title_fullStr Emergency food distribution efforts in New Orleans, LA after Hurricane Ida
title_full_unstemmed Emergency food distribution efforts in New Orleans, LA after Hurricane Ida
title_short Emergency food distribution efforts in New Orleans, LA after Hurricane Ida
title_sort emergency food distribution efforts in new orleans, la after hurricane ida
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9489999/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36159295
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.968552
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