Issue: Although Federal programs provide the bulk of food

assistance in the United States, with benefits worth more

than $32 billion in 2000, many needy households also utilize

private, nonprofit, charitable organizations that provide

emergency food in their communities. Yet policymakers have

had limited information available to them on these organizations, which comprise the emergency food assistance system

(EFAS). This issues brief reports findings from the first

comprehensive government study of the EFAS.

The study provides detailed information about the system’s

operations and about each of the major types of organizations involved in the system. The research also examines

how the EFAS fits within the context of important government nutrition assistance programs, such as the Food Stamp

Program (FSP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition

Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and

describes the role of Federal commodity assistance programs

in the system. It updates past studies of the EFAS, extending

these studies to provide a broader, more nationally representative view of the system.

Background: Many low-income people use emergency

food providers. The EFAS has evolved into a fairly structured system, in which food pantries and emergency

kitchens (often called soup kitchens) function as the

“retailers” in the system, providing food directly to households and individuals. At food pantries, households receive

bags of food that they take with them to prepare meals at

home. Emergency kitchens provide a prepared meal for

their clients to eat onsite. Most food pantries and emergency kitchens are connected to a “wholesaler” in the

EFAS—a food bank, food rescue organization, or an emergency food organization.

The wholesalers in the system receive food donations in

bulk from a variety of sources and distribute them to food

pantries and emergency kitchens in their area. Food banks

obtain mostly nonperishable food from national and

regional sources, while food rescue organizations seek out

sources of perishable food, such as retailers, food service

operations, and farmers. Many food banks, food pantries,

and emergency kitchens also receive and distribute U.S.

Department of Agriculture (USDA) commodities. In addition, emergency feeding organizations (EFOs), such as

community action agencies or local government agencies,

act as wholesalers to receive and distribute commodities

from USDA or other sources. Most EFOs do not focus on

food distribution and participate in the EFAS only when

USDA commodities become available (see box p. 2).

Findings: There are nearly 34,000 food pantries and

more than 5,000 emergency kitchens in the United States.

Food pantries and emergency kitchens are typically small,

locally based organizations. Many street-level providers of

emergency food are faith-based organizations. About twothirds of emergency kitchens and food pantries are affiliated with a religious group (fig. 1). Almost 60 percent of

food pantries serve fewer than 25 households on an

average day, and more than half of food pantries operate

with an annual budget of less than $5,000. Emergency

kitchens tend to be more variable in size than food

pantries. Almost one in three emergency kitchens operates

United States

Department of

Agriculture

Economic 

Research

Service

Private Provision of Food Aid:

The Emergency Food Assistance System

Laura Tiehen

Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Report Number 26-5 August 2002

IN FOOD ASSISTANCE

Figure 1—Faith-based organizations in the

Emergency Food Assistance System

Source: Ohls et al., 2002.

Emergency kitchens

Other 5%

Nonprofit,

not religious 30%

Nonprofit,

religious 65%

Food pantries

Other

8%

Nonprofit,

not religious

25%

Nonprofit,

religious 67%
with an annual budget of less than $5,000, while more

than a fourth have an annual budget of $20,000 or more.

About a third of emergency kitchens serve fewer than 50

people at a typical lunch, the most common meal served at

emergency kitchens. However, the largest 15 percent of

emergency kitchens provide lunch to more than 200

people on a typical day.

Almost all EFAS providers rely on volunteers to assist

in their operations, and many food pantries and emergency kitchens rely solely on volunteers. About a fourth

of food pantries and half of emergency kitchens do not

employ a single paid staff person (fig. 2). In contrast,

most of the wholesalers in the EFAS employ paid

workers, as well as volunteers.

Despite the modest size and local nature of most EFAS

providers, they reach a large number of households in the

United States. Data from the U.S. Census Current

Population Survey Food Security Supplement indicate that

more than 2.5 million households used food pantries and

414,000 households had at least 1 member who ate at an

emergency kitchen during 2000. The 2.5 million households that received food from a food pantry contained 3.1

million children and 4.4 million adults. While the use of

emergency kitchens was less prevalent, the estimate of

414,000 households almost certainly understates the

number of people who use emergency kitchens, since it

does not include the number of homeless individuals who

resort to these providers.1

While the EFAS provides a valuable service to millions of

households, the system is small relative to Federal food

programs. Food pantries and emergency kitchens provided

an estimated 198 million meals per month in 2000. The 5

largest Federal food assistance programs provided 1.9 billion

meals per month in 2000, more than 9 times as many meals

as the EFAS (fig. 3). The Food Stamp Program, the largest

Federal food assistance program, served approximately 7.3

million households per month in 2000. 

In addition to its own provision of food assistance, the

Federal Government has a significant direct involvement

with many emergency food providers, who distribute

USDA commodities, or meals prepared with them, to

households, mainly through The Emergency Food

Assistance Program (TEFAP). Roughly 85 percent of food

2 Economic Research Service / USDA

Private Provision of Food Aid: The Emergency Food Assistance System / FANRR-26-5

Organizations in the Emergency Food Assistance System

Estimated 

number 

Direct providers

Emergency kitchens Also known as soup kitchens, they provide prepared meals for 5,262

clients to eat at the site. 

Food pantries Distribute groceries for households to prepare elsewhere, usually 32,737 

at home. 

Wholesalers

Food banks Obtain most nonperishable food nationally and regionally and 402

distribute it to individual direct providers.

Food rescue Seek sources of perishable food and make it available to direct 91

organizations providers.

Emergency food Are community action agencies or local government agencies, 124

organizations designated by some States as official distributors of USDA 

commodities, although their primary purpose is something 

other than food distribution.

1 The number of households estimated to use food pantries is considerably lower than the number found in a recent nationwide survey of

clients at emergency food providers. This discrepancy in estimated

number of users is likely a result of the different methodologies used

for data collection. The Current Population Survey data are known to

undercount the use of Federal assistance programs, so they also may

undercount the use of private food assistance from food pantries.

Conversely, the survey of EFAS clients was conducted on a sample of

emergency food clients, and estimates of the total number of households were based on survey information about respondents’ patterns of

emergency food use.
banks in the United States receive USDA commodities,

and about half of food pantries and emergency kitchens

report using USDA commodities (fig. 4).2 EFAS providers

distributed roughly 422 million pounds of USDA

commodities in 2000, which accounted for nearly 14

percent of all food distributed by the EFAS (fig. 5). 

The amount of commodities available through TEFAP

has varied throughout the history of the program, but 

the 1996 welfare reform legislation set funding for the

purchase of commodities through TEFAP at $100 million

per year through fiscal year 2002. Emergency food

providers also receive administrative funding support

through TEFAP for use in paying costs associated with

the distribution of USDA commodities and commodities

obtained from other sources.

Through TEFAP, emergency food providers receive

Federal support for their activities and serve as the

delivery vehicle for the Federal Government’s provision of

emergency food assistance. Because many direct providers

of emergency food are affiliated with a religious group,

TEFAP represents longstanding Federal cooperation with

faith-based and community organizations in social service

activities. This partnership with EFAS providers is particularly relevant in light of the current emphasis on Federal

support of faith-based and community organizations.

Community-level and faith-based emergency food

providers display a considerable degree of flexibility and

innovation in their food acquisition and distribution

methods. However, there is also evidence that emergency

food providers may not always be able to reach those who

need them. Although emergency food providers rarely turn

people away due to lack of food, these providers do limit

food distribution. The typical food pantry is open 2 to 3

days per week and for fewer than 4 hours each day. About

half of food pantries limit households to receiving food

once per month or less. More than half of emergency

kitchens serve meals only on weekdays, and a third serve

meals only 1 day per week. 

The nonmetro poor appear to be underserved by emergency

kitchens while the metro poor appear to be underserved by

food pantries. About 15 percent of emergency kitchens

operate in nonmetropolitan areas, although those areas

contain 21 percent of the poor population. Conversely,

about 70 percent of food pantries operate in metropolitan

Private Provision of Food Aid: The Emergency Food Assistance System / FANRR-26-5

Economic Research Service / USDA 3

Figure 4—Percentage of EFAS providers who

distribute USDA commodities

Source: Ohls et al., 2002.

Emergency

food

organizations

Food

rescue

Food

banks

Food

pantries

Emergency

kitchens

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Percent

Figure 3—Meals distributed by emergency kitchens,

food pantries, and USDA programs per month, 2000

Source: Ohls et al., 2002.

Food pantries

Special Supplement

Nutrition Programs for

Women, Infants, and

Children (WIC)

Child and Adult/Care

Food Program (CACFP)

School Lunch and

Breakfast Programs

Food Stamp Program

Emergency kitchens

Millions

184

14

998

410

343

116

2 There are probably even more direct providers that distribute USDA

commodities. Many commodities are not easily distinguishable, since

they no longer bear USDA packaging. In particular, some emergency

kitchen staff may not be aware that they are distributing USDA commodities since, unlike food pantries, emergency kitchens are not faced

with government regulations on to whom and how often they may distribute USDA commodities.

Figure 2—Use of volunteer and paid staff

emergency kitchens and food pantries, 2000

Source: Ohls et al., 2002.

Percent

Emergency kitchens Food pantries

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Use any volunteers Use only volunteers

95

24

93

53
Private Provision of Food Aid: The Emergency Food Assistance System / FANRR-26-5

areas, which contain 79 percent of the poor population. The

low prevalence of emergency kitchens in nonmetropolitan

areas is most likely explained by problems of access and

transportation that make them impractical in these areas, as

well as by the lower concentration of the homeless in

nonmetropolitan areas. While this pattern is a perfectly

reasonable response to the environment in which individual

EFAS providers operate, it does raise the concern that emergency kitchen services may be relatively inaccessible to

some nonmetropolitan households that need them, and that

food pantry services may be relatively inaccessible to some

metropolitan households who would prefer them.

Overall, 2.4 percent of U.S. households received food from

a food pantry in 2000. Households at or near poverty levels

were much more likely to get food from a food pantry than

households with higher income. Not surprisingly, then, food

pantry use was especially high among the kinds of households most likely to be poor. One in 12 households headed

by a single female used a food pantry, and households with

an African-American head were over twice as likely as the

average household to get food from a food pantry. Food

pantry use is also more prevalent in food-insecure households. A household is considered food insecure if it reports

having certain difficulties meeting its food needs due to

financial constraints. Food-insecure households were 24

times more likely than food-secure households to have

obtained food from a food pantry in 2000.

While households are much more likely to use Federal food

assistance than to use emergency food providers, many

households use both forms of food assistance. For instance,

almost 60 percent of low-income households (those with

income below 130 percent of the poverty line) that received

food from a food pantry at some time in 2000 had also

received food stamps at some time during that year.

However, more than 40 percent of low-income households

that used a food pantry at some time during 2000 did not

receive food stamps during that year, even though their

annual household income was low enough for them to be

eligible. Some of these households were likely to be ineligible for food stamps despite their low income. Their

assets may have been higher than the eligibility limits,

they may have lost their food stamp benefits because they

failed to comply with Food Stamp Program or other public

assistance program rules, or they may have been barred

from participating because they were not U.S. citizens.

Other eligible households may have not applied for food

stamps because the benefits they would have received

would have been too low to offset the costs of applying, or

they felt embarrassed or uncomfortable about receiving

public assistance. Some households, though, may have

been eligible and not realized it. These households would

benefit from information about Federal food assistance

eligibility guidelines. However, very few EFAS providers

were found to provide this information. Only 16 percent of

emergency kitchens and 17 percent of food pantries

reported providing counseling to their clients regarding

Food Stamp Program or WIC eligibility guidelines.

Information Sources:

Nord, M., N. Kabbani, L. Tiehen, M. Andrews, G. Bickel,

and S. Carlson. Household Food Security in the United

States, 2000. FANRR-21. U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Economic Research Service, 2001.

http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/fanrr21

Ohls, James C., Fazana Saleem-Ismail, Rhoda Cohen,

and Brenda Cox. The Emergency Food Assistance

System—Findings From the Provider Survey, Volume II:

Final Report. FANRR-16-2. U.S. Department of

Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/fanrr16-2

4 Economic Research Service / USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex,

religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET

Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue,

SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Figure 5—USDA commodities as a share of food

distributed by the EFAS, 2000

Source: Ohls et al., 2002.

USDA 

commodities

14%

All other

food sources

86%